While watching some Uber Cup video, I noticed that when some female players left the court, they would go to the side line near the net, turn around, bow and step backward. I really like their politeness.
I think that originated in Kendo and other martial arts. It's nice to see the same respect in Badminton too
Really impressed with Riichi Takeshita. I had closely followed Japanese players during Thomas Cup. All were good, but really like the way Riichi played against Lin Dan few days back. He had everything to match Superdan. Yesterday saw Riichi Vs Lin Dan match and was totally blown away with his approach. Havent seen Lin Dan stretch that much against any opponent in recent times, LCW and CL included! Infact Riichi beat him at net so much so that Lin Dan avoided playing him at net. Everyone is going gaga about Kento Momota but wouldn't be surprised if Riichi surpasses him!
Why there is not a thread in this forum for the current WD WR No.1 pair Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo?
may be because there are only a few days left for them being the world no 1. already overtook by the reigning world and OLY champion in next week's listing
Sayaka Sato (perhaps best known for having to withdraw at the QF stage of 2012 Olympics vs Tine Baun) won the Scottish Grand Prix this week. Good to see she's fully recovered from her injury and back playing again. She's only 23 so has time to get back into the Olympic squad but faces some fierce competition; Takahashi Mitani Hirose Yamaguchi Okuhara are all fighting for the same goal. Japan WS is really strong right now.
Team Japan - 2015 players list Team A Male Sho Sasaki Kento Momota Kenichi Tago Takuma Ueda Kenichi Hayakawa Hiroyuki Endo Noriyasu Hirata Hirokatsu Hashimoto Keigo Sonoda Takeshi Kamura Female Akane Yamaguchi Minatsu Mitani Yui Hashimoto Nozomi Okuhara Naoko Fukuman Megumi Taruno Ayaka Takahashi Misaki Matsutomo Miyuki Maeda Reika Kakiiwa Team B Male Sakai Kazumasa Riichi Takeshita Kanta Tsuneyama Kenta Nishimoto Yosei Yamaguchi Hashiru Shimono Takuto Inoue Yuki Kaneko Kenta Kazuno Kazushi Yamada Akira Koga Taichi Saito Keiichiro Matsui Koshun Miura Female Sayaka Takahashi Kaori Imabeppu Sayaka Sato Aya Ohori Natsuki Nidaira Saena Kawakami Ayane Kurihara Naru Shinoya Shizuka Matsuo Mami Naito Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota Koharu Yonemoto Shiho Tanaka
Just wondering but do you know why Sayaka Takahashi is in Team B? I think it's really weird that she is in team B. A mistake maybe?
Poor performance in 2014 perhaps? It's not a mistake, it's official. She might need to work harder this year to be in Team A again.
Thanks, that makes sense. It's quite discouraging to be dispromoted like this. I have never heard about it before, didn't know that dispromoting was even possible. Well, I wish her luck and hope she can be promoted back to Team A next year.
They had a few injuries the last year (especially singles), so I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Now we see a few come back, their performances have really outshone Sayaka's.
Most of the Japanese WS players like Minatsu Mitani and Sayaka Takahashi have reached their peak and didn't show any room of improvement. The future of Japanese WS will be on Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara.
Nozomi Okuhara appears to be a high-flier at the moment.A clearer picture will emerge after her participation in the All-England ... -
