Yeah, totally messed up draw the entire tournament. Akane had to play Fujikaki the second round, Shidamatsu first had Akane Araki/Riko Imai and now the next Vaping Panders. Against all the other pairs, I'd have given them at least some chance, but Fukuhiro will give them another hiding. That being said, it really doesn't matter that they have the hardest QF draw. B team should be totally safe and in order to make the A Team, they would have to beat world rank #1, #3, #2.
Hey, guys, don't forget about Tanaka/Yonemoto vs Sakuramoto/Takahata. This match is important for Team A spot. Tanaka/Yonemoto doesn't really have good year while Sakuramoto/Takahata won so many tournaments.
2022 World Championship is confirmed to be held in Tokyo, Japan! https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2018/11/29/kiji/20181129s00086000371000c.html
So Fukuhiro won? They two will meet a lot more in the future and I believe one day Matsu/Shida will shine.
They two will meet a lot more in the future and I believe one day Matsu/Shida will shine. They look stronger compared to the last time these two pairs met.
And they actually won. Goes to show how important dumb luck is. Shida/Matsuyama were drawn against Fukuhiro and lost an extremely close game, while Sakutaka were drawn against the much weaker Tanayone, prevailed narrowly (21-18, 23-21) and might just end up on the A Team. Le sigh.
Well, at least SakuTaka deserved to be in Team A spot, considering their achievements this year. Next, they will face FukuHiro.
Nah, they have to play Takamatsu in the semi final. The chances aren't bad either, since they've won the last (and afaik only) encounter against them. As for WS: Sayaka Takahashi vs Aya Ohori 21-18, 19-21, 21-15 Nozomi Okuhara vs Ayumi Mine 21-15, 21-8 Akane Yamaguchi vs Saena Kawakami 21-12, 21-15 Mako Urushizaki vs Minatsu Mitani 21-16, 11-21, 21-13 All three (realistic) contenders for the last A Team spot lost, which is particularly bad for Minatsu Mitani, who had - by far - the easiest match. I think they'll go with Ohori.
Ups, my bad, I looked at the draw wrongly. Anyway, good luck for them. As for WS, I can agree with you. AO is most likely safe in Team A. But, her recent results in the past few months make me worry about her spot. On the other hand, Mako seems to be in the Team B. I don't know much about her other than she reached the Akita Masters final and beat both SS and MM on her way to the SF All Japan just now. What do you think about her?
A. Today's results: MS: Tsuneyama (Tonami) 2-0 K. Watanabe (Unisys) Momota (NTT-East) 2-0 Y. Onodera (Unisys) UPSET: Ueda (Unisys) 2-1 Sakai (Unisys) (Sakai may well be axed, ... but who is qualified to replace him? Will Igarashi be taken on?) Nishimoto (Tonami) 2-0 Shimono (Tonami) WS: S. Takahashi (Unisys) 2-1 Ohori (Tonami) (Takahashi's promotion to the A Team is next to guaranteed; Ohori will probably also stay on.) Yamaguchi (Saishunkan) 2-0 Kawakami (Hokuto Bank) (Kawakami will have lost her A Team spot.) Okuhara (Unisys) 2-0 Mine (Saishunkan) (Mine will remain in the B Team.) UPSET: Urushizaki (San-in Godo Bank)* 2-1 Mitani (NTT-East) (These two are also strong 2019 B Team candidates.) *Urushizaki was placed 3rd in the All Japan Members and 5th in the Ranking Circuit this year. MD: Hoki/Kobayashi (Tonami) 2-1 Koga/Saito (NTT-East) Okamura (Unisys)/M. Onodera (Waseda) 2-1 Tsukamoto/Takano (Hitachi) Sonoda/Kamura (Tonami) 2-1 Hashimoto/Saeki (Fukui Amateur Sports Association) Endo/Watanabe (Unisys) 2-1 Takeuchi/Matsui (Hitachi) WD: Fukushima/Hirota (Gifu Tricky Panders) 2-1 Shida/Matsuyama (Saishunkan) Nagahara/Matsumoto (Hokuto Bank) 2-0 Fukuman/Yonao (Yonex) Takahashi/Matsutomo (Unisys) 2-1 Kurihara/Shinoya (Unisys) UPSET: Sakuramoto/Takahata (Yonex) 2-0 Yonemoto/Tanaka (Hokuto Bank) XD: Watanabe/Higashino (Unisys) 2-0 Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) Kobayashi (Tonami)/Shida (Saishunkan) 2-0 Kaneko/Nakanishi (Unisys) Gondo (Tonami)/Kurihara (Unisys) 2-0 Urai (Marusugi)/Miyaura (Yonex) Hoki (Tonami)/Nagahara (Hokuto Bank) 2-1 Mitsuhashi (Nihon University)/Shinoya (Unisys) B. Tomorrow's action (December 1): MS: Momota (NTT-East) v Tsuneyama (Tonami) Ueda (Unisys) v. Nishimoto (Tonami) WS: Yamaguchi (Saishunkan) v S. Takahashi (Unisys) Urushizaki (San-in Godo Bank) v Okuhara (Unisys) MD: Endo/Watanabe (Unisys) v Okamura (Unisys)/M. Onodera (Waseda) Sonoda/Kamura (Tonami) v Hoki/Kobayashi (Tonami) WD: Nagahara/Matsumoto (Hokuto Bank) v Fukushima/Hirota (Gifu Tricky Panders) Takahashi/Matsutomo (Unisys) v Sakuramoto/Takahata (Yonex) XD: Gondo (Tonami)/Kurihara (Unisys) v Hoki (Tonami)/Nagahara (Hokuto Bank) Watanabe/Higashino (Unisys) v Kobayashi (Tonami)/Shida (Saishunkan) I will be catching an early morning shinkansen to Tokyo tomorrow to see the remaining action live!
@Cunning Linguist I'm actually satisfied!! I mean I didn't have any hope they would win but the tight score means they've improved! We'll see them in the future for sure! They are young! Any links to watch the matches tomorrow live? What time will it be? Japan time?
Certainly looks like it. I hope @kurako will be there tomorrow, otherwise she has another no-Momota trip under her belt. Today's semi final results MS Kento Momota - Kanta Tsuneyama: Walkover Kenta Nishimoto - Takuma Ueda: 19-21, 21-14, 21-6 WS Akane Yamaguchi - Sayaka Takahashi: 21-8, 21-16 (ouch) Nozomi Okuhara - Mako Urushizaki: 21-11, 21-14 MD Kamura/Sonada - Hoki/Kobayashi: 21-13, 19-21, 22-20 Endo/Watanabe - Okamura/Onodera: 21-11, 21-5 WD Takahashi/Matsutomo - Sakuramoto/Takahata: 21-17, 21-11 (surprisingly one-sided) Fukushima/Hirota - Nagahara/Matsumoto: 21-18, 17-21, 21-13 XD Watanabe/Higashino - Kobayashi/Shida: 21-10, 21-11 Hoki/Nagahara - Gondo/Kurihara: 21-17, 21-16 Which leaves extremely favourite-heavy finals: Kento Momota - Kenta Nishimoto Akane Yamaguchi - Nozomi Okuhara Kamura/Sonoda - Endo/Watanabe Takamatsu - Fukuhiro Watahiga - Hoki/Nagahara
Why ouch for Sayaka Takahashi? Surely she wouldn't have been able to beat Akane Yamaguchi right? For the finals i'm saying it is gonna be NO. She looks hungry and angry and serious!
