Hm, new club? I thought he was going rogue, just like Okuhara.
Alas, even worse. At least Okuhara has a sponsor.
Actually, Nishimoto is neither affiliated to a corporate team, nor gone ’pro’; he is a 'ronin’. Ostensibly, he is affiliated to the Gifu Prefecture Badminton Association, but this there is no salary involved. His fans might take solace from the fact that he is being allowed to practice with the ladies of
Marusugi Bluvic under the mesmerising guidance of Imai Akihiro. ...
.... Nishimoto seriously mis-timed his defection from Tonami. He is looking for a sponsor, but with the ramifications of coronavirus, potential benefactors are tightening their purse strings. Point-wise, he is trailing Tsuneyama, and there is no guarantee that he will make it to the Olympics, which renders his prospects even dimmer.
It will be interesting to see how Nishimoto fares at the
All Japan Championships (AJC) this year, ... but I suppose that applies to everybody. Next year's national team could realistically have a totally different complexion.
Incidentally,
JSports recently aired a Tonami-only competition (Tonami split itself up into two teams, headed by Kamura and Sonoda, respectively). Somewhat surprisingly, Obayashi (MS, National B Team, invited to join the event, although he is still a Waseda U student) was resoundingly thrashed by Tonami newbie, Hatano Riku, who stands at 1m77, and just turned 19 this summer.
I am betting on some major upsets at the AJC.