Where is she now? It's been a long time since the last time I heard about her, maybe last Denmark open. Even though she has been dropped from A team, why doesn't she participate in lesser tournament like GP/GP Gold?
She hasn't played since Oktober last year? https://www.toernooi.nl/profile/overview.aspx?id=7AB4EC1B-2FFD-4610-8090-5C63F5AF24D2 It would be a shame if she were injured ...
Good news - she just won Axiata Malaysia International Challenge event in a couple of comfortable games against Yen Mei Ho (MAS). Right knee heavily strapped, so as you suspected, looks like she may have had injury. smautf
Really doesn't look in great form. Challenger is quite a bit lower than her previous level, so it's not surprising she won despite not looking great.
How come Takahashi was not sent to the World Championships even though she is ranked higher than Ohori and Sato?
For the World Championships, Ohori was No 4 and Takahashi was No 6 among Japanese players. See: https://bwf.tournamentsoftware.com/ranking/category.aspx?id=17312&category=2524&p=1&ps=50
Not really. They just brought some of the club coaches to the big event as PJB couldn't cover all the matches himself. Shoji Sato was there for KM, Sho Sasaki for Nagahara/Matsumoto and Tanaka/Yonemoto and Ohori was coaching his daughter, as he does on a daily basis at Tonami. These club coaches aren't official NT coaches, even though they were sporting the NT attire. They are always partnered with the respective NT (WD, WS, MS) coach as well.
I wouldn't say a lot until she shows some 6 pack abds... like TTY... Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
In fact, today, I quite like the way Sayaka Takahashi played. She was a little bit like Carolina Marin just going with her attacking instinct and attacking aggressively. Problem is she needs to bring this instinct under control a little bit and stop swinging the racket wildly too much but instead work on making quality shots. But she should do it without giving up this aggressive attacking instinct. This aggressive attacking instinct is her strong point. So many points have been given away freely today to CYF. If Sayaka Takahashi work on improving her ac curacies, she can be as deadly as C Marin. She can make orderly players like CYF feel very uncomfortable because it is hard to guess what her instinct will lead her to do next. One thing is for sure - more often than not, the shuttle will always come back very fast.... She also seems to be a player with good enough power and stamina to take shuttles early and make shuttles move fast.
In her game with Carolina Marin today, I wish Sayaka's coaches will guide her not to dwell so long on how depressed she feels each time she makes an error. Just quickly move on and focus on how to hit the shuttle better the next time or how to run better the next time she faces a similar situation. What is done is done and feeling depressed won't change anything while the battle is still on. If she wants, she can feel depressed all she wants after the match. But while the battle is still on, it doesn't help anything at all. It just makes the audience wonder if she has already accepted defeat and has lost all hopes to fight against this opponent. Even if she looses the match, she should at least try to use this opportunity as a practice for fighting against a stronger player in order to return stronger next time. Of course, I am also a fan of Marin but it is sad to see Sayaka wasting so much energy "celebrating" her depression each time she makes an error especially when the battle is still on. The energy and time she spent on on her depressed feelings while the battle is still on, will cause her to make more errors and more errors will cause her to feel more depressed ... a negative cycle in the midst of a match - and the opponent will quickly take advantage of this.
Sayaka Takahashi was great in Asian championship, Philippines! Won all matches in 2 straight sets. This new version of Sayaka Takahashi can be a real threat in WS. Good attacking and defending skills and instinct. Good speed. Sometimes, no hesitation at all in returning shots leaving very little window for opponent to think, sometimes slight delay for tactical purpose. Good variation. Didn't waste precious time feeling depressed while the battle is still ongoing but just focus on what needs to be improved. Yes, sometimes could not defend if opponent smash to the lines. But if opponent keeps on smashing to the line, then we should be happy because it means opponent is afraid of our good defense. And if opponent can win by being consistent in smashing to the line for the whole match, then congratulate the opponent. But human beings are not machines. By going for the line there will be more chances of making mistakes especially when we get tired physically and mentally. If I am not wrong, this version of Takahashi can be a threat to even CM. Whether she will move up will depend on how she works on how to apply herself mentally in response to success and mistakes while the battle is still ongoing. If she made mistakes, she can cry all she wants after the match or after she returns to her room. When the battle is still ongoing, every second is precious and can be used for learning something positive. There's no time to attend to the wounds. Physically, Sayaka Takahashi appears to have good enough strength, speed, instinct, variation and stamina.