News
Quarter finals September 22 (Fri)
⦿ Men's Singles
Viktor AXELSEN（Denmark） VS Srikanth KIDAMBI（INDIA）
⦿win-loss record: 2 win and 2 loss each
The 24-year-old Srikanth KIDAMBI（WR 8th ）will be playing against 24-year-old Srikanth KIDAMBI（WR 8th ）in the quarterfinals.
There are 4 players from India whose world ranking is within top 20. In recent years India's badminton level has grown rapidly. Indian ace KIDAMBI is 178 cm tall and has flexible body, he is a type of player who moves quickly in the court and attacks fast.
The reason why India is growing rapidly is due to the availability of great coaches.
Mulyo Handoyo coach who raised the 2004 Athens Olympics Gold medalist Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia) joined as national team coach from January of this year.
"He has plenty of practice menus and there are days when we practice non-stop for 4 hours. Everything now is so different from the past." says H. S. PRANNOY who same as KIDAMBI made it to best 8. KIDAMBI as well says" Everyone's play changed so much. This of course includes me as well." and welcomes the guidance from new coach.
India is now inheriting that legendary skills and play techniques of Taufik, once said to be the world's best technician.
With his newly acquired skills, will KIDAMBI be able to stop AXELSEN's sharp smashes from 194 cm height? That will be the greatest highlight of this game.
⦿Check Viktor AXELSEN profile and racket.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/players/post-5.html
⦿Check Srikanth KIDAMBI profile and racket.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/players/post-26.html
⦿ Men's Singles
LEE Chong Wei（Malaysia） VS CHOU Tien Chen (Chinese Taipei)
⦿win-loss record: LEE Chong Wei 6 wins and 0 losses
Aiming for the seventh win LEE Chong Wei (WR 7th) will be playing against CHOU Tien Chen (Now WR 5th), the first player from Chinese Taipei to reach 4th place in World Ranking.
27 years old CHOU Tien Chen describes himself as "running and rallying type". Currently he spends his days practicing at the National Training Center in Kaohsiung City in the south of Chinese Taipei. Although he lost six consecutive times to LEE Chong Wei in the past, he is still challenging the champion and saying "I will play to my best!".
Meanwhile, LEE Chong Wei so far was playing very close matches. The first-round match lasted up until 17th point in 3rd game. The second-round match's first game turned into extended game. This gives an impression that he is not in his regular condition.
LEE Chong Wei commented the following." Recently it is not easy to play whole match to my satisfactory level as before. However, I don't want to play such game which will make me look miserable in front of my fans."
Of course, he promised to play to his best at the quarterfinals. It's about time for his condition to be getting better and maybe we will get to see his superhuman smashes and net play.
⦿ Check LEE Chong Wei profile and racket.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/players/post.html
⦿ Check CHOU Tien Chen profile and racket.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/players/post-21.html
⦿ Women's singles
Carolina MARIN（Spain） VS Akane YAMAGUCHI（Saishunkan）
⦿win-loss record: 4 win and 4 loss each
Akane YAMAGUCHI talked about why she lost the second game in the second round.
"I thought that if I focus on rally I should be fine, so I played according to opponent's style."
Her highest world ranking was 2nd. As her ranking went up, she stopped to stand in the court as a challenger, but was rather responding after seeing her opponents move. Comment above reflects her regret in recent passive play style. As Yamaguchi's positioning was changing, she "unconsciously was forgetting to ignore the opponent's play style and attack as I wanted" says Yamaguchi.
Since the final game on 2nd round became tough one, Yamaguchi remembered the times when she was more absorbed in her game. Yamaguchi's quarter-finals opponent is the gold medalist of the Rio Olympics - Carolina MARIN (WR 5th). Who can be a better opponent to help Yamaguchi to get back to her old absorbed playing.
"During my match against Marin I want to have as few simple mistakes as possible. I want my fans to enjoy the game by showing high level playing skills." （Yamaguchi）
It will be the 9th match against Yamaguchi for MARIN who is on alert and says "Yamaguchi is a player who takes each rally very seriously, so I can't win unless I use my power 100%".
