Nguyen removed... LCW, Tago, Lee Dong Keun playing qualifiers... must be a really strong field in the main draw... ! Full force of top seeded entries. Should be an interesting tournament.
A worst possible draw for the Three Musketeers - a likely matchup between LD and LCW in R2 and waiting for the winner is most probably none other than the world champion Chen Long in the QFs, how's that.
All 3 are gonna have sleepless nights leading up to the tournament date... Chen Long with the least to lose...
I don't know if it was injury or what, but he certainly started looking a little like an egg after laying off badminton for a while. Since then he's had back problems... his ranking was low enough to not make it to the main draw during the registration period for Japan Open.
The Kenichi Tago I knew in the past is a Thomas Cup 2014 hero who won over Chen Long and thus helping Japan to win over China 3-0 in the semifinals of the Thomas Cup 2014. Those were the good olden days of Kenichi Tago. However, he is now considered as the player who has already passed his prime and peaking years. To be honest Kenichi Tago didn't have past great achievements aside from this Thomas Cup 2014 success. The Tago that we are seeing now is a totally different Tago. He has been struggling very hard to perform to his best and kept losing at the earlier rounds of the tournaments. To add to his misery, he has not won any medals at all this year. Sad to say his performance continues to be in a slump. Stories about his back pain and backache certainly stopped him from winning in tournaments this year. Plus now Kenichi Tago certainly has put on a lot of weight. If he continues to put on weight, he will not be fit anymore and thus it will be difficult for him to win in future tournaments. Plus Kenichi Tago certainly needs to improve on his fitness as he is not a fit player. Ever since he started playing badminton he has been struggling with fitness issues and till now there is no improvement in this area. I do feel sad for him but I have learn to accept that it will be very difficult for him to make a comeback.
Qualifier prediction game - Japan Open SS (08-13 September 2015) . My prediction on Qualifiers: MS Q1: Brice Leverdez Q2: Anthony Ginting Q3: Lee Dong Keun Q4: Lee Chong Wei WS Q1: Iris Wang Q2: Nitchaon Jindapol Q3: Saena Kawakami Q4: Hsu Ya Ching MD Q1: Puavaranukroh Dechapol/Kedren Kittinupong Q2: Chan Alan Yun Lung/Lee Chun Hei Reginald Q3: Liao Min Chun/Tseng Min Hao Q4: Markis Kido/Agripinna Prima Rahmanto Putra WD Q1: Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth/Aprilsasi Putri Lejarsar Variella Q2: Chaladchalam Chayanit/Phataimas Muenwong Q3: Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan Q4: Chang Ye Na/Lee So Hee XD Q1: Kenta Kazuno/Ayane Kurihara Q2: Yoo Yeon Seong/Chang Ye Na Q3: Jae Hwan Kim/Kim So Yeong Q4: Solgyu Choi/Eom Hye Won
According to this article Tago has nagging back injury problem => http://www.thestar.com.my/Sport/Badminton/2015/08/10/Kenichi-Tago-may-not-start-against-Chong-Wei/ His WR has plummeted to #37, even he couldn't pass World Championships first round against Polish player Michal Rogalski last week.
Note that Pia's usual partner, Rizki Amelia Pradipta, has returned to the PBSI pelatnas. I am not sure Pia can advance with a new partner and Rizki likewise.
Rizki partner is a good player. But PBSI decision to keep changing her partner makes her not that high in ranking yet. I believe in coach Eng Hian's foresight and his training. They will do well. Pia meanwhile, maybe retiring if she is pregnant, she just got married so I guess she is just playing to earn more extra money
Well I would say this can be a great tourney to watch!!! Many upsets can be seen from the very first R in fact from the Qualis itself.. This is the perfect draw for atleast KS and SN if not for PVS and PK.. Both of them will avoid playing big contenders in early stages (Ks will avoid playing 3 Giants +KM + WZM)and (for SN she won't cross swords with LXR+CM+WSX) I believe only big obstacle is TTY... Jai Ho
Forgot the link: http://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draw.aspx?id=EAA3742E-966C-4E1B-A652-6BC693FD6720&draw=10