It’s been a long and crazy few months since I last posted. I was putting a lot of focus into some of the new projects I wanted to bring into Get Good At Badminton until COVID-19 hit. I had to completely shift what I was doing. So during these few months, I’ve been creating the foundations for something I really wanted to do with Get Good At Badminton in the future. And today, I’m announcing the Get Good At Badminton’s Shop Launch.
Let’s talk a little more about what’s happening.
COVID-19 and Its Effect On Get Good At Badminton
I haven’t been posting for a long time, and part of the reason was due to COVID-19. I’ve lost a lot of motivation because I couldn’t get access to any courts and didn’t produce any content.
All public badminton facilities and courts have been closed, and with that, all the tournaments as well. So there’s nothing upcoming to be really training for.
Without any courts, it’s been more challenging to produce content anyways. I couldn’t review any badminton products and couldn’t really test any badminton strategies or drills. The only things I could do was create posts on training at home and analytical videos of pro players.
At the time, I didn’t feel like it. However, I will put in the work now.
The Planned Projects
Initially, there were two things I really wanted to do. One, I wanted to create online training to help everyone who can’t afford private coaches and those that want to take their game to the next level. Two, I wanted to create a badminton store.
The first project is on hold because I can’t get access to any courts. My second project, the store, was planned for after I can sell genuine branded badminton products. For example, Yonex, Victor, and Li-Ning. Being able to do that was going to take a few months at the minimum.
Things have definitely changed, however, which I will talk about next.
Amazon Associate Slashes
Around the end of April, Amazon sent out news to all its associates/affiliates telling them that their commission rates will be cut. This is one of the ways I make money from Get Good At Badminton. I review products, and then I put in Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of those links and buy the product, I take a percentage of the sale.
Since I write about badminton, I promote products in the sports industry. Amazon has slashed commission rates for sports from 5% to 3%.
Now, this doesn’t affect me much. To be honest, I hardly make any money from Amazon affiliate links. What did concern me, though, was a new revelation as a result of Amazon’s actions.
Why should I let my gigs be entirely controlled by another company’s actions? Why should Get Good At Badminton’s success be solely dependent on what Amazon does?
During this time, I was scrolling through my emails. I get a lot of promotional emails about ways to make money online. One thing that caught my eye, however, was a course for print on demand. Now, you may have no idea what I’m talking about, but this was what pushed me to start the Get Good At Badminton store much earlier.
I thought, “Hey, I wanted to start a store anyways, why not do it now?”
Why Not Start A Store?
Why don’t I just start this store now? I could build it and, in the beginning, focus on selling my custom designs. That’s what print on demand is. I create custom designs and put them onto clothing and other merchandise and then ship it to you if you buy.
From a business standpoint, this way is better. Any sales I make now will fund the effort into getting genuine branded products into my store, and I will have an existing customer base, which will help a lot.
Currently, we only sell clothing, but over time, our collection will grow, and we will offer more.
A Special Gift To You
As a gift to all Get Good At Badminton readers, use the code GGAB for 25% OFF your next order! I just want to thank everyone who supports Get Good At Badminton and let you know that there will be great things going forward.
Hi everyone! It’s been about a week since I last posted which isn’t much of a substantial period compared to a few weeks or months between each post, but I did vow to myself that I will be posting much more frequently so that everyone reading can learn more and get better at badminton.
This post will be a little different than many of the other posts on Get Good At Badminton. Instead of giving you another badminton racket review or latest badminton training drills, this post will be more of an informative post on what is currently happening at Get Good At Badminton and also a post asking for your input.
Giveaway News
Oops, another mistake! To all who entered the Yonex Astrox 99 badminton racket giveaway and that is not on Instagram or Facebook, I totally forgot to tell you about who won the giveaway.
Although I cannot disclose the winner’s name for legality reasons, I can link to his Instagram profile. So once again,
congratulations to @kaneyama_no_ for winning the Kento Momota style Yonex Astrox 99 badminton racket!
I also want to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway. A giveaway’s success is wholly dependent on the people who join it; otherwise, it might have been a giveaway with only four people in it…
My only regret with this giveaway was that I could not give away enough badminton products. Through this giveaway, I was able to message and listen to a lot more people about their inner lives, financial situation, and inability to access proper badminton equipment.
I was deeply saddened by the sheer number of people that were in these situations and how I could do nothing about it at the moment. Contrary to what some may think, I do not have deep enough pockets to help more of you. However, I will do my best to change my current situation so I can be of more assistance to those in need.
