Yuta Watanabe ( 渡辺 勇大 )

They have secured their first win on the World Tour in R32 of China Masters after two consecutive losses in the first round! Glad to see that their synergy is improving although some things can still be fixed.

In quite a rare match where everyone is left handed, Taguchi has shown that her defense is better than Igarashi's (formerly Higashino), frustrating Greg Mairs who couldn't smash through her. While she is still not as fast, she is very proactive on the front court and can hold her own in the back. Her reach is also greater too. There are still some errors here and there, as well as some confusion between her and Watanabe, but definitely much better than their past matches.

Hope to see more of them as they get stronger and play higher ranked pairs.

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Was thinking if there's a chance of him joining ACT SAIKYO since Maya is on that team, but they are a women's only club. Quite surprising that he left, perhaps going independent would mean he can train more with Maya?
 
Arisa stayed on National team but Yuta decided to become private as he deem the terms by NBA unfavourable.

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Oh no the same route as Nozomi Okuhara? I hope this plays well for him.

I would say he should find a partner who is willing to take the same route and then go train outside japan or something like Axelsen.
 
Oh no the same route as Nozomi Okuhara? I hope this plays well for him.

I would say he should find a partner who is willing to take the same route and then go train outside japan or something like Axelsen.
I doubt he will ever come back. After his comments, I doubt his relationship between him and the NBA will be good.

As for Okuhara her situation is unique. She never criticise NBA and express great gratitude for their support. Looks like the NBA allow her to go semi-private for some reason I cannot understand in Japanese.

But the big difference is how these 2 parting ways from NBA. Yuta didn't handle it too well and in Jap society is a big no no.

Also with the departure of Park JB and the on going revamp all these dont stack well against him.

He is like Momota, bad rep with the NBA then the road ahead is tuff.

Anyway there are also players who gone private then back to the National team the following yr. E.g. Fukushima and Hirota.

But Yuta had a press conference and his comments are criticising. Abit like An Se Young but Yuta didn't have the sports minister coming out to support him.

So with all these I doubt he will be selected again, unless he does exceptionally well in domestic games.

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I doubt he will ever come back. After his comments, I doubt his relationship between him and the NBA will be good.

As for Okuhara her situation is unique. She never criticise NBA and express great gratitude for their support. Looks like the NBA allow her to go semi-private for some reason I cannot understand in Japanese.

But the big difference is how these 2 parting ways from NBA. Yuta didn't handle it too well and in Jap society is a big no no.

Also with the departure of Park JB and the on going revamp all these dont stack well against him.

He is like Momota, bad rep with the NBA then the road ahead is tuff.

Anyway there are also players who gone private then back to the National team the following yr. E.g. Fukushima and Hirota.

But Yuta had a press conference and his comments are criticising. Abit like An Se Young but Yuta didn't have the sports minister coming out to support him.

So with all these I doubt he will be selected again, unless he does exceptionally well in domestic games.

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What a bummer he was one of the most talented players
 
So he went from an inexperienced 19 year old partner to a probably past her prime 33 year old. Quite the shift. I hope it works out but I have my doubts. It's a shame to not see one of the most exciting and talented players playing at the top.

I honestly don't know why he doesn't switch to men's double again, I feel he's more suited as a front court player there than in XD.
 
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