Nagamatsu’s failure against Koreans/Chinese is not mayu’s falult alone. It’s nagahara and her problems serving. Mayu definitely has weakness in her defence but she also has weapons none of the other Japanese players have. As a scratch pair Fukushima/mayu did extremely well. They dominated the Koreans and put a fantastic fight against Chen/Jia in top form. With proper training they can become the next force in WD. Mayu makes up for fukuhiro’s lack of offence while Fukushima can protect mayu with her court coverage and solid defence much better than nagahara. The Japanese team should’ve made them play more tournaments after Uber cup in Denmark, France and the Asian tour while hirota and nagahara were rehabilitating. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The vast majority of players in Japan are affiliated to corporate teams which are spread out throughout the country. Matsumoto and Fukushima are affiliated to different teams; hence, the only time they can actually get together to train is at national training camps. They may have great potential as a combination, but logistically, there is very little scope for development. They would need to get together in one corporate team, ... and transfers are a sticky issue in Japan. The same applies to Fukushima/Higashino. Here, it needs to be said, however, that Higashino only has a mediocre record record for WD on the domestic scene, and probably has less in the way of potential in this category.
You were right. Here in Japan, they affiliated to sponsors coming from different companies and professional clubs. For example, Unisys, NTT East, Tonami, Reneseas, etc. In the contracts you were not allowed play together unless under special circumstances. That is why you will not see across clubs player playing together.
Not sponsors, but rather direct employers, ... with a few notable exceptions such as Okuhara, and Nishimoto. As of this April, Momota also went 'pro'; although, in his case, he signed his 'pro' contract with his former employer, NTT-East. Incidentally, Renesas Electronics relinquished its badminton team in 2014 as part of a financial restructuring plan. The players and coaches were taken in by Saishunkan Pharmaceuticals, and this corporate team now employs the likes of Yamaguchi, Shida/Matsuyama, and Gunji Riko.
