Badminton in Japan

After progressing to R2, Gondo Kohei (XD) has withdrawn from the Ranking Circuit. Considering that
Cheung said:
It s actually quite strange this tournament is going ahead despite the case numbers and public opposition to the major sporting event in a couple of months.
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Lots of domestic sports events are going ahead, including the biggies, such as baseball and soccer. Actually, as the Ranking Circuit plays a major role, along with the All Japan Championships, in determining rankings and promotion to the national team, it is not an easy tournament to cancel.

As for public opposition to major sporting events; this probably needs to be interpreted, more than anything, to mean major international sporting events, e.g., the Olympics. A proportion of the populace is very sensitive about nasty viruses being brought into the country by virus-bearing foreign nationals.
 
@Pcyl, I am sorry, Takahashi is not being livestreamed. There is no announcement as to who will play on which court; it is difficult to guess.
 
With R2 of the mixed doubles having finished, tomorrow's Ranking Circuit QF tie-ups are as follows:

Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) v Suzuki (Tohoku Marks)/Kawasaki (77 Bank)
Mitsuhashi/Nakanishi (Unisys) v Okamura/Hoshi (Unisys)
Midorikawa (Wasedu U)/Saito (ACT SAIKYO) v Arai (KGC)/Ishibashi (Showa Denko)
Urai (Marusugi)/Shimizu (Showa Denko) v Yamashita/Shinoya (NTT-East)
 
The WS QF tomorrow will feature the following line-up:

Takahashi Asuka (Yonex) v Furukawa Kana (Marusugi Bluvic)
Sato Sayaka (Yonex) v Ikeuchi Moe (77 Bank)
Mizui Hirari (NTT-East) v Nakashizu Akari (NTT-East)
Kawakami Saena (Hokuto Bank) v Uchiyama Chihiro (Saishunkan)

With Shimoda, Saito, Gunji, and Nidaira already having made early exits, National Team B is beginning to look like a bit of a joke. Only Mizui and Kawakami remain.

Takahashi Asuka, Kawakami Saena, and veteran Sato Sayaka are looking good.
 
Here it goes for MS:

Koga Minoru (NTT-East) v Takahashi Ko (Tonami)
Shimono Hashiru (Tonami) v Makino Keita (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.)
Midorikawa Hiroki (Waseda U) v Sakai Kazumasa (KGC)
Naraoka Kodai (IMG) v Obayashi Takuma (Waseda U)

Actually, this is quite an interesting mix.

As far as National Team B is concerned, half of the members, i.e., Tanaka Yushi, Onodera Yusuke, and Hatano Riku, have been eliminated.
 
The WD QF line-up has been determined as:

Hoshi/Matsuda (Unisys) v Shinoya/Suzuki (NTT-East)
Ono/Fukumoto (Saishunkan) v Nakanishi/Iwanaga (Unisys)
Mōri/Shigenobu (77 Bank) v Kawazoe/Imai (Marusugi Bluvic)
Hobara/Miyaura (Yonex) v Kashihara/Kato (ACT SAIKYO)
 
And finally, the last category: MD

Okamura/Onodera M. (Unisys) v Takei/Endo (Meiji U)
Kaneko/Kubota (Tonami) v Honda/Ozeki (Daido Steel)
Takeuchi/Matsui (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.) v Inoue/Mitsuhashi (Unisys)
Yamashita (NTT-East)/Midorikawa (Waseda U) v Takano/Tamate (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.)
 
Thank you for all the updates, Kurako. Are the results posted anywhere? They are kind of hard to find.
The MS line-up for the QF looks good. I'm looking forward to Koga vs Takahashi Ko. If Takahashi can play as well as how he played in R1, we should be in for a good match! The WS line-up, on the other hand, is quite disappointing, with all the upsets so far.

Cunning Linguist said:
Looks like Naraoka is only winning because his very, very weak opponent has been out of breath since game 1. I know some of you still have hopes for him, but I don't see it anymore. He hasn't progressed one bit since he was 16.
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Afraid I'd have to agree with you here. PapaOka needs to set him free. Whatever training routine Naraoka has right now doesn't look like it's working out. He won't be making Team A if he keeps stagnating like this, especially now that there are two promising new MS around his age from Tonami. The already stiff competition to enter the top 4 is gonna heat up even more.
 
