Badminton in Japan

As devastating as that ban was, I would say that you have a point.

But now, Momota shoulders the hopes and aspirations of the entire Japanese badminton world. He can no longer simply make first round exits.

 

I see the situation. Just wish Nishimoto or Tsuneyama improve fastly to share the burden with him.

in Sudirman cup 2021, I think it's time for Hoki/Kobayashi.

 

I loved the japanese’s supporting team under Kamura, so funny! They sure had fun despite the loss

 

A slightly more detailed report of PJB's responses at the post-tournament press conference are available on the BWF news site at https://bwfsudirmancup.bwfbadminton...celebrations-and-concessions-sudirman-cup-19/

Pressed further on his singles choices, the head coach explained that Yamaguchi was preferred today because her head-to-head record versus Chen Yufei was better than Nozomi Okuhara’s. Regarding Momota’s workload throughout the tournament – playing four of Japan’s five men’s singles matches in the Sudirman Cup – Park conceded their hands were tied.

“In the first match against Russia, Nishimoto was not very good. We feel there is a gap (in performance level) between Momota and Nishimoto so we had no choice. Momota had to play.”

As for men’s doubles, his rationale was that he hoped Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe would avenge their Asian Championships loss to China’s Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen – but that didn’t happen.

Despite looking stone-faced, Park admitted this second 3-0 loss to China in two Sudirman Cup finals (the first being in 2015 in Dongguan) was a major blow to him. “It is a comprehensive defeat for me. I cannot say our players played their best and I’m sorry about that. I commit myself to prepare better for the (Tokyo 2020) Olympic Games.”

 

Wait, didn't EndoWata beat Li/Liu in the last BAC and finally won the title?

 

Very sad day. Honestly the lineup chosen was the best lineup on paper. But in tournaments like this, a lot of things don't go according to script. I was a bit skeptical about Hiroyuki Endo giving a decisive point in this final as he has this history of getting nervous on the big stages, but as they just won in Wuhan and convincingly, I thought today could've fared well. Also the choice of Akane over Nozomi was questionable. Nozomi just plays better during team tournaments (remember that Uber Cup run) than Akane who struggled in both the Uber Cup and the Asian Games. Then lastly, Momota weirdly was either too tired or couldn't handle the pressure (esp on China home soil). Would've loved to see Matsumoto/Nagahara fight in a high stakes match against Chen/Jia, and potentially the XD match too which could've been either one-sided or exciting.

Good wakeup call to prepare better for the Olympics. That should be the highest priority. Japanese players need to know how to start games/matches well! Hard to play catch up all the time.

 

You put out your team based on matchups though. Endo/Watanabe is the correct choice because the time they played Li/Liu, they beat Li/Liu at the BAC Championships. Sonoda/Karmura have lost the last 4 times against Li/Liu and haven't beaten Li/Liu since 2017. And Yamaguchi has a better H2H recently versus CYF. Coach Park's selections were sound for the finals against China.

The only thing Coach Park could have done differently to affect the outcome of the finals was playing Nishimoto more and giving Momota more rest, especially the option to play Nishimoto against Thailand and Malaysia. It's a gamble though. If Coach Park plays Nishimoto and Nishimoto's loss causes an early exit for Japan, then Coach Park looks really stupid for playing Nishimoto. This almost happened when Russia nearly beat Japan, partly because Nishimoto lost in an upset to Vladimir Malkov. If Coach Park plays Nishimoto more and Japan still makes it to the finals, then Momota gets to rest more and Coach Park looks like a genius.

The difference is, if Coach Park was aiming for winning the whole Sudirman Cup but is willing to risk Japan exiting early, then the logical choice is to play Nishimoto. If Coach Park wants to play it "safe" and avoid an embarrassing early exit, then it's safer to play Momota. Coach Park chose to play it "safe" and get Japan further in the tournament rather than risk an early exit, which is understandable given that Russia nearly beat Japan during the group stages.

 

It was just as I thought. Coach Park didn't want Japan having an early exit by playing Nishimoto. The safe choice was to play Momota and ensure Japan could progress further in the tournament, at the cost of accumulated fatigue to Momota.

If Coach Park had played Nishimoto and Japan got knocked out early, Coach Park would look really bad. But if Coach Park had played Nishimoto more and somehow Japan managed to progress to the finals, then Momota would have been more rested by the finals. So Coach Park chose the "safe" option to get Japan further in the tournament.

