They are my favorite Japanese WD team now. I think they will be number 1 real soon. Both of them can play hard and Matsumoto is very creative. Look at the final shot when the score is 19-19 in the Singapore semi game. very impressive. As Nagahara continues to improve and get more steady, they will be hard to beat.
I wonder why she is not playing mixed double? I would think she will be a great half of a good pair as she plays well in the front and also can attack well in the back also.
BTW, just in case that you didn't know, MatsuNaga will become the new WR1 and JPN WD1 after BAC. They achieved it by beating FukuHiro, the current WR1 and JPN WD1.
That's great news to hear. NagaMatsu (or MatsuNaga) have been performing better than the other two pairs in recent months; it's about time they ascend the throne of WD.
Their path to WR1 is more or less similar with FukuHiro. FukuHiro won the Most Improved Award in 2017 and became WR1 the next year. MatsuNaga won the award last year and will ascend to the top shortly. Except that MatsuNaga are already the World Champions.
“I’m a bit impatient but Matsumoto is more relaxed and does things at her own pace. We have different qualities, so we are well matched in covering each other’s good and bad qualities,” “Well, our characters are totally different but they blend together to produce our best playing style,” https://bwfworldchampionships.bwfba.../matsumoto-nagahara-rapid-ascent-to-pinnacle/
I quite like Nagahara but she really needs to stop flick serving all the time. Especially flicking players like Jia Yifan who punish it immediately. Actually I feel Japanese WD have a defensive play style recently, so it will be interesting to see their plan now that the Olympic qualification period has started.
I think Nagahara has improved lately, trying to be more creative especially on defensive shots. I don’t know, but I feel like Matsumoto has a higher potential that she hasn’t reached. She’s tall but I feel like her smashes can have more sting, and she can intercept better using her height if trained on that front. Mentally though I think they’re still quite fragile in tight situations. Tmr will be difficult against Chen/Jia who are so strong offensively. Any short lifts that went unpunished against Hirota/Fukushima today will be killed instantly.