Hang in there! I’m looking out for everyone here!
Speaking of giving back to the community and helping others, I’ve also had positive responses to this giveaway. Words like, “What you’re doing is awesome” and “I love how you’re able to help people like this” always make my day and inspires me to continue doing what I do.
That’s why I want to plan to do another giveaway around November 2019. And this time, I want it to be much bigger and have more than just one winner. There will probably be multiple rackets, shoes, clothing, shuttles, and many more things that you can potentially win.
The details are not yet planned out, but I certainly hope I can do another one. Make sure you stay tuned to Get Good At Badminton for when the details are available!
Upcoming Posts and Projects
Another giveaway is just one reason why you should be excited in the next few months. Many other exciting things are happening to Get Good At Badminton in the next little while as well!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I did vow to myself that I will more consistently post on the Get Good At
Badminton website and I do not intend to break this vow. You should see at least two blog posts every week for the next little while or if I’m disciplined enough, forever (at least until I die or am physically unable to so a long time).
Writing more blog posts is crucial as I understand that many of you want to see more out of me. Whether it’s my opinion on a particular badminton shoe or specific strategies and tactics I have for badminton, these posts can help others tremendously.
One new thing you will also see more of is badminton post series. This is when I write multiple badminton posts in a TV show like manner where there are episodes, and you can go through each episode starting from 1 or if you would like, a random episode like 20.
Series are much more common on YouTube where you see people do things like “Improve Your Badminton Control – Episode 1 (Hitting The Shuttle)” and then episode 2, then 3, then so on. On Get Good At Badminton, I have one of these series (two if you count “Badminton Training Regime” except there is only one post there) called “Badminton Tips and Tricks.”
You may have seen posts on my website, such as Badminton Tips and Tricks #7 – How To Improve Control. While this is a series I intend on continuing, it isn’t as fast-paced or rigorous as I like. Thus, no discipline is built for me, and everyone reading gets their occasional read every few months.
What will happen the day I get back (I’m still in a different city as of writing this) is that I will start a new series where I will put myself and my brother through a rigorous training regime for badminton fitness and then write about my daily thoughts and how my body feels each day.
It’s something different than what I usually do, and hopefully, both you and I will reap the rewards from this.
Other than blog posts, the other thing I’m working on is videos. If you have checked out the Get Good At Badminton YouTube channel, you may have noticed that it only has one video on it.
This is something that will absolutely change.
In the next few months, you will see more videos come out. I am aiming for at least one video per week, but I will see if that’s reasonable. After all, I’m still a beginner video editor, and it’s taking me quite a long time to get clips and put them together. Fingers crossed though!
For those of you that are requesting videos of me teaching individual badminton skills like footwork or what to do in certain situations, fret not, they are coming. I just have a few issues currently involving my inability to film myself playing with reasonable quality or angle. I will work on them as soon as I solve my recording problems!
Currently, though, I will make more of the montage/highlight videos, but I will also work on strategy and videos analyzing gameplay. Let me know what else in the comment section you want though as I am always open to more suggestions!
Another thing that’s happening which many of you may have noticed already is that Get Good At Badminton will be selling t-shirts and other clothing! The t-shirts are something that will come out very soon as designs have been finalized.
All I need to do is set prices and set up the site where you can buy these shirts. I will let everyone know as soon as it’s ready!
Future Interesting Projects
Videos, blog posts, and clothing aren’t the only thing that will happen, but they are the jobs going to occur in relative proximity of a few months.
There are many plans for Get Good At Badminton. However, these are plans that may not take their form anytime soon or even ever. They are potential ideas and pathways I could take Get Good At Badminton, but their feasibility has not been considered yet.
Two of these things I have been considering are converting the blog into a badminton store as well and also creating
large badminton centers for people to train and play at. These are significant dreams that I would want to see become a reality, but they will take many years and tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to start up.
A more feasible idea, though, is starting a badminton course. With a course, I would be able to more effectively help many people get even better at badminton without needing to be next to them.
A few problems are standing in my way currently though. One of them is the camera issue that I mentioned earlier in the video section, where I talked about difficulties filming myself playing. But these are problems that are meant to be solved, and I am currently working on some solutions to them.
Your Input and What You Want To See
I talked about all these ideas, but there is only one thing that matters. All these ideas are only what I think are things that can and should be done to improve your overall experience with Get Good At Badminton, but they are limited to what I believe.
