The NBA published its revised domestic rankings yesterday, and Momota has finally returned to where he belongs: MS No. 1. (https://www.badminton.or.jp/ranking/2018/ranking20180805ms.pdf) Looking at how the top 50 (domestic ranking) MS and WS players are currently divided into the Top 4 corporate teams makes for an interesting comparison. With the exception of Nihon Unisys and Tonami, the top corporate teams are incredibly under-represented in the MS and WS categories, and over-reliant on one or two players. This fiscal year Koga Minoru (Waseda U, domestic rank no. 9) will graduate, as will high school students Midorikawa Hiroki (domestic rank no. 41) and Mizui Hirari (domestic rank no. 16), both winners of the All-Japan Inter-High Championships that took place last week. Midorikawa may well enter university, but as women tend to move directly into employment, this will probably not be the case for Mizui. Which companies will get the pickings? With Mizui, it could be Yonex (her mother's current employer) or NTT-East (her mother's former employer). With the demise of Sato and Mitani, both teams are in need of fresh talent. As for Koga Minoru: His brother, Akira, plays for NTT-East, so I am wondering whether he might join the same team. Although his smash is non-existent, Koga Minoru very occasionally resembles Momota in his play style, and personally, I would like to see them on the same team.
Yonex might not be a great choice, as she'd be the lowest ranked there, possibly relegated to backup of the backup status. Hokuto might be a better fit for her in that regard, Or Saishunkan would be a great place for training.
To all Yamaguchi Akane fans (i.e., @Cunning Linguist) Access this site, and click the photo of Yamaguchi (http://www.tbs.co.jp/asiangames/), located in the third row. There may be a Romeo and Juliet ballet or bizarre Metal Macbeth advertisement first.... just wait for it to finish. The footage of Yamaguchi is really quite cute. She is being spotlighted for the Asian Games by TBS, which has broadcasting rights for the event. Edit: And it looks as though she is also being highlighted by NHK, along with Momota and Okuhara: https://www1.nhk.or.jp/sports/2018asiangames/chumoku/index.html
Thanks for this, but I couldn't find anything on AY (third row?). Maybe it's geo-blocked. As for your other post: You know I'd really like Mizui at Saishunkan, but the chances are apparently miniscule. I fear she might even go to the US of Vape as they don't really have any singles player worth mentioning and seem ambitious enough. More important than another WS player would be a double, so I'm keeping fingers crossed for Saito/Yoshida. When is draft season again?
Ehh? I have to admit, my "third row" could be totally confusing. Are there are no small photographs to click under the larger video (more explicitly, the 2nd photograph from the right)? If not, what a shame. You missed five-year-old Akane knocking a shuttlecock around and stating that her one ambition in life is to become a badminton player, ... possibly egged on by a slightly overbearing mother. There is no draft system, such as for baseball. Negotiations for badminton players go on behind the scenes. As far as high school students are concerned, the head coaches of corporate teams or universities usually approach school coaches/teachers soon after the inter-high championships, i.e., now! Targeted players are those who managed to reach the best 8~16 in year 1 or 2 of high school. Occasionally, high school seniors already affiliated with a corporate team/university will contact their juniors directly to invite them. This happened to Watanabe Yuta when Higashino Arisa invited him to Unisys (needless to say, at the behest of the club coach). An official announcement of 'prospective employees' expected to feature in the SJ league this coming season, i.e., before their employment officially commences in April 2019, should be made in December .
It took me quite a while to find this video, but I eventually found it. The problem is that you actually need to live in Japan to view the video player itself it on this page [link]. But luckily for you I managed to pull the video from the site and stitch it back together (not perfectly):
Team Japan's new uniform for the latter half of 2018 has been announced: http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/news/2018/08/1808101500.html. I am not quite sure when the players will start wearing it (Asian Games? Japan Open?), but it will be on sale to the public from late August. Personally, I prefer the current uniform, ...but then again, Momota looks good in whatever he wears. Edit: Looks like the team is already wearing the new uniform: https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2018/08/18/0011553016.shtml
I don’t like it. Which is good, considering I have no money right now. Lets hope better uniforms are on the way when I’m richer.
