A breath of fresh air from Japan, at only 16 yrs old and the most diminutive of her competitors, at barely the height of the net, this schoolgirl managed to win the World Junior Championship WS title 2 weeks ago. Her court coverage is reminiscent of Yamaguchi, her hand skills are like Intanon, and she already has many of Tai's deceptive shots. On top of that she has strong perseverance and vision, and plays intelligently in her shot selection. A most promising upcoming junior to watch out for! And not to mention, she's most kawaii... Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk
Been a loooong time didn't log in... Anyway... Just got the chance to watch this girl played against Nozomi Okuhara in the QF of BWF World Tour Super 100 Indonesia Masters in my hometown, Medan, Indonesia. I was shocked when I found out Okuhara was playing in Super 100 right after the WC. I was totally expecting Okuhara to win the game, but Miyazaki was hard to crack. It looked like Okuhara was still not in her prime, making lots of unforced errors and mostly under pressure. Miyazaki ended up winning the game in rubber set. I feel blessed to be able to see one of the top player in the world right before my eyes. My hometown is not known for hosting such event, only the capital, Jakarta and Bali have the infrastructures needed to do so. It is my first ever international badminton match I've ever watched live on site. Was sad Okuhara didn't make it through, but this girl Miyazaki surely got the prospect to be something in the future. Spoiler: Miyazaki vs Okuhara
Out of curiosity, I was scrolling through her profile and previous matches result. Apparently this girl also plays WD o.0
So..... unfortunately, after a display of amazing performance against Okuhara yesterday, today she succumbed to Chiu Pin Chian(rank 82, also plays WD) of Chinese Taipei in straight set, 19-21 18-21. Miyazaki, current rank 128, was almost flawless yesterday, but today was making a host of unforced errors. To Chiu's credit though, she was better in attacking. On top of that, thought I would share some shots from the match. Nothing spectacular, mind you, they were shot with a phone from 2012 with limited reach and capability, but nevertheless better than nothing, so here they are. Spoiler: Miyazaki v Chiu
Tks for the photos! Hopefully she'll use this time and matches whether win or lose as learning experience for her to gain more experience for improvements in her future matches. Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk
You're welcome Yeah, she gained the experience of winning against her more accomplished compatriot here. Despite then losing out, she would have something to learn to mature to be able to compete in higher level circuit. She got the pace to cover the court and beautiful placements, but also still so easy to lose easy balls. Hopefully we'll see her bouncing higher than this in the future.
Playing three matches at the qualifying level, and then another three full rubber matches in the main draw probably took its toll physically. Not to mention that she must have given her all to beat Okuhara. It will be interesting to see how she fares at the All-Japan Championships later this year. Needless to say, not being placed in the same quarter as Yamaguchi might help her prospects.
Hoo... didn't expect someone out there recorded the whole match I was at 6 o'clock of the court 11 o'clock was for the players and officials. IIRC, it was INA vs MAS at court 1 at the time, so this big match didn't get the attention it deserved.
An upset loss in the quarterfinals of World Junior Championships dashes Tomoka Miyazaki’s chances of retaining her title. Her opponent was Chiara Handoyo of Indonesia. 14-21, 21-18, 20-22. No streaming of the match
You're in luck. Somebody did record the match and shared it on Youtube ! She just looks mentally fatigued throughout the entire match, making numerous errors. 4 of the last 5 points were cheap, unforced errors, giving the opponent the match when she should have won it when she had the 3 match points. Not only did she play more matches than her opponent in the last two weeks, she was also playing in way too many tournaments in the past few months, and there are even still a few more coming up soon after the WJC. She has a bright future in front of her and injury is the last thing she needs at this age.
Miyazaki won her first World Tour title at the Indonesia Masters II! Promotion to Team A next year? She's slated to play next in the Korea Masters and Syed Modi, and possibly Kumamoto Masters, if there are last minute withdrawals.
