Naraoka tends to win the point when he (very rarely) played more aggressively. His shot quality is not good enough to sustain the rally style he likes to play. His style might have worked for him against opponents he had met up till now, but top players will have no problem keeping up with him or breaking his rhythm. If he wants to get into the top 10 someday, his game will need to evolve.
Haven't watched it so I don't know who was horrible, but does this mean that Saishunkan had finally found a decent second double? Gunji is making steady progress in her ranking. My hope for her is still alive.
Do you agree his hair were getting into his eyes far too often and hindered his ability to visualise properly? I think his hairstyle worked against him. LMAO
My prediction was that JHJ would win, just based on what I've seen of Naraoka these past two weeks, and JHJ's scoreline against his opponents on his way to the final.
Koga Minoru play against the tall Brazillian was brilliant. Lifting to the back was not going to work because the tall Brazillian had Viktor A's / LZJ's type of powerful, steep and accurate smashes executed from the back court. From middle of 2nd match onward, noticed how Koga slowly changed to hitting mostly low shots, flat drives, low but fast angled lifts. And as for net shots, he placed the shuttle a little bit into the opponent's court so that the opponent had to react and don't have time to respond with a hair pin spinning shuttle. Yes, the shuttle will come back quick but it will be a normal return. where the opponent had to quickly decide whether to lift and risk giving away a smash opportunity or try to play close to the net and see if he can get a lift and the opportunity to execute a smash in the next shot. I congratulate Koga's coach. Also, i congratulate Koga for having spent the hours training and preparing himself just in case he has to play in this mode for a long stretch of time. Almost like table tennis without a table or the ground is the table. I think experience is what made the difference between how Tanaka yushi and Koga handled a tall attacking player. I still think Tanaka Yushi will be a good player if properly trained.
That barber had no heart. Poor Kodai ! How about this ? Naraoka's popularity might reach K-Pop level after this one!
A summary of PJB's comments on the Badminton Asia Championship and Thomas/Uber Cup, as skimmed from a Badminton Spirit article. I have added PJB's impression of Momota on the (new) Momota thread, in full. 1) Targets for the BAC and TUC: PJB: As match experience is important for the conditioning of the players, better results can be expected at the TUC. At the Uber Cup, the female players will set out to avenge their loss to China at last time's Finals. However, they may be hampered by injuries incurred at the national training camp. The men's team will be aiming for a place in the Finals. 2) On the use of XD players, i.e., Watanabe Yuta and Matsutomo Misaki: PJB: More than anything, I am worried about sudden COVID-19 infections. This year, we were informed only two days before the TUC entry deadline that 12 players, instead of 10, could be entered. I included these two players because they were aces in MD and WD respectively, and they are still at the same level as other top players in these categories. I believe that Watanabe and Matsutomo will have a positive impact on the team. 3) On Injuries: PJB: Okuhara's injury is long-standing, and her current condition is not very good. Nagahara, too, was due to play at the BAC, but has not been able to regain her form in time. Although she will play at the Uber Cup, the recovery process of injured players is proving quite slow.
She had injured her right calf before the tournament. She is hoping to recover by the time Uber Cup starts.
So much discussion on Momota, but nothing about the rest of the team... What's the chance that HokiKoba will get split up today? They had been very underwhelming as a pair in the last two matches. Kobayashi, especially.
Yeah he's so clumsy these days and he doesn't offer much other than his above-average (by Japanese standards) smashes. I don't think they will split HokiKoba. It might be the same exact lineup for MD1 and MD2
You've got it right . Let's see if they can lift their performance today. My instinct says no, but a surprise is always welcome.
Baffling WD lineup choice for the SF. Don't the coaches know how unreliable ShidaMatsu are? Japan should have gone with the same lineup as last year. Were they afraid of hurting some people's feeling by splitting up an uninjured pair? This decision could very well have cost them the tie. On the other hand, Okuhara's complete collapse was so unexpected. She always has the image of being mentally very tough, but, wow, what to say. 11-4 up against a not too strong opponent, and even ending on the good side, only to inexplicable hit everything out even when not under pressure. This could give Momota's infamous 1-17 run tough competition for the most baffling performance of the year award.
Naraoka oh Naraoka... He didn't even try to do his best as decider. I don't know why coaches/NBA choose him over Watanabe Koki. Naraoka is just look like amateur player who couldn't even be a champion in local tournament.
Not if Koga's partner has anything to say about it . But serious answer, it won't happen unless Watanabe also sign on to NTT East. He's currently playing for BIPROGY, formerly UNISYS, and that's where Higashino is at.
Matsuyama played an extremely bad match yesterday; she was the star in last year’s Uber Cup run really. For the sake of the win maybe they should’ve stuck with last year’s lineup but I guess they were also trying to give Matsu/Shida some experience as they’ll likely be at the forefront of JPN WD as the next generation begins. I completely agree about Okuhara… probably match fitness was the problem here. Didn’t have the mental fortitude that you develop after playing matches as she’s not played a lot over the past year really. Seemed really careless with her shots. Had to stop watching midway through G3 as it was really painful to witness.