Yes, I managed to watch Takahashi Ko yesterday by clicking back to earlier matches in Court A. In Match 1, it was 1 sided and Tanaka Yushi won quite easily. But many of comments here are right, Takahashi Ko does have good speed in his footwork and his style of taking the shuttle very early so that opponent don't have too much time to anticipate.. It is a good style. If he can keep up with the pace and work on mastering his speedy style, he can be a dangerous player. His speed reminds me of C.Marin except it is a more masculine version. Winning Tanaka Yushi is not easy but with his speed he forced Tanaka Yushi to make many mistakes. But the question always is whether the player is willing to put in the hard work, patience and discipline to master their preferred style and become consistent.

Another player i managed to watch is Kodai Naraoka (thanks to 日本バドミントン . I must say I am quite impressed. Kodai Naraoka does have potentials.

I am happy to know that Shimono and Takahashi Asuka is still in the match. I have not managed to watch how they played so far but from what I saw in past matches, they have been quite consistent. Minoru Koga is quite unpredictable. He is an intelligent player but I think he has stamina issues.
 
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yuon said:
Thank you for all the updates, Kurako. Are the results posted anywhere? They are kind of hard to find.
The MS line-up for the QF looks good. I'm looking forward to Koga vs Takahashi Ko. If Takahashi can play as well as how he played in R1, we should be in for a good match! The WS line-up, on the other hand, is quite disappointing, with all the upsets so far.


Afraid I'd have to agree with you here. PapaOka needs to set him free. Whatever training routine Naraoka has right now doesn't look like it's working out. He won't be making Team A if he keeps stagnating like this, especially now that there are two promising new MS around his age from Tonami. The already stiff competition to enter the top 4 is gonna heat up even more.
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The results are posted on the following site, although this, too, may be a little difficult to decipher:

http://www.badminton-a.com/20210602circuit/20210602_result.htm

Naraoka seems to have had a much easier time today, although, I, too, strongly feel that he needs to join a team to train with. His retrieving ability resembles that of Momota.
 
Ranking Circuit QF Results for the XD and WS categories are as follows:

1. XD
Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) Suzuki (Tohoku Marks)/Kawasaki (77 Bank)
Okamura/Hoshi (Unisys) 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) Mitsuhashi/Nakanishi (Unisys)
Midorikawa (Wasedu U)/Saito (ACT SAIKYO) 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) Arai (KGC)/Ishibashi (Showa Denko)
Yamashita/Shinoya (NTT-East) 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 21-9) Urai (Marusugi)/Shimizu (Showa Denko)

The SF tie-up tomorrow is:
Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) v Okamura/Hoshi (Unisys)
Midorikawa (Wasedu U)/Saito (ACT SAIKYO) v Yamashita/Shinoya (NTT-East)

2. WS
Takahashi Asuka (Yonex) 2-0 (21-16, 21-7) Furukawa Kana (Marusugi Bluvic)
Sato Sayaka (Yonex) 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) Ikeuchi Moe (77 Bank)
Mizui Hirari (NTT-East) 2-0 (21-13, 21-11) Nakashizu Akari (NTT-East)
Kawakami Saena (Hokuto Bank) 2-0 (21-4, 21-10) Uchiyama Chihiro (Saishunkan)

Tomorrow's SF line-up:
Takahashi Asuka (Yonex) v Sato Sayaka (Yonex)
Mizui Hirari (NTT-East) v Kawakami Saena (Hokuto Bank)
 
The MS quarterfinals, too, have just rapped up, with the following results:

Koga Minoru (NTT-East) 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) Takahashi Ko (Tonami)
Shimono Hashiru (Tonami) 2-0 (23-21, 21-18) Makino Keita (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.)
Sakai Kazumasa (KGC) 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) Midorikawa Hiroki (Waseda U)
Naraoka Kodai (IMG) 2-0 (21-6, 21-16) Obayashi Takuma (Waseda U)

The SF tie-up is:
Koga Minoru (NTT-East) v Shimono Hashiru (Tonami)
Sakai Kazumasa (KGC) v Naraoka Kodai (IMG)

Great to see the veterans Sato Sayaka and Sakai Kazumasa steam ahead to the SF. I am not quite sure whether this reflects well on the ability of the younger generation, though.
 
