I hope to see Tago get back onto his feet. I remember that he had problems with injuries for sometime not too long ago, which might be the reason for his recent loss and absence.
Kimiko Jinnai, former professional Japanese player and presently a sports journalist, has a blog. There's an interesting post about Kenichi Tago, posted about a month ago. Accordingly to Jinnai, Tago said that playing badminton isn't fun at all (for him) but he still loves it. Jinnai remembers back in 2011 when the race for points and qualifications for the London Olympics began and Tago's ranking wasn't going up. Jinnai asked Tago why he is so fussy about competing only in Superseries events rather than going to GP events. His answer was that "If you go to lower level events just to gather points then the goal will simply become to be able to participate rather than actually win the Olympics. Even though I'm losing in the first round now, I believe that by playing at the highest level, it will help me get better." Jinnai believes that even though Momota got his first title and that he has gotten stronger in such short amount of time, to play at top levels Tago's potential and experience will certainly become effective. She finishes the article by saying that Tago will up his gear very soon. On a funny note, Tago now has his ring on his ring finger and not the middle finger of his left hand... Maybe he's gotten a girlfriend now? :- ) Original post: http://www.jsports.co.jp/bad/jinnai/badminton/post-259/
He won R1 and R2 in Indonesia and is up against Zwiebler tomorrow. It looks like the curse of losing in R1 all the time has been broken.
Tago is ranked 37th according to the bwf world ranking. Will he ever come back in the top 10 ? He is still young
I think he is trolling. I was under the impression that Tago had retired. He's very skilled and a natural player... I don't know why he is not excelling. Maybe injury?
He is definitely trolling it's not his racket it's his shoes he needs to change. On a serious note though someone found a article/interview a while back , Tago as well as struggling with injury has started study at uni and is no longer full time training /player.
Maybe he reach his peak who knows? Many people retired after that age anyways, Only LCW and LD keep winning.
Absolutely disgusted with the way Tago played his opponent at the World Championships. Tago could have shown more respect to his opponent by playing more serious, if not even for himself; do it for the spirit of sport, and professional competition. The result was deserving. If he wont make the effort to compete properly, he should step down from the National Squad, and let someone else who will put forth their heart and soul on the court represent Japan. It's one thing to come back from injury, and not want to play the smaller tournaments to earn points to become eligible for the Olympics. This was just too poor a performance from him. Very disappointed Mr Tago. Congrats to his opponent for not giving up, and winning the match.
Yes, you are partially correct! I found an explanation in the link below, from the great Coach Park Joo-Bong. The old ankle injury according to Mr Tago is healed 100% (source. http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Bad...pes-Chong-Wei-returns-to-the-badminton-court/ ) Apparently its a new injury, his ankle was 100%, but now his back is injured! :crying: http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2015/08/10/Kenichi-Tago-may-not-start-against-Chong-Wei/ I still stand by my comments though, as harsh as they may have been. Mr Tago's facial expression said it all during his match... (then again maybe its the pain killers and he was just "happy" from them .) Even Coach Park Joo Bong states, they will evaluate his position on the team after the World Championships. Mr Tago needs time to recover, playing through in his case will probably lead to other injuries down the road, as he cannot maintain a good level of fitness for competition. Here is wishing him a speedy and complete recovery, so he can return to the court doing what he loves once again. Cheers.
