I was surprised to not see a thread about this talented 29 year-old player on here. He beat Jan O Jorgensen, world-ranked 26, in the semi-finals before losing over 3 sets to the best player out of Malaysia this year, Lee Zii Jia, in the Taipei Open final in October 2018 and that is no shame as Lee is moving onward and upwards at the age of 20. Does anyone have any more information about him and if so, could they contribute to this thread?
As of 2019, Takeshita has been dropped from the national team. Unfortunately, I don't think he will be featuring in many more international tournaments (if he does, he will need to finance himself independently). Indeed, he is probably considering retirement. Sorry, but prospects do not look good.
That is true. @kurako It is sad to hear that he has been dropped.I saw enough in his play to suggest that his best days are not behind him yet. The one feature that is unique about Riichi-san is that his most effective smashes are made whilst he is off-balance.