Both have offensive power comparable to men players, so intense rally is expected. If Yamaguchi wins the finals, it will be the second-time victory since 2013, if MARIN wins it will be the first victory at this tournament for her.
⦿Check Carolina MARIN profile and racket.
http://www.yonex.co.jp/badminton/players/post-8.html
⦿Check Akane YAMAGUCHI profile.
http://www.saishunkan-badminton.jp/archives/member/2323
⦿ Women's singles
Aya OHORI（Tonami Transportation） VS CHEN Yufei（China）
⦿win-loss record: CHEN Yufei 3 win and 0 losses
This is the game of two promising young players, 20-year-old OHORI (WR 13th) and 19-year-old CHEN (WR 10th).
It was in 2014 that OHORI and CHEN faced each other for the first time. Since then, CHEN kept winning, but OHORI did not lose easily, brought it to the finals or even extended the game showing her persistence.
The quarterfinals of this tournament, which will be the fourth game to fight, will be challenge by OHORI to CHEN who became a bronze medalist at the world championship last month.
CHEN said "My strengths is running speed and rhythm. I always try to carry the game with good rhythm. "
Aspirations are also high. China didn't get any medals at women's singles during the Rio Olympics. "We need to regain the lost prestige of China. Of course, I want to realize that," CHEN shared her ambitions.
Let's keep eyes on OHORI, whether her sharp attacks can stop CHEN.
⦿Check Aya OHORI profile.
http://www.tonami-badminton.jp/players/aya_ohori.html
⦿ Men's doubles
Keigo SONODA／Takeshi KAMURA（Tonami Transportation） VS Vladimir IVANOV／Ivan SOZONOV（Russia）
＊win-loss record: IVANOV／SOZONOV 1 wins and 0 losses
This may be rather unexpected opponent for SONODA / KAMURA. 197 centimeters & 184 centimeters tall pair IVANOV / SOZONOV (WR 15th) defeated the world champion Chinese pair.
Russia pair's presence became stronger in 2016 's All - English Championship. They became Champions by defeating Japan's ENDO / HAYAKAWA (Nihon Unisys, Rio Olympic Japan team). "I was watching the game that time. I remember that the Russian pair was on fire." (KAMURA).
As you can see, Russian pair's best weapon is an outstanding destructive attack, as if bring an axe down. SONODA is on alert and saying "any mistakes from our side will return in form of great smashes from our opponent pair."
Strategy drawn by SONODA / KAMURA as measure against Russia is to play no lobbing style which pair is good at. "We would like to approach with lower altitude attacks which is our style. So, we will be happy if the audience finds our play interesting." (SONODA)
Russian pair says "SONODA／KAMURA give the impression of the pair who moves well and a lot. They also have high defense skills."
In the quarter-finals Russia's heavy shots explode? Or will it be SONODA／KAMUR's fast and low rally to lead Japanese pair to the victory? This match's outcome seems to depend on which side takes the lead around the serve.
⦿ Check Keigo SONODA profile.
http://www.tonami-badminton.jp/players/keigo_sonoda.html
⦿ Check Takeshi KAMURA Chen profile.
http://www.tonami-badminton.jp/players/takeshi_kamura.html
⦿ Women's doubles
Ayaka TAKAHASHI／Misaki MATSUTOMO（Nihon Unisys） VS Koharu YONEMOTO／Shiho TANAKA（Hokuto Bank）
⦿win-loss record: TAKAHASHI／MATSUTOMO 3 wins and 0 losses
A confrontation which both sides joked and called a "Tohoku Tournament" is to be held in the quarterfinals.
TAKAHASHI／MATSUTOMO（WR 1st ）pair is graduate of St. Ursula Gakuin Eichi High School. in Miyagi Prefecture. YONEMOTO／TANAKA（WR 8th）are from Aomori Yamada HighSchool. During high school, YONEMOTO did not pair with TANAKA yet, but she has faced TAKAHASHI / MATSUTOMO pair many times at Tohoku Games with another partner. They are rivals for over 10 years.