So happy that I finally get to see Asuka Takahashi from Yonex play today. Her footwork is different from Nozomi Okuhara or Akane Yamaguchi but it will do. If she trains hard to master her preferred style, who knows, she might be ready to take on the current WS champions. She might not be too much taller than Okuhara but her legs section of her body does appear longer and she seems to be making full use of this to her advantage.

She also appears to have strong wrist and arm power. When she has to take the shuttle that is placed to the her lower far right back court late, she is able to return the shuttle diagonally back to the opponent's far right back court. That takes some wrist power and racket swinging skills. Accuracy is good and with wrist power, her smashes are fast and so are her drop shots. She has to watch out for stamina.

Hope she will get to the finals. Mitzui Hirari can be good on her better days and if she is not over depressed by unforced errors now and then which happens to everyone. Instead of over dwelling too much on her frustrations, she has to keep a positive mind and realized that if it can happen to her it can also happen to her opponents.

I haven't managed to watch the veterans yet but they have experiences on their side so Asuka Takahashi has to be ready for the long game. Yonex should be proud of producing not just great rackets but also a fine player like Asuka Takahashi. They should invest on her to make her reach international level.

On the MS side, I have still to watch Shimono. But I am happy that he has won and will be meeting Koga Minoru in the next match. Should be an exciting match to watch.
 
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Pcyl said:
She might not be too much taller than Okuhara but her legs section of her body does appear longer and she seems to be making full use of this to her advantage.
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Actually, according to the NBA site, Takahashi is 1.65 m, which is a fair bit taller than Okuhara. She will be facing her team-mate Sato Sayaka tomorrow and, as they undoubtedly know each others' strengths and weakness, the SF will probably resemble a game of chess. Can you believe it? Two Yonex players in the SF! Unisys is obviously having problems producing any solid singles players.

As for Mizui, ... I don't know. Kawakami looks to be in killer mode.
 
And last of all, Ranking Circuit QF Results for the WD and MD categories are as follows:

1. WD
Hoshi/Matsuda (Unisys) 2-1 (21-16, 17-21, 21-18) Shinoya/Suzuki (NTT-East)
Nakanishi/Iwanaga (Unisys) 2-1 (21-11, 14-21, 21-19) Ono/Fukumoto (Saishunkan)
Kawazoe/Imai (Marusugi Bluvic) 2-1 (21-6, 9-21, 21-16) Mōri/Shigenobu (77 Bank)
Hobara/Miyaura (Yonex) 2-0 (21-14, 22-20) Kashihara/Kato (ACT SAIKYO)

Tomorrow's SF line-up:
Hoshi/Matsuda (Unisys) v Nakanishi/Iwanaga (Unisys)
Kawazoe/Imai (Marusugi Bluvic) v Hobara/Miyaura (Yonex)

2. MD
Takei/Endo (Meiji U) 2-1 (21-13, 26-28, 21-15) Okamura/Onodera M. (Unisys)
Kaneko/Kubota (Tonami) 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) Honda/Ozeki (Daido Steel)
Takeuchi/Matsui (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.) 2-1 (21-13, 13-21, 21-17) Inoue/Mitsuhashi (Unisys)
Takano/Tamate (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.) 2-0 (21-17, 27-25) Yamashita (NTT-East)/Midorikawa (Waseda U)

The SF tie-up tomorrow is:
Takei/Endo (Meiji U) v Kaneko/Kubota (Tonami)
Takeuchi/Matsui (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.) v Takano/Tamate (Hitachi Info & Telecom. Eng.)

Quite a few tightly contested matches here. Where, incidentally did MD student duo Takei/Endo appear from? They are seeded 8th, so they must have earned points somewhere along the line, but I was not even aware of their existence.
 
