Korea Badminton, Japan, aiming for first place in the Sudirman Cup group! Korea is the best in terms of atmosphere and detailed skills!｜Sports Donga

The Korea-Japan match, which says that even rock-paper-scissors has to be won, will be held in Suzhou, China. It is the stage of the Sudirman Cup (World Mixed Team Badminton Championships).

On the 17th, Korea will play the final 3rd match of Group D of the 2023 Sudirman Cup group stage against Japan at the Olympic Sports Center in Suzhou, China. Both Korea and Japan have already secured tickets to the quarter-final tournament, which is awarded to second place in the group by beating France and England. However, in the tournament, the 2nd place in each group meets the 1st place in the other group, so in order to play smoothly, they must pass the group stage as 1st place.

Japan has emerged as a ‘gritty neighbor’ over the past 10 years, but Korea has the upper hand in both atmosphere and detailed skills. After a crushing defeat at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Japan succeeded in improving its constitution by appointing coach Park Joo-bong, the ‘legend of Korean badminton’, but at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the bronze medal of mixed doubles Watanabe Yuta-Higashino Arisa (world ranking 2nd) was the only medal. did.

In particular, Japan experienced an unprecedented situation in which the former chairman and managing director resigned in November of last year due to the problem of concealing systematic embezzlement within the association. Early this year, former J-League president Mitsuru Murai was appointed as the new vice-president to put out the urgent fire, but government support was cut by 20% this year following internal conflicts with the association. In a recent meeting with Sports Donga, coach Park said, “The association’s situation is unstable and there is a lack of support for the national team.”

Watanabe Yuta (right) and Higashino Arisa. Photo = Getty Images Korea

There is also a lot of anxiety in the mixed doubles, which is a single match. In the match against France on the 15th, Japan’s signature team, Watanabe-Higashino, was defeated by Tom Gickel-Delphine Delou (6th) with a set score of 0-2. This is because Watanabe could not escape from the aftermath of a knee injury suffered at the Jeonyeong Open in March. It is a good news for Korea where Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jeong (5th) and Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun (9th) are located.

Korea is inferior in men’s singles, where Naraoka Kodai (3rd place) is still alive, but we can expect sufficient victories in the rest of the events. Ahn Se-young (2nd place) in the women’s singles also lost to Akane Yamaguchi (1st place) with a record of 6 wins and 12 losses, but broke a 4-game losing streak at the India Open in January this year.

The World Badminton Federation (BWF) said on its homepage, “Korea has the advantage of being able to compete in various combinations of both men’s and women’s doubles resources. “The ability of each individual to adapt to the court is excellent,” he said. “Japan’s power is high, but there are still elements of anxiety such as injuries and poor performance from the Tokyo Olympics.”

Reporter Jaemin Kwon [email protected] See more articles by reporter