Yeah, I noticed that, too. Actually, there has been quite an overhaul in the membership. If she is not listed, then I believe she must have left the team for whatever reason.
I watched the match at https://www.diananita.com/ (livestream). Unfortunately, I haven't found any replays. As he is scheduled to play on Court 1 tomorrow, maybe you will be able to catch him in his match against Sitthikom Thammasin. It's amazing that the only other Japanese participant, Nidaira Natsuki (WS, WR 132) also went on to win against WR 24, Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi. Neither Naraoka nor Nidaira are on National Team B, but it doesn't look like they are missing much.
i have watched his match today and impressed with his defense and counterattack but his smash is so weak, hardly see it penetrated Brice's defense
You're right, he doesn't have an effective smash. But Naraoka is still only eighteen, and probably has time to develop this aspect of his game. I don't know what has happened, but he really seems to have progressed to a new level in the past few months. Last year, he appeared much more sluggish. The All Japan Championships, held from the end of November, will determine whether he is readmitted to the National Team next year. I hope that, at the very least, he makes it to the QF.
Ah~~ah, Naraoka lost. Thammasin had him scurrying all over the court. But he will have lots to take back with him from this experience and, with a QF finish, will move up to around WR50 next week. In the meantime, Nidaira fights on!
@Giga01 Although I can't locate any of NTT-East's matches yet, those played by Tonami today (Kamura/Sonoda, Nishimoto, Hoki/Kobayashi) against JR Hokkaido have been uploaded on a site called バドミントンのハイライト (Badminton Highlights): https://www.youtube.com/user/50weteran
Let me post an updated graph on the world ranking trends of Bird Japan's singles players. I have included National Teams A (blue) & B (orange), as well as a couple of outsiders (grey) who are making inroads. First the male players: And now for WS: Team A, with the exception of Sakai, is largely static. Immobility is, of course, commendable for anyone positioned 1~5 in the world rankings; but as far as Nishimoto, Tsuneyama, Takahashi, and Ohori are concerned, this year has proven a frustrating one. And Sakai is going nowhere but out. Amongst Team B, those players who could be defined as having made progress over the period of ten months would probably include Watanabe Koki, Omoto, and Mizui. Other achievers, i.e., Naraoka, Onodera, and Oie, are not National Team members. The rest have little to show, and Igarashi Yu and Saito Shiori seem to have entered free-fall mode. One disconcerting indicator is the discrepancy in the number of international tournaments participated in by these players (marked by △△T after the player's name). Whilst Team A members have thus far entered between 18~21, this number drops dramatically for the upper B Team (10~14), and then even further for the lower end (5~13). Indeed, the only reason why Koga and Mizui have participated in a comparatively high number of tournaments is because their corporate team has been generous in funding them. The NBA has been anything but. Had all players received equal opportunity to participate in tournaments, the rankings would look totally different, and some of the more talented younger players may even have started to challenge their seniors. Unfortunately, such competition is being stifled.
It is day 2 of the S/J League, and the following Team A members are part of the action today: A. Men's Tournament 1. Nihon Unisys: Endo/Watanabe, Inoue (Incidentally, yesterday, the Endo/Okamura collaboration failed to produce a win. As far as MS is concerned, Watanabe Koki was fielded yesterday, and Onodera Yusuke will be playing today. Worryingly, there is no sign of Igarashi Yu.) 2. Kanazawa Gakuin Club: Sakai B. Women's Tournament 1. American Vape: Fukushima/Hirota 2. Hokuto Bank: Nagahara/Matsumoto 3. Nihon Unisys: Takahashi Sayaka Endo, Inoue, Fukushima/Hirota, and Nagahara/Matsumoto are playing consecutively, despite having to depart for Fuzhou tomorrow. Actually, I just now watched one of the American Vape vs Saishunkan (no love lost here) matches; Fukushima/Hirota had real problems overcoming Shida/Matsuyama, finally managing to take the G3 with a score of 21-19. It also looks as though American Vape coach Imai Akihiro and his daughter Riko share the same hairstylist; a very nice, sleek bob.