The WD department helped Unisys saves face as both of their MD had gotten eliminated, although, they, too, had a pretty tough time getting through to the SF.

It would be quite amusing if the veterans Sato and Sakai both get through to the final. I think they both have as good a chance as any of the remaining candidates to win this tournament. It's great to see them still playing well enough, but this definitely does not speak well of the younger generation.

On another note, Gunji Riko also lost her consolation match in two games against an unknown college student. The Ranking Circuit must not be one of her favorite tournaments :rolleyes:. She has some pretty big shoes to fill, considering all of the single world junior champions that Japan had produced before her have all turned out to be world champions and/or world number ones.
 
Pcyl said:
Yes, I managed to watch Takahashi Ko yesterday by clicking back to earlier matches in Court A. In Match 1, it was 1 sided and Tanaka Yushi won quite easily. But many of comments here are right, Takahashi Ko does have good speed in his footwork and his style of taking the shuttle very early so that opponent don't have too much time to anticipate.. It is a good style. If he can keep up with the pace and work on mastering his speedy style, he can be a dangerous player. His speed reminds me of C.Marin except it is a more masculine version. Winning Tanaka Yushi is not easy but with his speed he forced Tanaka Yushi to make many mistakes. But the question always is whether the player is willing to put in the hard work, patience and discipline to master their preferred style and become consistent.
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He's quite adventurous with his shot selections too, kind of remind me of Watanabe Yuta. His play style is going to require a lot of stamina and the physical ability to sustain it, which means a lot of hard work and dedication. The potential is there, but as you have said, it will be up to the player himself to live up to his potential. It would be good for him if he can make the B team next year and get access to better training.
 
Tomorrow's XD and WS Ranking Circuit Finals will feature the following players:

XD: Nishikawa/Ozaki (NTT-East) v Yamashita/Shinoya (NTT-East)
WS: Mizui Hirari (NTT-East) v Sato Sayaka (Yonex)

Whilst the XD line-up was predictable, the same cannot be said of WS....
Takahashi Asuka, newly-promoted Team A player, was unable to defend the title, losing to veteran team-mate, Sato Sayaka.
 
Two contrasting MS semi-final matches. Whereas Naraoka breezed passed Sakai, Koga and Shimono fought it out bitterly, with Koga finally prevailing. It could have gone either way.

Tomorrow's MS Final:
Naraoka Kodai (IMG) v Koga Minoru (NTT-East).

NTT-East has finalists in MS, WS, and XD (both pairs, actually).
 
I have watched Shimono vs Minoru Kuga
Mizui Hirari vs Kawakami
Asuka Takahashi vs Sato Sayaka

all great matches. (not yet watch Naraoka ...)

I still enjoyed Asuka Takahashi match although she did not win. Asuka's shots are crisp, sharp and powerful. She does punch clear to the back court less than Hirari. Hirari's back clear are good but if she is playing with Sindhu, it will not end well. Yonex players seems to choose flat shots more than back clears. Maybe, they know what each other is capable of in converting the opponent's back clears into deadly attacks. Asuka played chess and she lost this time. It will be interesting to watch NTT style vs Yonex style in the final. I have the feeling Yonex will take the game unless Hirari's coach can device some surprise plans (getting ... tips and training from Momota???)

Yes, my predictions of Shimono and Asuka did not become a reality but I don't regret my support for Shimono and Asuka. Asuka's basics is good. She must watch out for the temptation to go "more and more accurate" than accurate when facing an opponent who has good retrieving abilities. Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchiand Ohori, with their rich experiences will still rule for quite a while into the future but meantime Hirari and Asuka are worthwhile investments. If properly trained and given the chance to experience high level competitions, I don't see why they cannot become the future. But players must not just rely on their good skills and attacking instincts. They must be prepared for the competition of stamina.

On the MS side, ... Shimono was leading in the 3rd match but suddenly, it looks as if he could not keep his foot on the gas pedal and started to make unforced errors. Both players looked exhausted in the 3rd match and it became a game of stamina.
 
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