She also made it to the final of the Osaka IC early last month, which was arguably more impressive, given the tougher field of competition there.
Nishimoto was down 1-5 in his h2h against JHJ while Tsuneyama has a 1-0 h2h advantage over JHJ so why on earth was Nishimoto chosen to play over Tsuneyama? I would think that 1-5 is decisive enough to convince the coaches that playing him might not be such a good idea, but, apparently, that wasn't the case.
It's not the first time that we encounter questionable and often perplexing strategies from the Japanese coaching camp. XD the H2H was also 2-0 in favour of Jeong/Kim but Watanabe/Higas were chosen anyway. I think Shinoya and Yamashita stand a good chance against the Koreans but not the Chinese.
Yamashita/Shinoya's h2h is 0-4, but looking at their past scorelines, they do seem to struggle a lot less against this Korean pair than Watagashi, and coming in as the underdog, they probably had a chance to upset the Korean pair, or at the very least, put up good enough of a fight to keep the energy up in the Japanese camp. Especially after the previous match against the French pair, I tend to agree with you that it would have been better to play Yamashita/Shinoya instead. That 3rd game in the first match set the wrong mood for everybody who followed and the momentum was just downward from there. Interesting fact: Momota beat JHJ at the recent Japan-Korea friendly tournament. Oh the irony. He should be getting a morale boost at home right now .
Exactly. I don't think Watagashi should have lost to the French pair, though the French pair did play exceptionally well and they are not ones to be underestimated. Again, I question why Yamashita/Shinoya were not chosen for that French tie. They're not THAT bad as a pair. I mean we're not talking about Matsutomo/Kaneko kind of bad here.
We don't know whom players French team chose In the case that Japan loses in XD, MD (Popov brother) and MD. It's terrible.
Japan lucked out with the draw and managed to avoid China in the QF. They have a chance to redeem themselves by bringing home a bronze. Indonesia was not as lucky. Japan's advantage against Thailand are in the WS, WD, and MD. Unfortunately, XD and MS will play first so Yamaguchi might be facing a 0-2 scoreline by the time she goes on court again. She has the advantage against both PC and RI, but the scoreline pressure might get to her again.
RI is not at her best but one should never take for granted a victory over her. At her best - and you would not know how she will be feeling on that day, Yamaguchi may find it a very tough challenge.
Agree, that's why I said "has an advantage" rather than "a sure point". I am more concerned about PC than RI though. PC is in better form than RI right now and Yamaguchi had found it tough to play against her in their early meetings. Japanese players are not good when it comes to dealing with the pressure of team events so the biggest obstacle might very well be themselves. Add some scoreboard pressure and we might even get a repeat of what happened in the group stage.
With an unsurprising scoreline but definitely surprising match results, Japan will move on to SF against China. Yamashita and Shinoya pulled an incredible comeback against Bass/Popor. Naraoka's result was kind of expected, since he struggles against Vitidsarn. Yamaguchi seems to be very off form, as she has been for the past couple weeks. Ultimately it came down to the doubles matches for Japan to win, although they were close. Not a great sign for what their result will be up against China. Assuming that the order of play will be the same again. It might be reliant on XD taking the win to have a chance. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
It would take a miracle for XD to win. Unless Naraoka can out perform himself or Yamaguchi getting her form back overnight, it will be a washout. With the way everybody on the team has been playing, making it to the SF is already a bonus.
The Ranking Circuit, Japan's second most important domestic tournament, with ramifications for national team selection, started yesterday. I just now watched High School pupil Miyazaki Tomoka wipe out No. 3 seed, Mizui Hirari, in the second round. The No. 14 seed despatched her rival with a scoreline of 21-5 in G2! One reason why WS coach Choi Sangbeom has been transferred to National Team B is possibly to help cultivate a next-generation ace. Miyazaki Tomoka has the potential.
I watched Akechi vs a Biprogy player by accident yesterday. It was a close three game match in which Akechi struggled with her very conservatively playing oppent. On a very positive note, Miyazaki seems to have had a massive growth spurt. She seemed slightly taller than Mizui, so around 1,65ish.
Does anybody have the links for the tournament on 5/27 that was streamed on NipponBA? Both Ch.A & Ch.B?
According to Nikkan Sports, as of December 2022, Miyazaki is 1.64 (she may have grown again since then), with a weight of 49 kg, and foot size of 25.5 cm. These are large feet for a Japanese 16-year-old!!
Oh, I just realized it's all in my head. I thought she looked so small and slender at the WJC, but a quick glance confirmed she was well taller than the net post already.
Miyazaki had beaten Akechi in their last two meetings toward the end of last year and she seems to have improved a lot since the AJC. Akechi too has improved, but I think Miyazaki is the favorite going into this match. It looks like Miyazaki will be the one to take over the mantle from Yamaguchi. Gunji was a bright prospect when she won the WJC, but has not been making the kind of progress expected of a world junior champion. Hopefully we'll get to see Miyazaki on the Uber Cup team next year. No high school student has made it onto the team since Yamaguchi did. Kawamoto Takuma also beat Hatano in 2 games. Not an upset in terms of years of experience, but an upset in terms of ranking.
The NBA's channel is streaming two courts live but the links get removed after about 24 hours and get archived. You'd have to be a Bird Japan fan club member to access the archive so if you missed it, you missed it.