I can't really blame Coach Park. This could all have been avoided if Nishimoto were in good form and didn't lose to Vladimir Malkov - that was a really bad upset by Russia. Nishimoto's loss almost caused Japan to lose to Russia but luckily, Japan just beat Russia 3-2. I imagine Coach Park got a bit scared when Japan almost lost to Russia and decided to play it "safe" after.

 

I still think Okuhara was a better choice. Recent H2H doesn’t say as much as performing well on the biggest stages as Okuhara did in Glasgow.

 

Because H2H is also an indication of style too. Coach Park probably thinks Yamaguchi's style is more effective against CYF. And Coach Park may have a point since Yamaguchi won the first set and was leading in the 3rd set by as much as 5 points.

You don't play Okuhara, whose style may struggle against CYF.

For example, I would not play Viktor Axelsen against Momota in any tournament, especially the finals of a tournament. Viktor really sucks against Momota. I would rather play Antonsen against Momota because Antonsen has figured out how to beat Momota, despite that Antonsen's ranking some 10 to 15 spots below Viktor's ranking. Antonsen's style matches better against Momota instead of Viktor.

And if Viktor and Ginting were on the same team (if that were even possible), I would also play Ginting against Momota because even though I think Viktor is a better player than Ginting overall, Ginting matches up better against Momota.

You seem to think Okuhara will overcome her style deficiencies against CYF on the big stage. Maybe. But unless you are absolutely sure Okuhara can elevate her game in the finals to overcome her style deficiencies against CYF, your better bet is to go with Yamaguchi who has a better style against CYF.

 

AY looks devastated and even apologized in Twitter which she rarely uses. Life is sometimes hard, just have to keep moving forward and do our best.

 

Feels like PBJ had very little confidence in Wata/Higa in this tournament and took the safe route by playing KM and Sono/Taka constantly even tho WD,WS, XD would've gotten the 3 points prior to the final stage.
Even picking MatsuNaga over FukuHiro for the final was a bit odd.

 

I agree.
Okuhara, the last two meetings against CYF, she lost in 2 straight games, she looked very confused and can't find a way to get points.

All England is a big stage too, even not the biggest, CYF still can win over Okuhara.

 

hopefully she can turn her disappointment into a big power in the future.

 

AY did not struggle in Uber Cup, she only lose to TTY. She played well in SF and F (againts home soil Ace player Intanon in 2 straight games).

NO played better on team tournament? you must forget her play when she was the first WS in Uber Cup 2016? In Uber Cup and Asian Games 2018, she was the 2nd WS, her opponent was not top player, so she can win easily without pressure.

 

From Kamura's Twitter site. Note the variance in expressions.

 

Rumblings about yesterday.
I think all 3 matches showed different types of deficiencies.

First of all, PJB acknowledged that he selected his line-up based on H2H.
I totally agree that H2H should be a factor, but I hope they don't just use H2H.
As coach, they have so much more information available.
CTC crushed Christie despite a 0-5 H2H.
And well, all three H2H were reversed yesterday.

1. MD: lack of quality. Considering PJB was a MD/XD legend, it's a bit disappointing that MD and XD are not better after all these years. There is not enough variety/strategy in JPN's MD play: for instance, SonoKamu only plays one way, they remind me of Wenger's Arsenal. You exactly know what you're gonna get. Compare that to say AhsanSetiawan.
2. WS: it was mental. Yamaguchi has all the technical quality, but she's always subject to points swings, in one way or another. Knowing that MD was likely to be lost, you knew there would be a pressure-cooker situation during WS. And Yamaguchi doesn't do well when it comes to "killing" a match, when leading 11-6 in G3: she's an entertainer at heart, playing for the beauty of the game and the audience. I have rarely seen Yamaguchi in team events, but I thought her body language was different from her usual play. I was wondering if there is any "mental coach" for Bird Japan.
3. MS: it was physical, already discussed in Momota's thread. And deep inside, I wonder if Momota himself still believed in JPN's victory at this point: we will never know. Even if Momota was cooked, I wonder if the result would not have been different had Akane prevailed.

 

Most of the players' expressions are quite flat. KM and AY didn't smile at all. Some of the girls smile, though some of them may not be natural.

 

In Japan, it's somewhat "mandatory" to smile, so if someone cannot smile, it's telling you something

 

Haha, I don't know if it is "mandatory". But, I am aware that sometimes the Japaneses put up the smile to hide his/her misfortune.