Nishimoto with his long reach has good potentials ... but Tsuneyama is stronger mentally, is not afraid of hard work (no pain, no gain mindset) and is more creative I think. Anyway, hoping that these 2 can improve. Otherwise, hope Watanabe Koki or somebody can be raised up. For WS, Asuka Takahashi, Oie and Gunji Riko has good potentials. Okuhara, Akane and Ohori are of course still better than them but this might be because of experience and training opportunities.
Nishimoto is already 25. I would say that Tsuneyama has more potential, but his relaxed, seemingly carefree attitude sometimes makes me wonder whether he is really aspiring to reach the top. I don't think that Watanabe Koki stands too much of a chance of breaking into the top 10; at 1.66 m, he is simply too small. Naraoka Kodai, who is now just one rank behind Watanabe may well get there, ... with the right training environment. Unfortunately, he has been placed in National Team B (not A) and will not be joining a corporate team after he graduates from High School, factors which are going to impede his progress. It is going to be interesting to see how the younger WS develop. There is a huge gap in ranking between the top four and the rest, and I wonder whether the younger cohort can make any inroads. None have been promoted to National Team A, so I am not confident that their training environment will change much...
86 photographs of Team Japan in action at the World Tour Finals have been made public by "BEHIND". They really are spectacular images! http://behindphotos.com/showcases.html?id=665
those who are carefree and relaxed they can handle high pressure. they will reach the top position easily
2019 has drawn to a close, so let me just attach my updated graph on how the singles players in the 2019 National Team (A; B, plus a couple of players with potential) closed their year. First, men's singles... What struck me first here is the fact that the top six players have first names starting with the letter "K". Maybe I should change my real name to Kurako. Apart from that, Naraoka, despite not being on the national team, managed to raise his ranking within one place of newly-promoted Watanabe Koki. Naraoka mentioned in an interview that he is aiming for a top 30 WR this year, and has set his sight on the 4th MS spot. Both Watanabe and Naraoka are scheduled to feature in the Thailand Masters this coming January, which could prove interesting! As everyone knows, Sakai Kazumasa and Omoto Shota, who are shown above, have been dropped from the National Team. Onodera Yusuke, too, failed to impress at the All Japan Championships.
And now for the women's singles... Mizui, Takahashi, and Oie (freshly promoted to National Team B) all scored impressive results, and the pressure is on to further raise their profiles. Now that Kawakami and Mine have been dropped from the team, there is a glaring gap between the Team A players and the rest; can these three make any inroads? Both Mizui and Takahashi have been entered for the Thailand Masters, but it is unlikely that they will be promoted from the 'reserve' list.
And now looking ahead to 2020, here is the list of players who are scheduled to participate in tournaments this coming January. First, the singles players:
I don't know whether any injuries were sustained or aggravated during Bird Japan's New Year national training camp but, according to an NBA notice posted today, the following members have been removed from the list of players being despatched to the Malaysia Open: Endo Hiroyuki Watanabe Yuta Kobayashi Yugo Matsumoto Mayu Higashino Arisa Two of the above players, Kobayashi Yugo and Matsumoto Mayu will join the delegation at the Indonesia Masters. Endo Hiroyuki, Watanabe Yuta, and Higashino Arisa will absent themselves from both tours. Hoki/Kobayashi as well as Watanabe/Higashino are going to lose points due to this development.
In addition to the above, National B Team MS Tanaka Yushi has been removed from the list of players being sent to the Estonia and Sweden IS tournaments. His lack of ranking points left him too deep down in the pool of reserves.
NOOOOOOOOOO! I was really anticipating some Endo/Watanabe and Watanabe/Higashino action. Also, what's the injury from Kobayashi that it has taken so long to recover? Thanks kurako for the updates. Please let us know once you know more
I know Oie is good but I am surprised that Oie beat Gunji Riko. Unfortunately, I noticed that Asuka Takahashi didn't join this time. Asuka Takahashi, Oie, Mizui Hirari, Rico Gunji appears to be the new wave of potentials WS champions if they can get good experiences and training and if they themselves have the determination to win for Japan.
Why are you surprised? Gunji is 17, Oie 21. Gunji had to play qualification (5th match in three days today), Oie didn't. I also doubt that most of them will ever be "champions", even though I don't really know how you define that term. Especially Oie, who'll turn 22 in March. In my opinion, if you've not managed to make waves in WS by the time you are 19 or 20, chances are you're not good enough. Oie is 21, Takahashi 20, Mizui is 19. Combined, they've not won anything bigger than an international challenge event. I really think there's no potential for any of these three to play 500+ tournaments and make it past the first round or two. Which leaves Gunji, who is the only one I can see challenge for one of the 4 A team spots and be successful at bigger tournaments. She still needs one or two years for that, probably.
Takahashi Asuka along with Mizui Hirari are considered the top B Teamers and, therefore, will generally only be entered for 300 and 100 level tournaments. This also applies to Naraoka Kodai and Igarashi Yu in the MS category. Unfortunately, the latter's world ranking has slid so badly that (currently) he has been unable to qualify for the Thailand Masters. Unless he enters himself for IC/IS level tournaments in a self-financed capacity and thereby raises his ranking, his raison d'etre will be called into question. That aside, the lower end of the B Team certainly seems to be faring better than their A Team compatriots. The finals of the Estonian International look like this: Of the above, WD Miyaura/Ozaki are a scratch pair, mobilised from two National B Team XD pairs, who have also made it to the Final! On the whole, this tournament has generated some interesting/encouraging results. High Schoolers Gunji Riko and Otake/Takahashi (WD) did well to get as far as the QF and SF, respectively. The latter, in particular, eventually went down to the No. 1 seeds in three games, but Takahashi must have been exhausted, as she also featured in the WS category, ... from the qualifying stage. I was somewhat surprised that Obayashi defeated Koga Minoru at the QF. The former, too, finally lost at the SF to the No. 1 seed, but did uncharacteristically well until that stage. I tend to agree with @Cunning Linguist's assessment of the WS scene, although I haven't quite yet given up hope on either Takahashi Asuka or Oie Natsuki. I know I am repeating myself, but the fact that Takahashi, Mizui, and Oie are haven't won any tournaments of note can partially be attributed to the fact that they are not being sufficiently exposed to international competition. None of the players were entered for anything higher than a 100 level tournament in 2019, and Oie, in particular, had to be sponsored by NTT-East, as she wasn't even on the national team. Nevertheless, she still managed to beat players in the WR 30~ range, such as Chaiwan, Gilmour, and Kjaersfeldt. The NBA really needs to do more to assist these players to reach their potential.
Found this video in my recommendation. Nice video. Any news where the elementary kid is now ? Has he taken badminton professionally ?
Yonex has published its 2020 Sportswear Catalogue. In the first half of this year, Bird Japan will sport a 'cuter' image.
