I thought that Riku Hatano's comment from Badminton Spirit on his 2nd round match against Momota is interesting so I translated it below. Taking everything into account, the opponent wins in all areas such as stamina and skill. Thinking of how I can fight given such situation, I thought that I would have to challenge by raising my speed to the max else the match would end without my being able to draw anything out of Momota-senshu. From the beginning, I tried my best using my max speed; however, halfway through, my feet came to a stop. I was whittled down by Momota-senshu's stamina, footwork, and everything. Size wise, I am bigger, but I felt that Momota-senshu's court was narrow and mine was wide...it felt something like that. It sounded like he has great respect for Momota so I felt obliged to attached 'senshu' to Momota's name . As for today's match, Momota's post match comment from Badminton Spirit regarding the first game is something along the line of feeling nervous, allowing the opponent to take the initiative from the beginning, becoming more anxious from being pushed and getting himself into a tough situation. Another comment that stood out is that from a previous encounter, he felt that the opponent has sharp shots so he was too careful in returning the shots and didn't apply pressure on the opponent. He has been nervous since round 1 and commented that he'll probably be nervous until the end. I really hope that he'll regain his confidence by the end of the tournament and be 100% ready for Thailand! More upsets today. PJB is going to have a lot to think about!
his's performance is going down, I know he will lost before reaching to the final match. Nishimoto was "stuck" at the second round when playing 4 corners with his opponent and just won by smashing. He won because his opponent was not good enough to defense his smashes but if this were one of the top ten international players, Nishimoto would "suicided" by smashing.
Momota has been nervous since R1. This is his first tournament in eleven months, ... and since the accident. In some respects, this nervousness resembles his first post-ban All Japan Championship in 2017, which saw his elimination in the QF. But he is tougher mentally now. In Momota's post-match interview, he mentioned that his attempt not to make any mistakes in G1 gave Shimono the initiative. In G2 he switched this mind-set; even if it meant losing, he decided to go all out. Tomorrow's match against Tanaka shouldn't be problematic; ... which leaves Tsuneyama. Merry Christmas!! I decided to start my vacation yesterday, in perfect synch with the AJC. And, it is proving even more of a circus than I expected. What kind of national team are we going to see next year? Yes, highlight matches are being shown on NHK BS1, which is going to be extremely painful for most fans on Sunday (i.e., Finals day), when there will be no livestreaming, whatsoever. Okuhara, incidentally, is looking extremely sharp; Yamaguchi may well find her problematic to handle, ... unless, that is, Sato inflicts some more damage tomorrow. Tomorrow's SF line-up MS Momota Kento (National Team A, NTT-East) vs Tanaka Yushi (National B Team, Nihon U) Tsuneyama Kanta (National Team A, Tonami) vs Koga Minoru (National B Team, NTT-East) ... Koga will be in high spirits after defeating Nishimoto today. WS Okuhara Nozomi (National Team A, Taiyo Holdings) vs Sato Sayaka (Yonex), who is in excellent form, but may well be playing the last match of her career tomorrow. Yamaguchi Akane (National Team A, Saishunkan) vs Shimoda Natsumi (Hiroshima Gas), ... another upstart. MD ... the only category where all National Team A members have survived. Endo/Watanabe (Unisys) vs Koga/Saito (NTT-East) Sonoda/Kamura (Tonami) vs corporate team-mates, Hoki/Kobayashi WD Nagahara/Matsumoto (National Team A, Hokuto Bank) vs Sakuramoto/Takahata (National Team B, Yonex) Fukushima/Hirota (National Team A, Marusugi Bluvic) vs Yonemoto/Tanaka (Hokuto Bank) XD Watanabe/Higashino (National Team A, Unisys) vs Yamashita/Shinoya (National Team B, Nippon Sport Science U/NTT-East) Nishikawa/Ozaki (National Team B, NTT-East) vs Kaneko/Matsutomo (Unisys) Broadcasting/SF Livestreaming (December 26, Japan Time) Matches will start at 10:00 am, with the following Court 1 matches available on NHK BS 1 only: 10:00~ MS: Momota vs Tanaka WS: Yamaguchi vs Shimoda WD: Nagahara/Matsumoto vs Sakuramoto/Takahata The livescore for the above, and all other matches can be accessed at BIRDSCORE - 令和2年度 第74回全日本総合バドミントン選手権大会 The remaining matches will be livestreamed at 日本バドミントン協会 NipponBA - YouTube in the following order: Court 2: 10:00~ MD: Endo/Watanabe vs Koga/Saito MD: Sonoda/Kamura vs Hoki/Kobayashi MS: Tsuneyama Kanta vs Koga Minoru Courts 1 & 2: 13:00~ WS: Okuhara vs Sato XD: Nishikawa/Ozaki vs Kaneko/Matsutomo 14:00~ XD: Watanabe/Higashino vs Yamashita/Shinoya WD: Fukushima/Hirota vs Yonemoto/Tanaka ---------- Thoughts on Naraoka... G2 against Shimono wasn't bad, especially considering that Shimono is in good form. Actually, at times, Naraoka's stroke-work and game construction resembled Momota's. But, he looked to have problems controlling his emotions when Shimono prevented him from progressing with his game plan. Naraoka likes to play according to his own particular rhythm, and cannot adapt well when he is knocked out of his comfort zone. But as everyone here has mentioned, he is still only 19, and given a better training environment, has a lot of potential. I hope that he can keep his place on the B Team.