In last year's competition, two pairs confronted in the semi-finals, TAKAHASHI / MATSUTOMO who just returned from the Rio Olympics showed the gold medalist's greatness. YONEMOTO who regrets last year's game in her heart commented as below.
"TAKAHASHI / MATSUTOMO pair's attack patterns should have been changing. I'd like to watch a video tonight and work out a counter strategy."
YONEMOTO / TANAKA won the first Super Series at the India Open in April. They have gained enough experience and skills to win this tournament as well. It is about a time to catch up with TAKAHASHI／MATSUTOMO pair.
How would TAKAHASHI／MATSUTOMO pair play against skilled up YONEMOTO／TANAKA pair? We are looking forward to seeing this game.
⦿Check Ayaka TAKAHASHI profile.
https://www.unisys.co.jp/com/sponsors/badminton/team/w/takahashi.html
⦿Check Misaki MATSUTOMO profile.
https://www.unisys.co.jp/com/sponsors/badminton/team/w/matsutomo.html
⦿Check Shiho TANAKA／Koharu YONEMOTO profiles.
http://hokutobadmintonclub.jp/#topmember
⦿ Women's doubles
Yuki FUKUSHIMA／Sayaka HIROTA（Saishunkan） VS Chang Ye Na／Lee So Hee（Korea）
＊win-loss record: FUKUSHIMA／HIROTA 4 wins and 2 losses
The world championship silver medalist pair FUKUSHIMA / HIROTA (WR 6th) enters the best 8 for the first time in this tournament and to fight against the All England champion pair Chang / Lee (WR 4th) in the quarterfinals.
As FUKUSHIMA says, others may see them as a pair who appear out of nowhere, which is true in extend if taking into consideration that only a year ago their world ranking was 18th.However they have joined Japan national A team from this year and started participating in Super Series Tournaments. What made them grow so quick? Pair says, "It is thanks to various experiences we have accumulated."
On the other side, they feel being studied by other pairs more than before. "Our strong point is our attack, however recently more and more times we are served in a way that we can't turn the shuttle into attack." （HIROTA）。
Their opponents in quarterfinals Chang／Lee are known to be especially enthusiastic in their research.
"They research other players a lot. I think the key is how we would respond to their moves". （FUKUSHIMA）
Another goal of the Japanese pair to play this match longer. At the world championship quarter finals when they defeated Korean pair, the game time was 1 hour and 41 minutes. It is unusual for women's doubles, matches often end within one hour at most. "I feel we won because the match time was longer than usual". （FUKUSHIMA）
On the other hand, Korean pair says about FUKUSHIMA／HIROTA that "they are good pair and very persistent. We play against Japanese pair rather often, so we will simply focus on each single rally." (Lee)
Audience better to be ready for the long show.
⦿ Check Yuki FUKUSHIMA Chen profile.
http://www.saishunkan-badminton.jp/archives/member/207
⦿ Check Sayaka HIROTA Chen profile.
http://www.saishunkan-badminton.jp/archives/member/317
⦿ Mixed doubles
Paraveen JORDAN／Debby SUSANTO（Indonesia） VS WANG Chi-lin／LEE Chia Hsin（Chinese Taipei）
Two pairs who have survived the tough games will face each other in the quarterfinals.
At the 2nd round, the first game was the most difficult one for JORDAN／SUSANTO（WR 7th）pair. The opponent was an Indian pair of PONNAPPA, very skilled player who can perform three events, and a 17-year-old RANKIREDDY. It took them up to 29-27 to finish the first game. Meanwhile, Korea pair played tenaciously against Chinese Taipei's WANG／LEE（WR 23rd）pair who eventually won with 19 points on 3rd game.
Both pairs who proved their strength in the second round have analyzed each other like the following,
"First thing about WANG / LEE pair is that they move quickly. If only we can make their speed go down and bring it to the rally… " （SUSANTO）
"Experienced JORDAN / SUSANTO pair is strong when it comes to a long rally. We want to cut the rally before being pushed to back." （LEE）
Which pair can bring favorable pace? Check it out at the venue.
