The Human Side of Ogura, Shiota & Hirose

S

smashmouth

Regular Member
To all you who were not there, here's some 'slice of life' I gathered from the PO.

On the first day of the main draw (July 18), the last game for the day, or shall I say night, ended at 1:30 am of July 19. Only a handful of spectators were left in the stadium to watch Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota go up against Taiwanese pair Chia Chi Chou and Pei Ting Ku. As you all know, it was a hardfought match that ended at 27-25 in favor of Chia and Pei. What only a handful know is the drama that followed. Ogura and Shiota were so heartbroken by their loss that they shed tears openly. Even after all the spectators have already left, and the lights were about to be turned off in the stadium, the two girls were still seen by the maintenance people sitting in the ringside seats still weeping.

On July 19, Eriko Hirose was on her way to an easy victory against Anna Rice of Canada when she got injured while going after a drop shot. She landed on the floor in a split. At first, it seemed ok since professional athletes could normally perform the split. She appeared to be saying to her coach "I want to continue", but then, as she was trying to get up, she fell back on the floor after her right leg (i think) could not support her weight. It became clear that she must have 'torn' something and that she could no longer continue. She was not able to hold back the tears and openly wept in the middle of the court and as she was being carried out on a stretcher. Maybe she was thinking of the missed opportunity to win the PO, being the top seed after Pi and co. withdrew, or perhaps she's thinking of the possibility of missing the World Championships next month due to this injury.
 
i was there watching and stayed a bit until the match ended. i saw ogura crying afterwards. she was really crying loudly. reiko seemed to take it emotionally better than ogura.
 
Poor Eriko-chan, remind me of the time WCH was injured during a game, a Thomas Cup game indeed. I hope she will be able to come back during the WC.
Reading kumiko and reiko story made me weep too, but that's what a competition should be. The better one wins.
 
They were dissapointed for sure. Their aim is to win the tournament and suffered a 1st Round defeat in PO. I had a drink with them the next morning after and they recovered from it. Knowing that our opponents can play better than us. Just need to train harder.
 
i think they do that whenever they lose. when they lost in the uber cup, they were teary eyed also. maybe it's their way of letting out their frustations.
 
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ants said:
They were dissapointed for sure. Their aim is to win the tournament and suffered a 1st Round defeat in PO. I had a drink with them the next morning after and they recovered from it. Knowing that our opponents can play better than us. Just need to train harder.
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Somtimes, as players they get to far ahead of themselves they tend to forget that the adversaries they face now are more important. We think so much of who we will meet in the finals that we lose focus on the the match at hand. I think it is true for most other sports. BUT there is always another chance.

FOr the gals to be so sad would only meen that they care about their preformances and am sure they will work harder in other bigger tourneys in the future.
 
yeah, i think it's a good thing that they care enough about losing that it brings them to tears. it will drive them to perform better to avoid feeling so sad. it's a much better attitude to have then to, say, lose and go 'so what?' or 'who cares?'.

i would have hoped that some of the teammates of coaches would have been there to comfort them though, rather than let them sit there by themselves, crying in the night.

poor rei-chan and kumiko-chan.
 
ants said:
They were dissapointed for sure. Their aim is to win the tournament and suffered a 1st Round defeat in PO. I had a drink with them the next morning after and they recovered from it. Knowing that our opponents can play better than us. Just need to train harder.
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ants! u r the man!

next time u having drink or dinner with them in singapore, u gimme a call man! i die-die must be there too
reiko is hot! :D:D
 
smashmouth said:
To all you who were not there, here's some 'slice of life' I gathered from the PO.

On the first day of the main draw (July 18), the last game for the day, or shall I say night, ended at 1:30 am of July 19. Only a handful of spectators were left in the stadium to watch Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota go up against Taiwanese pair Chia Chi Chou and Pei Ting Ku. As you all know, it was a hardfought match that ended at 27-25 in favor of Chia and Pei. What only a handful know is the drama that followed. Ogura and Shiota were so heartbroken by their loss that they shed tears openly. Even after all the spectators have already left, and the lights were about to be turned off in the stadium, the two girls were still seen by the maintenance people sitting in the ringside seats still weeping.

