Just in case anyone is interested, Tago Kenichi's punishment of 'indefinite de-registration' from the Nippon Badminton Association was officially lifted today, November 1, 2020. Thus, one of the most extensively damaging episodes in Japanese Badminton history has finally been laid to rest.
but, will they let him join another team if he wants to or at least sign off on any tournament entries?
If you watch any of Tago's YouTube videos, you will note that he is not in the best of physical shapes. And that is not even taking his age into consideration. I really cannot see him playing competitive badminton anymore. That having been said, if he wanted to test his current prowess as an individual player, he could just join a prefectural badminton association like Nishimoto, and start from there. What can be said is that Tago has potential as a dangerously effective coach. And I think that some teams would be interested in employing him as such. Maybe not the big boys like NTT-East, Tonami, or Unisys, who have their images to worry about, but there are other possibilities. Sakai Kazumasa, who now plays for Kanazawa Gakuin Club, flew all the way to Malaysia to take lessons with Tago. I wonder whether his club is interested? Actually, 'some people' (but I do not know who) were active in lobbying for Tago's 'de-registration' to be lifted. These 'people' may also be interested in utilising his abundant skills. Whatever his short-comings, Tago was a creative and gifted player, and he knows and breathes the game. Although the age gap is no doubt the reason, Momota has never been able to beat him. I am sure that for many current players, it would be extremely unnerving to see Tago on the opponent's coaching bench. Badminton in Japan, might even become a little more exciting.
i don't expect him to be an elite pro, however, many x-pros like to enter their local int'l challenge level & wt 100's for the fun of it, which would still require nba's signature. during his prime it was tago who prompted me to start keeping an eye on japanese badminton.
Really! Tago is 100kgs; I really don't think it is going to happen. As the 'indefinite de-registration' has been lifted, I expect Tago will join a prefectural badminton association. This means that he will have bona fide NBA membership. Accordingly, there will be nothing to stop him from entering for local tournaments, ... if he so desires. Needless to say, he will have to amass points in the domestic ranking tables in order to qualify for the top national tournaments .....
His age is 31 years old now, same age with current Olympic Champ Chen Long who had passed his prime. Coach position might be a good idea.
Tago's message on his Twitter account reads, I couldn't sleep. As of today, I am going to start Chapter Two as TAGOKEN, and Chapter Three as Tago Kenichi. I will give it my all!!
Tago's coaching youtube videos are actually incredible... he goes into concepts much deeper than any other videos I've seen on youtube and provides a pretty unique perspective from the coaches I've had in person (including those that were on the Chinese Taipei National Team and were partnered with Chou Tien Chen before he went to singles). Tago's footwork video is especially excellent and one that I would recommend to anyone looking to improve still. He focuses on center of gravity and line of sight, something not many coaches will bring up when it comes to footwork. Interestingly, in his smash video and and front court video (nets/lift/cross net) he also focuses on center of gravity and overall body momentum as opposed to the finger control - Momota tends uses this style of net as well (neutral wrist and arm, while using the body's momentum to generate the spin/tumble). I only wish more of the videos were translated since I can tell he has really valuable knowledge and a unique perspective. I believe even Chou Tien Chen, while being ranked #2 in the world flew to Malaysia to train with Tago a while ago.. he definitely has the chance to end up as a high level coach!
Yes, I commented something like that in the old Momota's thread that the one interesting thing I noticed in Momota is his ability to move around smoothly while maintaining a "center of gravity." In that way, he seems to be pulling power and energy by making full and clever use of his whole body in harmony with the natural force of gravity. He is letting gravity do part of the work for him. So, sometimes people think that Momota does not appear to be smashing as fiercely as some of the other players but yet, he has attained some of the fastest speed in smashing. It looks like Tago can be quite a dangerous coach.
I often wander why Nishimoto cannot move smoothly like Momota although he was higher than Momota and his arm is much longer. I also see that Momota can keep his balance better than Nishimoto when landing after make a jump. We may know the secret but how to improve it ??? just ask Tago ???
Talking about Tago, I had a chance to witness him play once in Lunar New Year 2018 when he came to Vietnam together with Beiwen Zhang. I stood watching him 1vs1 with our best Nguyen TM and he just made NTM running around chasing the shuttle. Such mesmerizing, fluid footwork and magical wrist work, not to mention his anticipation and reading the game brilliantly!!!
All Japan is coming soon, we will have changes to see: Momota's back Yonemoto/Tanaka's back New racket from Watanabe and Tago as coach ? Nishimoto's matches ^-^ p/s: and Misaki
Several news report that one of the reasons of the lift is the TAGO KEN YouTube channel (which has a following of 82,600 subscribers): "the national body had decided to lift the suspension on the grounds that Tago has been actively promoting badminton through coaching and engaging with fans on the social media platform in recent years." Is it really true? Did you see this in Japanese news? Anyways, the TAGO KEN channel is a must for Momota fans: watchout for the videos on the serve, the footwork, the smash, it's clear that Momota learnt a lot from Tago.
The decision to lift Tago's punishment of 'indefinite de-registration' was apparently taken at an NBA executive board meeting held in September. Zeniya Kinji (NBA), according to online newspapers, attributed this move to Tago's contribution to the sport through workshops and online coaching. That having been said, Japanese news was largely mute; only a couple of newspapers bothered to write rather short online articles on the subject. Badminton Spirit has kept silent. Incidentally, Tago showed the letter he received from the NBA on his YouTube channel. It was one-line-long, and simply stated that the de-registration would be lifted, effective from November 1. If only... Actually, in a very recent announcement made on his YouTube channel, Tago declared that his videos would, henceforth, be subscription-based. For a paltry (?) 3,000 yen per month, viewers will be able to tap the know-how of the former World No. 3. For anyone wavering, there is an added incentive. (Drum roll) ... Subscribers can apply to have a private lesson with Tago in Kyushu, Japan at half-price. Yes, ... a two-and-a-half hour session for 30,000 yen, instead of the normal 60,000 yen. Any takers? @kwun: It is now six months since the Momota thread was accidentally removed. Is there any news on its restoration? I was hoping to post some news next month, when the All-Japan Championships take place. A few upsets can be expected, and Japan's national team in 2021 may well have a totally different complexion.
The draw and timetable of the All Japan Championships (December 22-27) have been released on the Nippon Badminton Association homepage: 1. Draw: https://www.badminton.or.jp/2020/alljapandraw.pdf 2. Timetable: https://www.badminton.or.jp/2020/docs/timetable.pdf The entire tournament is expected to be aired/streamed both on NHK BS1 and YouTube, with details of the YouTube URL being announced one week prior to the commencement of the Championships. If Naraoka Kodai can beat Shimono Hashiru in R2, then we may be treated to a Momota vs Naraoka match. They have never played against each other!
