Thomas Cup: 1 Momota Kento (NTT-East) 2 Tsuneyama Kanta (Tonami) 3 Nishimoto Kenta (JTEKT) 4 Naraoka Kodai (IMG) 5 Hoki / Kobayashi (Tonami) 6 Koga / Saito (NTT- East) 7 Takeuchi / Matsui (Hitachi Engineering) 8 Watanabe Yuta (BIPROGY) Uber Cup: 1 Yamaguchi Akane (Saishunkan) 2 Okuhara Nozomi (Taiyo Holdings) 3 Takahashi Sayaka (BIPROGY) 4 Gunji Riko (Saishunkan) 5 Fukushima / Hirota (Marusugi) 6 Matsumoto / Nagahara ( Ngân hàng Hokuto) 7 Shida / Matsuyama (Saishunkan) 8 Matsutomo Misaki (BIPROGY) Still 8 players, I counted again.
One doubles pair has two players. Three doubles pairs has six players. Each pair is not fixed. Players can be mixed into different pairs depending on team tactics. A doubles player might even be selected for a singles match. Yes, it has happened. Two singles players might be combined into a doubles pair. With eleven separate players on each team, Japan seem to have most options covered for doubles.
Srikanth pulled out of the Korea Masters so I guess we'll have to wait longer to find out. As for his first round match, it didn't look like he was working on a net game .
Naraoka and Gunji were chosen over Watanabe Koki and Takahashi Asuka or Ohori for the team. Looks like the coaching team is starting to look ahead. Japan is also bringing Watanabe Yuta and Matsutomo. Will we get to see some scratch pairings this year too? I'm not hoping for anybody to get injured, but it was exciting to see scratch pairings last year.
Nice to see all of Bird Japan making it to R2 of the Korea Masters, ... for a change. I was really starting to worry. But, possibly, the more interesting tournament is currently taking place far across the Pacific Ocean. Yes, the lowly Mexican International Challenge. Looking at the younger generation of players, Tanaka Yushi (AJC 2021 champion), Hatano Riku, and Takei Riki (who, incidentally, is not on the national team) have managed to clear the qualifiers, and will be joining Koga Minoru and Obayashi Takuma in R1. Gunji Riko and the up-and-coming university MD combination of Endo/Takei are also featuring. Let's see how they fare.
I like how Yuta and Matsutomo were selected for Men's and Women's teams respectively; it shows how good they are that they can be paired with anyone to make a decent combo. Probably not going to see much of them but still excited at the prospect of potential scratch doubles pairings.
Pornpawee is not an easy player to beat. I watched the match and Asuka Takahashi did well. As a player who likes to attack, she must develop patience. Like Viktor A, players who like to attack can get emotional especially when they meet someone who is a good retriever. When someone keeps on retrieving all their shots, they go closer for the lines and steep smash. They start making mistakes and wonder if it is just not their day. A good coach can help her to understand that there's nothing much wrong with her attacks. She just have to sustain the attack a little bit longer or shift mode for a while and play rally mode. But as soon as chance comes again, quickly shift back to attacks. Pornpawee is also an attacking player. She used to lose to R. Intanon but now she is able to win Intanon. She must have good coaching. Asuka Takahashi must look forward to meet good retrievers. If she plays with all her heart then whether win or lose, it will serve as a good training for her. But if she gets emotional and gives half hearted efforts, then it will not serve as a good training.
Another player that I see great potentials and would like to follow is Tanaka Yushi. I hope he can get good coach and also he, himself has ambition to go for the top.
Today Asuka Takahashi was able to beat Lauren Lam. Will she be able to keep her cool and stay focus tomorrow? If she can, she has what it takes to win.
Japanese representatives in the final for all disciplines in Mexico! The AJC finalists, Mizui and Tanaka Yushi, however, had both crashed out early, in R16 and QF respectively. Koga will play against the Brazilian who downed Tanaka, and Gunji will go up against Nidaira Natsuki for the MS and WS titles. A title here can help Gunji gain more confidence for the Uber Cup.
It is a shame that Koga edged out Hatano Riku. The latter started from the qualifying rounds, hence, will have been more fatigued. To his credit, Hatano did manage to take down the No. 1 seed, Ygor Coelho.
I am kind of surprised, or maybe not, that Tanaka had lost that early. He seems to play better at home than abroad. He also lost very early in the last international tournament that he played.
Asuka Takahashi started well with CYF. Then, she started giving away free points. Then she started to struggle to stay a float making unforced errors after unforced errors. Also, misjudgments after misjudgments about CYF lifts to the back line. Anyway, it was a good experience for her to play with an Olympic Champion, CYF. Hope coach can show her the video and help her to analyse. Tanaka Yushi also needs a good coach to help him. He was a monster when he fought against Naraoka. Almost as good as LS, KV and LKY. If coaches don't put in extra efforts to help these type of players , then it is a big waste. Naraoka did well so far. But coaches should not be satisfied because Naraoka can do a lot more, if good training is provided.
Are you placing a bet? Neither of them seem to be particularly aggressive players, and the match could be determined by reserves of stamina. Naraoka has the most problems with fast, aggressive players who don't give him the opportunity to play according to his own rhythm and patterns of game development. He customarily likes to take his time in working up to 'points'. I am not sure whether Jeon can punch holes in Naraoka's game plan, but as, in the lead up to the final, he has won all of his matches in straight games, he may well have more gas left in the tank. It is difficult to call.
Naraoka played better than expected; he even managed the occasional smash. Moreover, he discarded his usual dour expression, and actually seemed to be enjoying himself. And, as runner-up he has now overtaken Team A rival Watanabe Koki in terms of BWF ranking points.
