リオデジャネイロ・オリンピック
Japan wins first badminton gold in women's team doubles
Olympics: Matsutomo, Takahashi claim Japan's first badminton gold
TOKYO2020・オリンピック
Olympics badminton: Kento Momota undone in shock upset
Japan's Arisa Higashino and Yuta Watanabe win bronze in mixed doubles badminton
OLYMPICS/ Japan bags mixed doubles bronze in badminton
Olympics/ Aug. 19, 2016/Japan Today
RIO DE JANEIRO —
Japanese badminton players Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi left their Danish counterparts wishing they could turn back time after snatching gold from their grasp in a fiery women’s doubles final on Thursday.
The Japan duo sensationally came from behind to defeat a devastated Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark 18-21, 21-9, 21-19 in a thrilling encounter at the Rio Olympics.
The match, which saw an angry Juhl remonstrate with the umpire for several minutes at one point, was locked at 16-16 in the final game as the Danes and Japanese traded point for point.
Denmark raced ahead 19-16 and looked like they were heading for victory, only to be stunned by their opponents.
Japan won five points on the bounce to snatch the game, match and gold medal.
“We didn’t think at all that the gold was going to be ours,” said Pedersen, who adds silver to the mixed doubles bronze she won at London 2012.
“But my dream right now is to go back and play again from 19-16. Of course we’re disappointed but we did the best we could. That’s sport,” the 30-year-old added.
Juhl, 32, had exchanged some words with the umpire mid-way through the first game, angrily complaining that Japanese coaches had been calling shots.
“It was just a little incident. It’s a final and there were lots of emotions,” Juhl told reporters.
“Of course we don’t want the coaches to call it out but it was okay after that and it wasn’t something that really affected the match,” she added.
Japan’s diminutive Matsutomo immediately hit back.
“The European players are often making claims during games. So it didn’t affect us much,” said the 24-year-old, admitting that she thought they were going to lose at 19-16 down.
“The Danes were in great physical condition. They are very tall so we needed to use our brains to fight them,” Takahashi added.
The Japanese pair become the first non-Chinese women’s doubles champions since the 1992 Barcelona Games when badminton officially debuted at the Olympics.
“We are happy that we are able to break their dominance. This was our goal,” smiled Matsutomo.
Earlier in the day, South Koreans Jung Kyung-Eun and Shin Seung-Chan had defeated China’s Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang to claim bronze.
The South Korean pair breezed through the first game, taking it 21-8 before clinching victory and third place on the podium with a more hard fought 21-17 win in the second.
Olympics: Matsutomo, Takahashi claim Japan's first badminton gold
August 19, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)
RIO DE JANEIRO (Kyodo) -- Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi won Japan's first badminton gold with a 2-1 win over Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark in the Rio Games' women's doubles final on Thursday.
The Danish pair won the first game 21-18 before Japan, which won silver four years ago in London through Mizuki Fujii and Reika Kakiiwa, pulled one back 21-9 to set up a third game.
Japan trailed 19-16 but won the next four points to set up match point. Pedersen hit into the net to hand Matsutomo and Takahashi the victory.
"In the first game I didn't play well at all, but in the final game I could show off all the work I've put in and never quit," said Matsutomo.
"The fact that we could play our game in that situation pleases me more than getting the gold medal."
Takahashi said, "When we managed to tie it at the end, in a close contest, I could play thinking we are stronger in such situations."
In the women's singles, Nozomi Okuhara will head to the bronze-medal match after losing 2-0 to Sindhu Pusarla of India in the semifinals.
Okuhara, the first Japanese semifinalist at the Olympics in women's singles since badminton became a medal sport in 1992, lost 21-19, 21-10 to Pusarla, who had beaten London 2012 silver medalist Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals.
Okuhara will face China's Li Xuerui in Friday's match for bronze
Olympics badminton: Kento Momota undone in shock upset
(Jul 28, 2021 /The Japantimes)
Original ArticleWorld number one Kento Momota was stunned by number 38 South Korea’s Heo Kwang-hee on Wednesday, going down 15-21, 19-21 and looking visibly despondent at each lost point.
Badminton’s comeback kid Momota has faced tremendous obstacles to get to the Tokyo Olympics — including serious injury in a car accident — and was expected to win the match.
Instead, he struggled to keep his head above water in the first game, overwhelmed several times by Heo’s sharply angled smashes and unable to retaliate with his own.
Earlier, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen — who is one spot below Momota — crushed Finland’s Kalle Koljonen 21-9, 21-13 with vicious shots that had the heft of his nearly two-meter frame behind them.
