I will wait for the team that Park coach will choose today. Because Kantaphon was lost either to the Russian guy, I hope Nishimoto has 1 more chance.
Without understanding anything, he comes across as confident, but extremely guarded, like he has his very own pr department active in his head all the time. Would you agree that with the ladies (not just based on these interviews, but in general), NO appears to be the - by far - most confident woman? All the others I think seem nervous and insecure/shy to varying degrees (AY the most, WN the least). Incidentally, NO is also the only one who really has a killer mentality. I think all the other female players are prone to underperformance in tight situations (services errors, unforced errors, bad decisions and so on). #poppsychologywednesday
Momota certainly mulls everything over in his head before speaking. But, although he can veer towards the cautious, the content of his answers tends to be extremely forthright. I don't think he hides much. And yes, he is more than self-assured. In contrast, I consider Okuhara to be far less confident than Momota, and possibly less confident than many of the other female players. She comes across as dauntless and iron-willed, but her demeanour and messages are so overly gung-ho, that I get the impression that she is probably rather sensitive, vulnerable, and possibly lonely. You are right about the "killer mentality", though. Okuhara constantly feels that she has a point to prove.
Haizzz, Maybe Nishimoto would play today if he won the Russian guy. That will be fun for me and Momota can save energy today. The tournament is done for Nishimoto. SO SAD.
I don't know about inner/outer confidence, but in this Sudirman cup, if I were the coach, and I had to choose between AY and NO, my money is on NO: she plays differently when it's a team event, it looks like she would do anything for the team, whatever it takes.
Just looking at last year's team events: 1. Asian Games Team Event Yamaguchi 0-3 Okuhara 3-0 2. Uber Cup Yamaguchi 4-1 Okuhara 6-0 3. E-Plus Badminton Asia Team Championships Yamaguchi 3-1 Okuhara 4-0 Okuhara did not lose a single match. ... But then again, she was generally pitted against the 2nd ranked players; Yamaguchi had the much tougher opponents.
True that, but AY just lost to Chocuwong, who is not a top 10 player. In AG, she also lost to GMT (INA).
OK, then have a look at the list of players that Okuhara won against in last year's team events. I am not confident that she could have done any better than Yamaguchi.
You can see Yamaguchi playing with maximum speed and jump around the court. I don't think Okuhara can make a difference. Pornpawee is not very strong but she is kind of Zhang Beiwen. Always try to save the shuttlecock and fight to the end. In team event, Yamaguchi lost to Chen Yufie and Tai Tzu Ying, not weak players.
Maybe not the place for this, but in my opinion, Japan's chances of winning the title took a major hit with AY's performance today. They are going to need both singles points to even be in the mix against China, because in XD, MD and even WD, China are probably favourites in front of a home crowd (heck, even without home support). Losing in WS would make extremely difficult. And WS comes down to either AY or NO against Chen Yufei. CYF imo is clear favourite against NO, I'd put NO's chances at 20% at best. For AY in good shape, I would have said 50-50 or 60-40 in favour of AY, but after today's debacle it's clear that "good shape" isn't a factor. PJB won't sleep well tonight.
Endo looks cool in the bench. He doesn't shout while everyone shout. Also, Captain Takeshi is the leader there.
Agree with you. I still don't understand why PJB still put Akane after knowing that Thailand won't play Intanon? Thailand's strategy is only to pursue a runner-up position, exactly like last year. Yesterday's match had dropped Akane's mentality, just like the last Asian Games. Akane also played well in team events, Sudirman Cup 2017, Japan left behind 1-2 against China, she played in the 4th game, only 19 years old, she could play calm and win against Sun Yu who was 27 cm high above him. although finally Japan lost in match 5. Okuhara also played badly, when she played WS 1 in the 2016 Uber Cup, she was 21 years old at the time. I do not agree to impose the death penalty only from several matches.
He may have wanted her to familiarise herself with the court before proceeding to Japan's more challenging tie-ups, i.e., those where every point counts. Incidentally, in her post-match interview Yamaguchi says that she didn't feel she moved badly. She attributes her loss to the fact that her opponent changed her strategy in G2 and played a faster game, a strategy that Yamaguchi simply followed. Also, Yamaguchi mentions that she often found herself being drawn to the front of the court and then having the shuttle hit behind her, when she should have been patient and pushed back at her opponent more strongly.
Looking at the draw, all the stars are aligned towards a China - Japan finals. If you were PJB, who would you line up in the finals, besides the obvious Momota for MS and WataHiga for XD? I suspect China would field the same line-up as vs Denmark, except for MS: - Chen Yufei for WS: her record is 9L/5W vs Yamaguchi and 4L/2W vs Okuhara. That's a tough one. I said my money is on NO, but she's had two recent losses vs CYF. I'd still go for NO. - Li/Liu for MD: SonoKamu or WataEndo or WataSono like in the Thomas Cup? Would you put Watanabe for double duty? - Chen/Jia for WD: another tough one. I'm leaning towards FukuHiro.
For me AY mistake was to over-press her opponent forehand side. The young Thai player was hitting definitively harder than Akane in G2 while moving at the same speed, being taller Pornpawee Chochuwong ended up with the necessary offensive advantage in the long rallies. I'm sure Akane will bounce back from that match, she would need to be more cautious on the tactics tho, dare to take some pace off if required and trigger to unforced errors using her underrated racket skills. I feel more concerned by TakaMatsu performance of yersterday, their stamina level dropped dangerously at the end of game 2 explaining the repeated unforced errors. Possible that Takahashi age and the attrition game style was backfiring. Tactically they need to consider that by arranging more setups for letting the front court player to score points.
I would have to watch the previous day matches to decide, giving WataSono another chance is a nice idea the main advantage being to disturb any Chinese plans without compromising the level. For WD it's a 50/50, fitness level being the main decider. Preferably I would like to see Nagahara Matsumoto full offensive potential. A scratch pairing could also be thrilling to see : M.Matsutomo/Nagahara or Fukushima/Matsumoto
XD No chance, really. Recent results, Higashino injury, overall quality all point to China. The only saving grace might be doing something unexpected and getting ZSW nervous. He's prone to that, despite being by far the best XD player. WS That h2h deserves closer attention. Two of those losses came when CYF was 16(!) and 18 respectively. One was her forfeitting due to injury at 4-5 in the first game. Secondly, CYF has made a visible physical step up and has become a tournament winner in the second half of last year. Since then, she's had easy straight game wins against Okuhara. I really don't see how Okuhara is going to score points against her in what Steen said are also slow playing conditions. Akane's loss yesterday was a bad result in more than one respect: the result itself, the prospect for a possible game against China and the fact that she once again proved a failure in a tight situation (wasting match points). PJB has now the choice between a bad option (NO) and a alright option that has become bad. The WDs are all looking suspect. I think we can agree that it's not going to be Takamatsu playing against Chen/Jia. I'd definitely go with Nagamatsu, but both are not favourites and both have also shown severe cases of the jitters. MD now has a similar dilemma as WS. The good option of Endo/Watanabe with their favourable h2h against Li/Liu has played themselves into a ditch against Russia. On top of that, Yuta would have to do double duties. Kamura/Sonoda are basically no option at all. MS Kento will play all remaining games until the (possible) final because Nishimoto is no viable alternative, while China a alternate between CL and SYQ and still win the tie. Seems like a disadvantage for KM for me, even though I'd never write him off. All in all, China are favourite to win it, imo.
