Rather than her victory speech, her comment at the press conference afterward regarding the youngsters was making more news. Bringing it up so Kurako can touch on it in her answer.
I wonder if anybody here know what are those hand signals that the Japanese doubles players like to use before they serve? Pardon me but what's there to signal about?
Pretty much every professional doubles player uses hand signal to tell the partner where he/she is going to serve or what kind of serve it will be. If they don't use hand signals they tell them verbally. Knowing where your partner will serve makes it easier to close down the opponent's return of serve.
I can't recall it that clearly anymore, but it was astonishing how composed Okuhara was. Her camera-smile, too, was spot on. Basically, she commented how difficult the decision to enter the AJC had been, especially given the fact that the (disappointing) Olympics had been played in the same arena, and that it was her first tournament, not only since the Olympics, but also since her injury. She then added that this particular victory should not be interpreted as the starting line for Paris; instead, that starting line would be determined by the results of the World Championships held this summer in Japan. Okuhara finished her speech by asking the mass media to give more coverage to up-and-coming younger players, because these would be the players who would be featuring in Paris and beyond. The fact that none of them were able to make the most of this chance and win the tournament should, she added, vex them. The content was just so much more 'thought-out' than anything else that I heard on the day. I am not a fan by any stretch of the imagination, but she was just a class above the rest. Okuhara's turning pro may have contributed to the way she can deal with reporters.
Thanks so much kurako! I am a big fan of Okuhara. That doesn't mean I am not a fan of Akane Yamaguchi. Akane is an outstanding player and can be very consistent when she wants to. These 2 ladies (Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi) are great assets of Japan! In MS, i hope Naraoka and Tanaka Yushi will be able to have chance! Meanwhile, I am still worried about Momota's condition. Hope Momota is getting fully healed quickly!
Does anyone know what tension Nozomi choose to string her racket. I've heard 24 lbs at a source (China forum), but another showed that it was 27 lbs
So I guess Okuhara is saying that she needs to get positive results in the World Championships to motivate her to go on for Paris 2024?
Bird Japan's less than inspiring selection result was announced today, with Japan's National Team 2022 determined as follows. The players are listed in hiragana (Japanese alphabet) order; this bears no relation to their ranking. For reference, I have included the final placing in the AJC of those players who participated, and added asterisks (*) for new additions to any of the teams. MS (Team A): Tsuneyama Kanta (Tonami) Nishimoto Kenta (Gifu Badminton Association) Momota Kento (NTT-East) Watanabe Koki (Unisys) MS (Team B): Koga Minoru (NTT-East) AJC QF *Takahashi Koo (Tonami) AJC SF Tanaka Yushi (Nihon U., 4th year) AJC Champion Naraoka Kodai (IMG) AJC Runner-up Hatano Riku (Tonami) AJC R2 *Moriguchi Kotaro (Saitama Sakae HS 3rd Year, AJC R1) Shimono Hashiru (AJC SF), who was originally selected on December 30, has vanished from the list, being replaced by Moriguchi. But why Moriguchi over Takei Riki? And why was Shimono removed? WS (Team A): Okuhara Nozomi (Taiyo Holdings) AJC Champion Takahashi Asuka (Yonex) AJC SF Takahashi Sayaka (Unisys) Yamaguchi Akane (Saishunkan) WS (Team B): *Oie Natsuki (NTT-East) AJC QF Ohori Aya (Tonami) Kawakami Saena (Hokuto Bank) AJC R2 Gunji Riko (Saishunkan) AJC QF Nidaira Natsuki (Tonami) AJC R2 Mizui Hirari (NTT-East) AJC Runner-up MD (Team A): Koga A./Saito (NTT-East) *Takeuchi/Matsui (Hitachi Engineering) Hoki/Kobayashi (Tonami) MD (Team B): Inoue/Mitsuhashi (Unisys) AJC Runners-up Okamura/Onodera (Unisys) *Takano/Tamate (Hitachi Engineering) AJC Champions *Takei/Endo (Meiji U., 3rd Year) AJC SF *Nishida/Mezaki (Tonami) AJC QF WD (Team A): Shida/Matsuyama (Saishunkan) *Nakanishi/Iwanaga (Unisys) Nagahara/Matsumoto (Hokuto Bank) Fukushima/Hirota (Marusugi) *Hoshi/Matsuda (Unisys) WD (Team B): *Sakuramoto (Yonex)/Suzuki (NTT-East) AJC Runners-up *Hirokami/Kato (Saishunkan) AJC QF *Miyaura/Hobara (Yonex) AJC Champions XD (Team A): Kaneko/Matsutomo (Unisys) *Yamashita/Shinoya (NTT-East) Watanabe/Higashino (Unisys) XD (Team B): Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) AJC Withdrawal *Nihei/Asakura (NTT-East) AJC Runners-up Midorikawa (Waseda U., 3rd year)/Saito (ACT SAIKYO) AJC Champions Yamada (Nippon Sport Science U., 4th year)/Ikeuchi (77 Bank) AJC QF Coaching Staff: No changes to either team.
Thanks for the update! Reading your post, I just now checked Shimono's Twitter page, and here he clarifies his intention to switch to doubles. His partner has not yet been decided and, in any event, he intends to focus on the upcoming S/J League Tournament first. I am not sure, but not being able to win the AJC in the absence of Team A probably prompted this decision.
If I remember correctly on the SMASH and NET.TV Youtube channel, he used to play doubles with Kanta Tsuneyama long time ago.
According to the NBA website, Bird Japan's schedule for February and March is as follows. The dates include periods of residence in the countries concerned. Team A S/J League (Feb 5, 6, 11, 12) National Training Camp (Feb 20-Mar 5) German Open (Mar 5-13) All England (Mar 14-21) Swiss Open (Mar 21-29) Team B: S/J League (Feb 5, 6, 11, 12) Badminton Asia Team Championships (Feb 7-20) National Training Camp (Feb 17-28 <for Slovakia Open>) Slovakia Open (Feb 28-Mar 5) National Training Camp (Feb 27-Mar 5 <for German Open>) German Open (Mar 5-13) National Training Camp (Mar 26-Apr 4 <for Korea Open, Osaka International Challenge, FISU World University Games>)
Fukushima/Hirota will be participating in the National Training Camp commencing on February 2020, which points to a recovery! In addition, Team B players, Naraoka, Ohori and Kawakami, are slated to join the camp, meaning that they will be entered for the German and Swiss Open, with Ohori probably also joining the AE.
It's good to see the NBA letting the Team B players with the ranking join these tournaments. With the way things are, there aren't many opportunities for Team B to gain experience and improve their rankings.
Little by little, information on new employment contracts is being released. In April 2022, Obayashi Takuma (MS; Waseda U.) will be joining Tonami and Takei Riki (MS/MD; Futaba Future HS) will head for NTT-East.