World number three Chou Tien-Chen was neck-and-neck for over an hour with Canada’s Brian Yang, who ranks 44th in another near-upset. The match ended 21-18, 16-21, 22-20 to an exhausted Chou, who rallied to resounding cheers from his team in the stands.
Chou’s teammate Tai Tzu Ying had a smoother day in women’s singles, reminding the world why she’s number one when she had France’s Qi Xuefei struggling to match up through their 25- minute encounter.
Tai, who beat Qi 21-10, 21-13, had a rough start to the Tokyo Olympics, taking a longer time to fend off two hugely inferior opponents earlier in the Games.
“This is the first time I’m getting to the top eight at the Olympics,” Tai said after the match. “Now the most important thing is to prepare.”
India’s celebrated PV Sindhu — the badminton-crazy country’s best chance at a gold this year and a Rio silver medalist — had Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi sliding on her stomach in their first game before beating her 21-9. Cheung gave Sindhu a harder time in the second game — keeping nearly in lockstep with her — and many of the points Sindhu conceded were taken because she landed the shuttlecock beyond bounds. Sindhu managed to win the second game 21-16.
In the mixed doubles quarter-finals, world number one team Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong got off to a strong start and overcame number four duo Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti, finishing them off at 21-17, 21-15.
Japan’s Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino squared off with Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai in a close match that took more than an hour, and ultimately went to the former duo 15-21, 21-16, 21-14.
Japan's Arisa Higashino and Yuta Watanabe win bronze in mixed doubles badminton
(Jul 30, 2021/ The Japantimes)
Original ArticleYuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino gave Japan its first ever badminton mixed doubles Olympic medal on Friday, when they captured the bronze in the third-place playoff at the Tokyo Games.
Watanabe and Higashino secured a spot on the podium by defeating Hong Kong pair Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet 21-17, 23-21 at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
"At the end it came down to who was the most determined to win," said the 24-year-old Watanabe, who also became the first Japanese man to win an Olympic badminton medal.
"We lost yesterday (in the semifinals) but took time to reflect and were able to turn it around. There is a huge difference between winning and not winning a medal and we are proud to have won a medal on this big stage at the Tokyo Olympics."
Higashino, 24, who also partnered Watanabe to the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, said, "I am so happy. We have both had a lot of tough experiences and there were times when we weren't winning."
"The three of us including (Watanabe's men's doubles partner Hiroyuki) Endo have really made a big effort and this medal is for the three of us."
In women's singles, Nozomi Okuhara came up short in her bid to improve on the Rio Olympic bronze medal she won five years ago, losing 13-21, 21-13, 21-14 to China's He Bingjiao in the quarterfinals.
"There have been highs and lows over the last five years and I am happy that I have had a lot of support from people throughout," said Okuhara.
"I wanted to give them something back through badminton and although I could not do that with results, I hope they felt how hard I was trying until the end," said the 26-year-old former world champion.
"The Olympics is a difficult event to enjoy but I am so happy that I was able to stand here on this stage."
OLYMPICS/ Japan bags mixed doubles bronze in badminton
(July 30, 2021/ The Asahi Shimbun/ REUTERS)
Original AraticleJapan won its first-ever mixed-doubles bronze medal on Friday when Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, who have played together for a decade, took out Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet 21-17 23-21 in a tight match.
Exhausted, the Japanese shuttlers both said there were times they wanted to throw in the towel.
“It was really difficult to enjoy because there was so much pressure,” Higashino said.
Watanabe, the only Japanese man to win an Olympic medal in badminton, said he hopes others win more and that he is honored have been the first.
“Of course I wanted to get gold, but I’m still satisfied,” he said.
Later on Friday, two Chinese mixed doubles teams will square-off for the gold and silver medals; Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong are set to play their team mates Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping.
The fact that there are two Chinese top medal contenders may foreshadow what is to come--the country has had an unbroken string of victories at the Tokyo Games so far.
Women’s singles number three Nozomi Okuhara from Japan did not fare as well as her compatriots in a gripping three-game match with world number nine He Bing Jiao of China.
The first two matches ended at an even 13-21 21-13 but He came back with a vengeance and brought fleet-footed Okuhara to her knees several times during the deciding third match that ended 21-14.
World number two women’s singles shuttler Chen Yu Fei prevailed 21-18 21-19 against number eight Korea’s An Seyoung.
“Being patient is the only way you can win in the game,” Chen said. Because they both won, Chen next plays her teammate He.
“It doesn’t matter now who wins the game tomorrow as long as we do our best,” she said.
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