On July 19, Eriko Hirose was on her way to an easy victory against Anna Rice of Canada when she got injured while going after a drop shot. She landed on the floor in a split. At first, it seemed ok since professional athletes could normally perform the split. She appeared to be saying to her coach "I want to continue", but then, as she was trying to get up, she fell back on the floor after her right leg (i think) could not support her weight. It became clear that she must have 'torn' something and that she could no longer continue. She was not able to hold back the tears and openly wept in the middle of the court and as she was being carried out on a stretcher. Maybe she was thinking of the missed opportunity to win the PO, being the top seed after Pi and co. withdrew, or perhaps she's thinking of the possibility of missing the World Championships next month due to this injury.
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Ok people, dont want to sound OCD, but I want to clear up a misunderstanding again. The Taiwanese names are just like Korean names. The correct abbreviation for the pair should be Chou/Ku NOT Chia/Pei. :confused:
 
ants said:
They were dissapointed for sure. Their aim is to win the tournament and suffered a 1st Round defeat in PO. I had a drink with them the next morning after and they recovered from it. Knowing that our opponents can play better than us. Just need to train harder.
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:crying: So much for that "Samurai Spirit", luckily they remained injury free and possibly much better sleep! Banzai! ;)
 
:crying: It's just too much for the Samurai Spirit. Good thing Reiko Shiota and Kumiko Ogura weren't physically injured! Prayers for Eriko Hirose that her fall wouldn't not be career-threatening.
 
Ah, I was really looking forward to seeing Eriko in action next month .... but now it looks unlikely. Anybody know the extent of her injuries?
 
abedeng said:
Ah, I was really looking forward to seeing Eriko in action next month .... but now it looks unlikely. Anybody know the extent of her injuries?
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I was able to talk to one of the japanese players who sat beside me and she said Eriko sustained a hamstring injury and has to rest for 3 months. This was only the initial diagnosis but she will undergo more check ups to determine the extent of the injury. She was on a wheelchair when she left for Japan a few days ago.
 
This is not common. They cried as well when they lost in the Uber Cup in Japan. My heart melts when i see them sad.
 
I'm not surprised..

smashmouth said:
To all you who were not there, here's some 'slice of life' I gathered from the PO.

On the first day of the main draw (July 18), the last game for the day, or shall I say night, ended at 1:30 am of July 19. Only a handful of spectators were left in the stadium to watch Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota go up against Taiwanese pair Chia Chi Chou and Pei Ting Ku. As you all know, it was a hardfought match that ended at 27-25 in favor of Chia and Pei. What only a handful know is the drama that followed. Ogura and Shiota were so heartbroken by their loss that they shed tears openly. Even after all the spectators have already left, and the lights were about to be turned off in the stadium, the two girls were still seen by the maintenance people sitting in the ringside seats still weeping.

On July 19, Eriko Hirose was on her way to an easy victory against Anna Rice of Canada when she got injured while going after a drop shot. She landed on the floor in a split. At first, it seemed ok since professional athletes could normally perform the split. She appeared to be saying to her coach "I want to continue", but then, as she was trying to get up, she fell back on the floor after her right leg (i think) could not support her weight. It became clear that she must have 'torn' something and that she could no longer continue. She was not able to hold back the tears and openly wept in the middle of the court and as she was being carried out on a stretcher. Maybe she was thinking of the missed opportunity to win the PO, being the top seed after Pi and co. withdrew, or perhaps she's thinking of the possibility of missing the World Championships next month due to this injury.
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..at how emotional they are and can be..Thanks for sharing, smashmouth..:)
Anyways, (I've shared this before in BC) I actually witnessed, firsthand during the 2005 WC, a similar scenario which occurred with Eriko Hirose. Prior to that WC, i remember Eriko was starting to make a name for herself in several tourneys leading up to the WC. At that time, she just lost a tough, hard breaking rubber set to HK's Wang Chen. After the match ended, she rushed back to the player's only area and immediately broke down in tears. She kept on weeping & sobbing, for nearly 15 minutes with her coach, that i really felt a bit sad for her. The people that noticed her really felt how emotional it was...
And now reading that Eriko might suffer a pretty serious injury, and will miss the upcoming WC, it seems like she just can't get any break..:p
 
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ctjcad said:
..at how emotional they are and can be..Thanks for sharing, smashmouth..:)
Anyways, (I've shared this before in BC) I actually witnessed, firsthand during the 2005 WC, a similar scenario which occurred with Eriko Hirose. Prior to that WC, i remember Eriko was starting to make a name for herself in several tourneys leading up to the WC. At that time, she just lost a tough, hard breaking rubber set to HK's Wang Chen. After the match ended, she rushed back to the player's only area and immediately broke down in tears. She kept on weeping & sobbing, for nearly 15 minutes with her coach, that i really felt a bit sad for her. The people that noticed her really felt how emotional it was...
And now reading that Eriko might suffer a pretty serious injury, and will miss the upcoming WC, it seems like she just can't get any break..:p
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Wait a minute......was it Eriko that got injured at the Philippine Open or Anna Rice? :rolleyes:
 
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