Had they won the first, pressure would turn against Dane's side in game two so it could all be a different story. Well, hindsight is a good thing..
I am not sure whether she uses a 3u or 4u, but apparently Fukushima plays with an 88d, not 88s. Hirota is down as using an 88s.
What's going on? Were the Korean pair that good or are Yuki and Hirota having some issues? They had a good rest since Denmark.
I am not too surprised with this result. I don't want to be tough on them but honestly I am never being impressed with their games. I hardly can find anything that I can recall from most of their games. If they were luckily enough to win over Jung/Chang, I cannot see their chance to win over Matsu/Naga at all. For the last few months, WD quality dropped a lot in terms of strong nations like China and Korea having no good form pairs, so Fuk/Hiro had a lot of chance to win and be World No1 but I don't think they will be No1 for any longer unless they develop their game in a different way. Korea WD looks very good now and I think they took a step back to gear up for the upcoming years towards Olympics.
You shouldn't confuse the fact that you don't like their style of play with a lack of quality in real life. Korea WD has been abysmal for an entire year, resulting in a major overhaul in the coaching staff. Do you honestly think that was intentional to prepare for the Olympics? Now they "look good" at a single tournament (with apparently rather weird playing conditions) at the end of a long, grueling season in which they had no say whatsoever. If you're interested: Fukuhiro played 65 games this season, Jung Kyung Eun 25. That might not have to do with anything. Maybe it does. The game you want Fukuhiro to change was good enough to make them the most consistent pair for the last 1 1/2 years. Their h2h against top pairs this year: 2-1 vs Takamatsu, 2-2 vs Chen/Jia, 2-2 vs Nagamatsu, 4-0 vs Polii/Rahaju, 3-0 vs Tanayone, 3-1 vs Kithitharakul/Prajongjai. They've been in 4 750/100 finals, winning three of them in addition to their Asian Championships title and their second consecutive WC final. They won Denmark 750 (without dropping a single game) not even three weeks ago. I swear, people's fickleness in the day and age of instant news knows no bounds. The CL fans at least waited till he won in Paris before declaring him the major OG contender. For Korean doubles, a few quarter finals seem to suffice.
We always knew KOR doubles pairs were dangerous anyway. In that JPN-KOR friendly before the Uber Cup, I think KOR won most women's doubles matches, with PJB saying that they do rely on the singles to deliver in the UC. I know this is a FukuHiro thread but I just want to state that KOR just had a terrible year, not really because of the players but more of because of how they were managed. Chae Yujung and Kim So Yeong struggled to get into tournaments because of all of the mix-and-match going on affecting their notional rankings (and they weren't entered in some others too), but these are 2 players I so love to watch because of their good play. Injuries to Lee Yu Rim, Lee So Hee, Kim Hye Rin also didn't help them show their best. It is only now that KOR gets to display their prowess again... although terribly late in the season. Just in case I get misunderstood, I also disagree that JPN WD quality has dropped, particularly FukuHiro. It's been a long season for all of them, especially as they support the tour more so than other powerhouse nations.
It's okay Fukushima and Hirota... Athletes life always have ups and downs... I always support you both. Hope Fukuhiro qualify for the World Tour Finals. Hope Fukuhiro come back stronger to win the Hong Kong Open
So if their games are so good to have that impressive h2h against other pairs and the fact that they are in many finals this year then I would think their games are gradually studied quite well by other pairs and in order for them to maintain their ranking they need to develop more as a pair. I am a big fan of Japanese WD pairs so dont take me wrong. I love badminton in general and love to watch beautiful games. I don't care much about player's ranking as long as they play their best games on court and make us exciting to watch, that's enough.
I agree with you, they're probably the least exiting pair to watch. But our preferences in terms of style do not mean that the players we don't root for are not good or have something to prove. I remember them playing an extremely long, but also high-paced rally against Chen/Jia this year and Gill said something along the lines of "it's amazing they don't make mistakes" to which Steen replied "Yeah, other pairs would have made three mistakes by now". They are simply solid af. Right now they are the best pair (meaning: this year) and I'm sure that given the highly competent staff and the intense competition in the Japanese team, they won't rest on their laurels, but try to improve. The potential for the world champions to get better is probably higher, but we're only going to see that in time. A slight dip in form after a long season and only two weeks after a major victory and is not enough to convince me that they're somehow "over the hill".
Will need some kind of miracle for these two to qualify for Guangzhou. Really sucks because both fukuhiro and takamatsu deserve to be there!
It's already over. Takamatsu just need to step on court in India and they'll end up with 96680 (89970 +5040+1670) points (that's already considering they don't make the sf in HK). Even with a win in HK, Fukuhiro can only get to 95900 (86700 + 9200). When Takamatsu win their quarter final in Honk Kong, they don't even have to go to India.
Sucks even more because all those who get to participate in Guangzhou get a nice reward regardless of result but not Yuki and Sayaka. They worked so hard all year!