As mentioned above, Japan's S/J League 2019 season kicked off this week-end, and is due to culminate in a Top4 Tournament on December 21-22. For those unfamiliar with the set-up, the League is divided into a men's division and a women's division, each comprising the top ten corporate teams. These top ten teams are divided into two blocks, the 'S Block' and the 'J Block'. The five teams within each block play against each other during the two-month season, with the two top-scoring teams progressing to the Top4 Tournament, where they meet the top two teams of the opposite block. Here, they fight it out for the League Championship. Incidentally, one day before the Top4 Tournament, those teams placed 3-5 in each block will play against the correspondingly-placed team of the opposite block to determine their final overall position. And, the team that ends up in 10th place, will be placed in the unsavoury position of playing a further game against the champion of S/J League II; if they lose, they will swap places and be relegated to the lower League. As for the make-up of the matches: Each tie-up involves TWO doubles and ONE singles match, with the team winning two or more matches taking the bout. Here are the ten teams that comprise the S/J League, the "S1" position being filled by last year's champions, and that of "J1", by the runners-up, etc., etc. (Note that while male talent is heavily concentrated, the power balance seems to be more evenly spread out in the women's division.)
And here are the results of S/J League matches played yesterday and today, with the schedule of the remaining matches pencilled in. With Fuzhou, Hong Kong, Gwangju, the All Japan Championships, and World Tour Finals to consider, the schedule is tight. Momota, I think, will feature in the December 7 match against Unisys before heading out to the World Tour Finals, ... and this will be after having participated in the All Japan Championships from November 25 to December 1. As for the results thus far, .... I was surprised that American Vape managed to prevail over Saishunkan today!! Imai Akihiro must be feeling really pleased.
Really? Fukuhiro beat Shidamatsu in three, not surprising. And that Araki/Imai, who are an actual WD, won against the improvised Ono/Nakai pair is even more natural. What puzzles me is that Shiena Fukumoto isn't used at all. She must be hella rubbish when singles' players like Yamaguchi or Nakai are constantly paired with Ono instead of her.
Saishunkan won the S/J League last year; in contrast, American Vape (at that time Gifu Tricky Panders) ended up positioned 9th out of 10 teams. The WD composition since then hasn't changed much. Last year, Saishunkan mainly experimented with Fujii/Ono and Yamaguchi/Ono as their 2nd WD, with mixed success at best, ... but on the other side, Araki/Imai (American Vape) didn't do any better either. So, as far as the 2nd WD is concerned, all things are probably equal. That having been said, just the previous day (Day 1), Nakai/Ono (Saishunkan) beat Aratama/Kawashima (NTT-East), who are actually not that bad, while Araki/Imai lost to Kawasaki/Mori (77 Bank), a combination that I haven't even heard of. As far as I see it, Araki/Imai aren't particularly good; the reason they have a WR within the top 100 at all is because American Vape has funded some international tournaments for them. So, yes, there was an element of surprise.
That's a nice photo! She is not listed as an S/J League participant. (https://www.sj-league.jp/assets/pdf/2019/053_badmintonS-JleaguePG_HSK_F1.pdf) And to be frank, it is difficult to see how she can contribute to the team if she doesn't participate in the league. However, I just now checked American Vape's website and she does indeed feature there. (http://www.americanvape.jp/badminton/player.html). Maybe the idea is to use her to raise the general profile/image of the team.
It's sad to see akane yamaguchi reluctant or hesitating to pour out 70 -100% of her true potentials into matches. Still need time to heal ?? Team relationships with coaches ok ?? or is she taking a step backwards to just focus on some new skills in order to move forward with greater strength later on. ??? I like both akane and okuhara. when they fight with each other, the speed is electrifying. it is like they really don't want to loose to each other.
It was fun to watch, that video. One thing that was interesting was how he also talked about how Park barely makes any mistakes, and how he asks him to play simpler. Reminds me of how a certain other Nr 1 Japanese player is playing his game... Edit ; Whoops! That was not the same interview. But he did speak about that one in another one. Here.
