The closest Japan has ever came was in the 2012 London Olympics when women doubles pair - Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa won the silver medal after losing the final to Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei of China. But that is about to change. With a fresh batch of young talented players progressing through the ranks, Japan’s wait for a World or Olympic Champion could be over as soon as this year.
A month ago, Kento Momota (left pic) and Nozomi Okuhara (right pic) won the men's singles and women's singles title of the BWF Super Series Masters Finals, a tournament competed by the top eight players or pairs with the most points from the calendar year’s twelve events of the BWF Super Series. It was the first time that Japan had a winner in both the singles events.
To produce world champion, hardwork and talent are undoubtedly the most crucial elements to achieve success. But, many countries overlooked the process and the planning to achieve that. The success of both Momota and Okuhara attributed largely to how well the Japanese coaching team build up their progress. Both players started their professional career off by winning the World Junior Championship in 2012. In three years time, both Momota and Okuhara are now ranked top 8 in the world.
The transition from being a junior to a professional is always a tricky one in any sports. Japan decided to send younger players including Momota and Okuhara to participate lower level international tournaments (i.e. international challenge/series events) to gain playing experience at professional level. Instead of playing players in the top 30 or 40 in the world right away in big tournaments, Japanese players played with players outside the top 30 or 40 to develop the necessary skills and game for the professional level. The advantage of playing in smaller tournaments also allows players to gain points to improve their rankings. After gaining a better world ranking, the Japanese coaching team will then move the players up to play at bigger tournaments.
Before winning his first Super Series title at Singapore in 2015, Momota have victories in International Series tournament at Austria, Sweden, and Estonia. The same goes to Okuhara. She won Grand Prix level titles in Canada, New Zealand, Vietnam and Korea (A level higher than International Series/Challenge events) before winning a Super Series title in 2015. These victories may seems little by many. But to these players, it is a confidence booster and a platform for them to get the feel of winning. Step by step, these victories in smaller tournaments helped propel them to compete against the best players in the world.
The strength of Japan in badminton is evident the fact that the country together with Korea and Denmark have at least a player or a pair ranked top 8 in the world in four out of the five disciplines in badminton. (Except mixed doubles) China is the only country that has at least a player or a pair ranked top 8 in the world in all disciplines.
In terms of BWF Super Series events, the series of elite badminton tournaments, Japan has won a total of 6 titles in 2015. They are only behind China and Korea in terms of titles won. This is an improvement compared to the previous years as Japan has only won 2 titles in both 2013 and 2014.
The country’s depth in certain discipline is simply staggering. For instance, Japan has a total of 6 women players ranked inside the top 20 in the world with an average age of only 22.3 years old (Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, Sayaka Sato, Sayaka Takahashi, Minatsu Mitani, Yui Hashimoto) In the women’s doubles, Japan has four pairs ranked inside the top 20. The men are not too far behind the women by having four men’s doubles pairs ranked inside the top 25.
Japan is often called “Land of the Rising Sun”. Certainly, the land has become a force to be reckoned with in badminton. With steady progression and coaching, Japan is on pace to produce World and Olympic champions, finishing what Park Joo-bong has set out for when he first took over the job.
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