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Japan weakens in women's doubles badminton
Bend it: Japan's Misaki Matsutomo (left), next to Ayaka Takahashi, returns a shuttlecock to China's Du Yue and Li Yinhui (not pictured) during their women's doubles quarterfinal match at the BWF Badminton World Championships at the St
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end it: Japan's Misaki Matsutomo (left), next to Ayaka Takahashi, returns a shuttlecock to China's Du Yue and Li Yinhui (not pictured) during their women's doubles quarterfinal match at the BWF Badminton World Championships at the St. Jakobshalle arena in Basel on Aug. 23, 2019. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
Over the past three years, Japanese badminton players, specifically in the women's doubles category, enjoyed their hard-earned credibility as the real threats on the world stage.
In the current landscape, however, they have started to lose their domination as their competitors seem to be finding ways to decode the previously winning Japanese strategies.
Japanese women's doubles rose to the top after Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi won the 2016 Olympic Games gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ever since, Japanese players have seemed to find their rhythm on the world stage, toppling previous stronghold China.
At the end of the 2017 season, Japan solidified its presence by claiming four spots in the top seven of the women's doubles world rankings. This was the result of the Japanese pairs' ability to claim up to four places in the semifinal round of a tournament.
In 2018, the Japanese continued their victorious journey with more prestigious titles including the World Championships by Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara after 41 years, as well as the World Tour Finals by Misaki Matsutomo and Takahashi.
Nevertheless, outside their bubble the rivals of the Japanese were tenacious about overturning their supremacy.
In last season's ending, pairs from other countries began finding their way to dismantle the Japanese power.
To start with, China's Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan took over the World Tour Finals title in the 2019 edition after beating Mayu Matsumoto and Nagahara. The Chinese pair then also dethroned the Japanese from their top world-rank position.
The slowing down seems to be carrying on as during this week’s Daihatsu Indonesia Masters tournament in Jakarta there was only one Japanese pair advancing to the semifinals.
In the Saturday afternoon semifinal, however, Misaki Matsumoto and Takahashi lost to Danes Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen at the Istora Senayan indoor stadium within the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.
In previous rounds at the Masters, three other Japanese pairs lost to their respective rivals.
The two pairs — Mayu Matsumoto and Nagahara, as well as Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota — were beaten in the second round, while Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida were defeated in the quarterfinals.
World number two Mayu and Nagahara were stunned by South Korea’s Chang Ye-na and Kim Hye-rin, while second seeds Fukushima and Hirota lost to non-seeded pair Thygesen and Fruergaard. In the quarters, Matsuyama and Shida lost to Indonesia’s eighth-seed pair, Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu.
For Thygesen and Fruergaard, it was their first victory over Fukushima and Hirota as the Danes were always beaten in their four previous matches.
“Mentally, I think we did quite well and that’s what we need to do against the Japanese pair.
“We can always be better physically. Japanese players […] can run all day long. We can always improve that,” Thygesen told The Jakarta Post in a post-match interview.
“[Japan] has a lot of pairs right now in the women’s doubles. It’s difficult to put up with [that] and I think they’re just really good physically, all of them, and they can hit it over a lot of the time; they don’t make so many mistakes,” Fruergaard added.
The world number 30 Danish pair continued their positive trend by reaching the semifinals of the Masters after beating Thailand’s Puttita Supajirakul and Sapsiree Taerettanachai 21-15, 22-20 in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Greysia and Apriyani also managed to escape the Japanese threats by beating Shida and Matsuyama 21-15, 21-16.
“They might be the fourth pair in the Japanese lineup, but they are the dark horses. They could beat anyone as it was proven from the previous tournaments,” said Greysia.
“We anticipated what’s become their strengths and weaknesses, while also improving our strength. Preparing our mentality came first before talking about game strategy,” she added.
