Good to see that Kawakami has been entered for the All England. Whilst I do not believe that she has a chance of winning, the fact that a B Team member is being sent to a WT 1000 event indicates a policy shift on the part of the NBA.
WD: Hirokami/Kato did quite well in Thailand. First time I watch them play. They gave the Thai sister a good fight. And with a bit less unforced errors they could have won. Hope they can be promoted to team A soon. Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk
I'm afraid that Ohori's rank was not enough to take part in All England, and in this case, a member from team B who was qualified to take part in AE was chosen. How a member from team A cannot be qualified to take part in super tours 500 +
Ohori is in the AE draw. She just squeaked in at #32. Rank 33 is practically 32 right now because Takahashi Sayaka is no longer playing. Hirokami/Kato and Iwanaga/Nakanishi are also registered for AE. I am liking this new policy shift. Players with the ranking should be allowed to play. If they cannot handle the tougher competition, they will naturally drop out of the top 32, like where Ohori is heading...
I've been watching them since their appearance at the Taipei Open last year. Hirokami is a creative player. She takes more risk and sometimes it doesn't pay off, but they are still a young pair, still time to become more consistent. As of now, they're still losing to random pairs and losing games that they could have won due to mistakes, but I think they definitely have the potential to grow into a top pair.
It is 'Top4 Tournament' time in Japan, where the best-scoring four corporate teams of the SJ League tournament battle it out for the top perch. In a domestically-oriented society, this competition means so much to the players, who are keen to prove their worth both to their employers and Japanese fans alike. As far as the men's tournament is concerned, the top four teams are NTT-East, Tonami, JTEKT Stingers, and Hitachi Engineering. Yes, the JTEKT Stingers, invigorated by the addition of Nishimoto Kenta, managed to oust ever-present BIPROGY (formerly Unisys) from the final tournament. Today's menu: NTT-East vs Tonami JTEKT Stingers vs Hitachi Engineering The line-up for the NTT-East vs Tonami match is intriguing, so let me share it with you. Momota does not feature, and we have: MD1: Sonoda/Hoki (Tonami) vs Saito/Koga NTT-East) MS: Tsuneyama Kanta (Tonami) vs. Tanaka Yushi (NTT-East) MD2: Kobayashi/Mezaki (Tonami) vs Yamashita/Midorikawa (NTT-East)
Wish I could watch Tanaka Yushi vs Tsuneyama. Just can't help feeling Nishimoto, Tsuneyama are very very good players but just not willing to go the extra mile when the goings gets tough. Maybe motivated but not desperate enough. The last match between Tsuneyama and Ng Ks Long really could have gone either way. The prize goes to the one who is desperate enough and willing to go the extra mile. Stamina issue? Meanwhile, Naraoka, Tanaka Yushi and R. Hartano are progressing. Also, enjoyed watching Hirokami/Kato. Japan somehow has many strong W and XD. MD unfortunately .... still waiting ... WS , when there is no stamina issue or injury issue, Akane and Okuhara are simply amazing! Sad to see that Okuhara is struggling. But she will not be forgotten. She will always be remembered as one of the World's great WS player. Hope she can become a trainer and train many young players. Sent from my iPlay20S using Tapatalk
Tanaka Yushi enjoyed an incredibly convincing victory over Tsuneyama Kanta on Saturday. Two easy straight games. Although he does not have a particularly stellar record on the international circuit, he certainly knows how to pack a punch in Japan. Leaving aside Naraoka, I believe that Tanaka and Obayashi currently show the most promise in the MS category. With Tanaka's upsurge, Koga Minoru has been demoted to No. 3 on NTT-East's MS ladder. And, with Takei Riki hovering in the wings, the latter's future has become that much more uncertain.
