She made quite a lot of mistakes in that second game and did not look too happy when they managed to win a close game like she usually does. This Twitter harassment thing must be on her mind. Fans can be so mean. I hope she doesn't let this get to her too much. I thought her front court play improved a lot, and I dare say she played a bigger role in their win in Denmark last week. Good chance to win a second title in two weeks in today's final and prove those haters wrong! Arisa, ganbatte!
I guess it by watching the final match. Some situations, Higashino has to run back to smash instead of Watanabe, and in the podium, Higashino helped Watanabe to put down the gift.
Interestingly, in his interview with Badminton Spirit, when asked that there's the impression that his speed wasn't there, Watanabe responded that he's usually just too fast and that today was normal speed. No mention of a back injury.
pretty evident that its back related at this point, especially since all his smashes were half smashes and even clears he couldn't even get ahead of the shuttlecock in many returns, great sportmanship to last until the very end and to at least give the match a try hope he recovers well
Just to get this on record in here. Arisa Higashino was ON FIRE during yesterday's AE final. She was so aggressive and determined at the net and showed a defence performance that was mind blowing. When Yuta slightly struggled in some phases in the opening game, it was Arisa who stepped up and saved them the game. Overall, an amazing match and the perfect promotion for mixed doubles:
Agreed and I thought it was a great moment when the arena went from chanting for "Watanabe" to "Higashino".
Yeah, nice try to generate some gossip. All he does is making a hand sign that she should go first. 1:10:56 in the video above: And even if she held her hand stepping up the podium? What are we, like 12 years old?
I rewatched the match and felt that Watanabe lifted a lot. Higashino played very good defense as people pointed out, but more than anything it’s her “first time return” of WYL’s smash really threw the Chinese pair off. You can hear them discussing strategies during timeouts when coach and HDP urged WYL to play smarter by playing drops first before smashing full out. I think that’s why WYL appeared a bit tentative as the game went on: he was trying to find his way and it wasn’t as simple as suggested. what I’m trying to say is, this was a great win for them no doubt but you bet the opponents are gonna adjust. I think Watanabe needs to play even better/more aggressive in order to really get an upper hand in the future against top pairs. Just my thoughts : )
The pendulum has swung from "Yuta is the weak one" to "Arisa is the weak one" like once on each page of this thread. Why is it so hard for the fans to accept that they are only humans and that there are days on which you just aren't able to achieve your 100% performance? Have you watched the semi-final by any chance? Yuta was a monster in that match. They have just won one of the most prestigous tournaments on the planet without losing a single game whilst beating the top two seeds. How much more "upper hand against top pairs" do you want to see?
My comment was from a pure tactical perspective. Tactics is at a “micro” level, it’s natural that you feel I’m overanalying, but it’s just for fun here. That being said, the Thai pair and the Chinese pair are quite different. Dechapol is not as strong from the back as WYL or a healthy ZSW or even Jordan. I just felt lifting to those types of players has some risk and worth thinking, that’s all. For example, if Jordan lifts a lot, Melati would be killed.
You don't know Asian culture, Eastern Asia culture. It's not a normal thing when a man holding a woman's hand.
I mean, it's certainly not common, but in sports when stepping up a podium with a partner, it's pretty common regardless of where you're from.
jealous what ??? I learn from Watanabe's skills and I want to see they are in relationship. Don't you see they looking like a couple ? In the first time Watanabe/Higashino won All England (2018), he didn't dare to hug Higashino but she took the initiative to hug him. After that in Hong Kong Open, the first time Wata-Higa won Wang/Huang after 5 consecutive loss. Again, She took the initiative to hug him, but Watanabe skipped that. I've watched a show on TV in which players who got medals of many sports was invited to talk about themself after Tokyo 2020. Watanabe explained that he has to think many times whether a man can hug a woman ??? The first time Watanabe dare to "hug back" Higashino was the end of match that they got Olympic bronze medal.
None of our business until they actually confirm something. Do you like tv dramas ? @terrynguyen121988