I suspect we might see some additions earlier. Hokuto Bank has already added two youngsters (born in 99 and 00 respectively) to their official site, Yonex did the same with Yui Suizu and Asuka Takahashi. My "draft season" comment was more aimed at when it's graduation time for the class of Mizui, Saito, Yoshida. Because I don't expect them to idle for several months. The ones joining club teams will probably do so rather promptly after graduation, right?
In Japan, HS graduation takes place in March, and employment starts in April. As there is no time to idle, the corporate teams/universities are moving to negotiate/secure the players now!
Now that the dust is settling in the individual event at the Asian Games, I wonder whether PJB will reach the 2 target gold medals. He’s got the women’s team now and I feel the best shot at the 2nd is the WD final tomorrow, which would’ve been a lock had FukuHiro won today. But given that, I think it’s hard to expect underdogs Nishimoto and Yamaguchi to win the gold given how Ginting/Christie and TTY are playing at the moment.
Well Japan going home with just 1 gold medal. Still lots of work to do for Tokyo 2020 it seems. But at least there won’t be a team tournament before the individual tournament then.
Park Joo Bong declared that he was aiming for two golds, but I think that secretly it was three: Women's team event, WD, and MS. He openly stated that he thought Momota could take the individual championship. After reaching every final since the Vietnam International Challenge in March this year (and winning most of them), Momota may simply have been exhausted. This is especially the case as he has come under intense scrutiny and pressure, both from the mass media and supporters, in particular after having won the BAC. Despite a spirited performance, personally, I do not think that Ginting has what it takes to become Momota's rival, but I could be wrong. Japan does have its work cut out prior to Tokyo Olympics, though. I believe that there is definitely a chance for gold as far as the WD and MS category is concerned (provided that Momota does not allow his mentality to inhibit his play), but WS and MD are going to prove more challenging, and XD next to impossible.
The Japanese MS category has an absolutely lousy draw in the Victor China Open <September 18~23> (https://corporate.bwfbadminton.com/events/calendar/). As they will be knocking each other out, only one of Momota, Nishimoto, and Sakai will survive the second round. This could be zero out of three if Brice Leverdez manages to defeat Momota in R1. Tsuneyama is in the bottom quarter of the draw, but he will be facing Christie in R1. Before this, however, I am looking forward to the Yonex Japan Open starting on September 11. I wonder how the Japanese players will approach the tournament in view of what may well be considered a sub-par performance at the Asian Games.
I would like to see okuhara and yamaguchi take it easier in 2019. they are both still young and have to beware of over training. their skills are top notch so don't wear out the body. md is a tough one. Kamura/sonoda are peaking now and their long career will start to take it's toll physically. xd breaking out in 2019-2020 won't surprise me at all. In fact I expect them to. Definitely a medal contender come olympics.
Do you really think so? Watanabe/Higashino are, at best, inconsistent, and Japan's second ranked XD pair, Kobayashi/Matsutomo can't seem to proceed beyond the R16 stage of any tournament. Who do you think has potential?
Watanabe/Higashino still have their chance to improve, I don't think Matsutomo would be the potential player for XD. But still, JPN need to find another XD rotation or try the younger pair to be upgraded into higher level.
Until they change how their club system works, XD will continue to be Japan's weak point. You can't expect pairs that train a couple of weeks per year together to compete with pairs from other nations that train together on a daily basis all year long.
Well it was last year at the Japan Open that Hoki/Hirota suprisingly reached the final. Personally I hope to see Japan XD start gaining ground soon. For MD I still think Watanabe getting a more solid partner will work wonders.
You'd be surprised. National A Team players spend a total of approximately 250 days per year together (252 days in 2018 to be precise), either in training camps or tournaments. And considering that, 1) training sessions are also held during the tournaments and, 2) Japanese training camps are intensive (to put it mildly), this quality time together isn't to be sniffed at. It actually looks like the companies, who pay these players' monthly salaries, are on the losing end. The corporate teams only really get to use National A and B team players during the SJ League season, i.e., from December to February.