Do you know anything about Naraoka's training environment? Is he training with the university or is he completely on his own now? In his post match comment, he mentioned that he didn't think there was any mistake in his training and chalked the lost up to being thoroughly studied by the component. Given how they had clashed last year with Shimono walking away clobbered, going into the rematch thinking that Shimono would not come thoroughly prepared to take revenge is underestimating the opponent too much, or, perhaps, even overestimating himself. Shimono, on the other hand, thinks that he has benefited a lot from being able to spar with Tsuneyama this year. I get the feeling that he's being over-promoted by his father and is under pressure to live up to a reputation bigger than his current self. Most of the time, he doesn't look like he enjoys being on court. That's just from observing his body language from far away, but maybe that's just how he normally carries himself. What do I know .
Today's livestreaming: Court 1 (from 13:00): (52) 【1コート】内閣総理大臣杯争奪 令和2年度第74回全日本総合バドミントン選手権大会LIVE配信 - YouTube Court 2 (from 10:00): (52) 【2コート】内閣総理大臣杯争奪 令和2年度第74回全日本総合バドミントン選手権大会LIVE配信 - YouTube
From what I read a couple of months ago, Naraoka has been at home in Aomori Prefecture for a large part of the year. Like in many countries, most university club activities were suspended or, at least, restricted, as a result of Covid-19. But even if he were at Nihon University, would he develop? I agree with you about his body language; but that having been said, I don't think that I have ever seen a 'happy' Naraoka. It could just be his personality. As for Shimono, ... he and Tsuneyama are both employed by Tonami; hence, they have had the opportunity to spar with each for a few years now. Nishimoto's departure may have given them more time together, though. My impression of Shimono was one of an offence player with a powerful smash as his primary weapon. In this tournament, though, he has shown more finesse in the front court, which could be attributable to the time spent with Tsuneyama. On a different note, Park Joo Bong has been quoted as evaluating Momota to be 'overly slow'. Incidentally, the head coach's contract has been extended to March 2025, which means that he will be staying with Japan's National Team until past the Paris Olympics.
Park Joo Bong confirms my impression of Momota after watching all of his matches thus far. His movements just weren't as sharp and as confident as before. Hopefully this is just due to the nervousness and not being match-fit yet. Tsuneyama looks to be in good form so it might be a tough final tomorrow. And I'm glad to hear that Park Joo Bong's contract has been extended. I know you have some disastisfactions with the way he runs things, but I feel more relaxed knowing that he's looking after the team.
I know I have been critical, but I can’t think of a better alternative right now. As long as Nakanishi Yosuke stays on as MS coach, I have no complaints. With Park still at the helm, I wonder what changes are going to be made to Team A next year? MS: Momota, Tsuneyama and? Nishimoto may well be kept on, but Watanabe Koki will be dropped, to be replaced by whom? Shimono? Tanaka? WS: Yamaguchi, Okuhara and? Ohori may still be considered to have potential, but Takahashi Sayaka will probably not remain. As Sato plans to retire, who does this leave? Kawakami? Takahashi Asuka? Shimoda? There is a huge gap in levels. MD: No changes WD: Fukushima/Hirota, Nagahara/Matsumoto, Yonemoto/Tanaka (?), and? XD: Happy news here. Watanabe/Higashino will be joined by a new bonafide A Team pair, Kaneko/Matsutomo aka KaneMatsu.
I agree; Tsuneyama may well take the title. This is AJC 2017 revisited. Momota's nervousness is seriously impacting his game. Park Joo Bong also commented he had been monitoring Momota since summer, and that the latter was performing well in training sessions; hence, this is probably a case of tournament and match readiness.
seems like they did. After the momota match, there's no longer any active stream that I can find. Damn it, I can't watch the MD.
Momota looks slow and toothless in the highlights. Maybe it's just the hall and the camera setup that makes him look like that.
Japan National Member WD : Sakuramoto/Takahata (Yonex) Shida/Matsuyama (Saishunkan) Nakanishi/lwanaga (Unisys) Nagahara/Matsumoto (Hokuto Bank) Fukushima/Hirota (Marusugi Bluvic) Hoshi/Matsuda (Unisys) Yokoyama/Yasaki (SAN-IN GODO BANK) I don't know why there's no Yonemoto/Tanaka pair. It means SakuTaka & ShidaMatsu will be in team A?
WS : Aya Ohori (Tonami) Nozomi Okuhara (Taiyo Holdings) Saena Kawakami (Hokuto Bank) Riko Gunji (HS 3rd Year) Shiori Saito (ACT SAIKYO) Shimoda Natsumi (Hiroshima Gas) Asuka Takahashi (Yonex) Sayaka Takahashi (Unisys) Natsuki Nidaira (Tonami) Mizui Hirari (NTT East) Akane Yamaguchi (Saishunkan) Reported, S. Takahashi had an injury since 2 months ago, maybe this is the reason why she did not play well. PJB maybe wants to reshuffle WS team to prepare for Paris 2024? because the gap between A and B is too big now. Maybe Gunji is on team A?