I cannot forget the match between Naraoka and Tanaka Yushi. Although Naraoka lost in the match I'm referring to, both players played very well. They have to bring this type of fighting spirit to international matches. Not surprised Tanaka Yushi won Tsuneyama. This is good. It's a healthy competition. It will push Tsuneyama to work harder . Never giving up just because the match gets extra tough. Never had chance to watch Obayashi but I watched R. Hartono and I like what I see even if he sometimes lost. Attacking players will make a lot of unforced errors. Just have to continue and make efforts to correct themselves. Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk
Just now looking at the list of players slated to participate in European tournaments this March (as shown on the NBA website), it appears that Okuhara has pulled out of the German Open, and will, instead, be playing in the All England followed by the Swiss Open. She is obviously having problems getting her form together.
Nidaira Natsuki has transferred from Tonami to Yonex. This leaves Ohori Aya as the only female player left in the team.
For better or worse, she probably needs a change in environment. On the Saishunkan side, they took on one new player, Kiyama Rui, who won the WD bronze at last year's WJC. At the same time, Saishunkan is letting go of 3 players. Ono Nao and Uchiyama Chihiro are retiring from the team. The third, Fukumoto Shiena, who was Ono's partner, is transferring to Hokuto Bank. On a related note, it looks like Tonami's Kaneko/Shimono pair will be short lived. Kaneko has been registered for the Osaka IC with newcomer Ota Shunya. Shimono was registered with Saito Shun. Saito is mainly a single player so this Shimono/Saito pairing is probably temporary. Shimono's future is looking very cloudy.
The NTT-East women's team is losing four of its players, too. Having made no impact on the domestic, let alone international, circuit, all of them are moving onto regular full-time employment with the company. Shimono was not a bad singles player. Turning to doubles looks to have been a miscalculation.
Actually, they have also managed to catch Akechi Hina, which isn't at all bad. At 1.55 m, her size may prove a disadvantage, though.
Yes, Shimono is not bad at all as a single player. Never understood why he didn't continue training as a single player. Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk
NTT-East women team makes questionable hiring decisions. Maybe it's because they can't attract top up-and-coming players anymore? The men team is rebuilding nicely though. On the other hand, Biprogy's men team is going downhill. Biprogy did manage to take on some very promising young players in the past few years, like Watanabe Koki and Okamura, but the coaches just can't turn them into world class players. Not making the Top 4 tournament this season must be a new low for them. Yes, how did I forget! I even said it before . She's only 1 cm shorter than Yamaguchi and Okuhara. The two seniors have proven that it's not impossible, so all is not lost. She can still hope to make it into the top 10 .
As a single player, he was never going to make it into Team A. Even his position in Team B was getting shaky. I would say even his position as a single player inside Tonami was getting shaky as well, what with Tonami suddenly hiring three new MS players at the same time. It was either switch to double and become relevant or stay in single and slowly fade away. Unfortunately for him, the switch to double has not been working out very well either.
Just for a quick update on new employment contracts with the major corporate teams: A. Men's Teams 1. Tonami: Saito Shun (Futaba Future HS); Ota Shunya (Takaoka Daiichi HS) 2. NTT-East: Endo/Takei (Meiji U, National A Team); Midorikawa Hiroki (Waseda U, National A Team) 3. Hitachi: Inoue/Kawabe (Saitama Sakae HS); Iwano Koya (Futaba Future HS) 4. JTEKT: Ogawa/Sano (Hosei U) 5. BIPROGY: No new contracts B. Women's Teams 1. Saishunkan: Akechi Hina (Yanai Shoko HS); Kiyama Rui (Shitennoji HS) 2. Hokuto Bank: Nagafuchi Himeka (Saga Joshi HS) 3. Yonex: Ogasawara Miyu (Aomori Yamada HS) 4. NTT-East: Konegawa Mio (Shitennoji HS); Uesugi An (Meiji U); Ishikawa Kokona (Aomori Yamada HS) 5. BIPROGY: No new contracts Incidentally, in addition to hiring three new players domestically, Showa Denko will also be welcoming Kristen Wan-Ting Tsai (Taiwan) and Rachel Anne Honderich (Canada) to the team from April 2023.
It is going to be interesting to see whether Obayashi or Tanaka prevails in today's QF tie-up at the TOYOTA Gazoo Racing Thailand International Challenge 2023. Both are vying for a place on the A Team.