Some people have already messaged me about things like making a compilation of badminton trick shots or posts reviewing specific badminton shuttles. I absolutely love it when people do that. Because one, more ideas means more things I can write about, and two, it helps me learn what you want so I can adhere to specific posts that would help you a lot.
So this is what I want you to do. Head down to the comment section down below and comment something that you would like to see on this badminton site.
You can post almost anything! Things like your biggest question about badminton, for example, how do I improve my fitness or how do I make my opponent more tired are all great things to post about.
There are no stupid questions or comments either. Things like how do I play badminton or what is a lunge are all valid questions too.
It doesn’t have to be a question either. Posts like I want to see more badminton jump smashes or player studies on specific players are excellent as well.
Just think about your most significant troubles and wants in badminton and then post them in the comment section down below!
Conclusion
This was the first time I did a post like this. This is much more of a news and discussion post rather than a post on training or reviews like mentioned in the beginning.
Just as a summary, in this post, I covered some of our most recent giveaway news with who our winner was and what might happen with giveaways in the future. I also included what’s going to happen in the next few months as well as potentially in the far future with Get Good At Badminton. But most of all, I hope that I’ve driven the fact that in the end, it’s about you.
As the reader, follower, and audience of Get Good At Badminton, you are what drives the site forwards. As such, I value your input very highly, so definitely head down to the comment section down below and speak your thoughts out.
And as always, good luck in your games and have a great day!
On Monday, April 29, 2019, the qualification period for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has begun! Only 172 elite badminton athletes will make it in, and it will be an even harder competition to win the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Here are my predictions as of May 4, 2019, on who will win the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In this post, the rankings are made solely out of my own opinion which makes it subject to disagreement and as such, I would love to hear what kind of rankings you have in the comment section down below!
Men’s Singles
Badminton men’s singles is arguably the most highly contested as the number one player in men’s singles would usually be considered the best player in the world. Tokyo 2020 provides a significant shake-up in terms of the top players going into the Olympics with young players rising and old players taking a leave.
Let’s start off with my number one ranking, Kento Momota.
1. Kento Momota (Japan)
Kento Momota is the current world number one from Japan, and although he may have faltered recently in
a few smaller tournaments, his win in the 2019 Asia Championships shows that he is still among the best in the world. As the current world champion and number one player in men’s singles, most people have placed their bets on Kento Momota to win the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Shi Yu Qi is definitely one of China’s rising stars. Sitting at rank number two in the world, Shi Yu Qi is undoubtedly a significant contender to win the Olympics. However, Shi Yu Qi’s inconsistency and his negative win ratio against Kento Momota is holding him back right now pulling him back a little.
Although Kento Momota and Shi Yu Qi are my top two picks for winning the Olympics, several players could shake the standings and must be considered.
Lin Dan (China)
While many people thought that Lin Dan was well on his way out from his poor performance last year, he surprised the crowd tremendously when he won the 2019 Malaysia Open and defeated top players like Shi Yu Qi, Chen Long, and Chou Tien Chen. But for Lin Dan to win the Olympics, he would need to get lucky in
the draws so he could preserve energy to play the aggressive style that won him the Malaysia Open in the final games of the Olympics.
It will be a tough fight for him to get his third Olympic gold medal in his fourth Olympics.
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia)
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting is one of Indonesia’s most promising players. He has had a few encounters with Kento Momota many of which gave Kento Momota a challenging time. However, Ginting seems to be relatively inconsistent and has not pronounced his ability to win significant tournaments yet.
Chen Long (China)
As the reigning Olympic champion from China, Chen Long is still someone that should be considered when ranking the top contenders to win the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But from his recent poor performance, it is questionable as to whether or not Chen Long can maintain his reign as the Olympic champion.
Others:
Among these players, there are other players that you should watch during the Olympics. Some of these players are Viktor Axelsen, and Chou Tien Chen ranked 3 and 4 respectively with the main reason that they’re not included higher being that they consistently lose to some of the better players.
Two other players are both former world number ones, Lee Chong Wei and Son Wan Ho. Both these players are injured and have not returned to court yet but should they return, these players are definitely players to watch. I’ve also made a specific post discussing whether or not Lee Chong Wei can make it into the Olympics so make sure to check that out.
Women’s Singles
Women’s singles have been exciting. Tai Tzu Ying takes my number one spot solely for her dominance in the tournaments she has played, but many players such as Akane Yamaguchi from Japan are rising up to take away the place.
1. Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei)
Tai Tzu Ying is the world number one. Although she has missed the 2019 Asia Championships and talked about how she was going to retire after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, her skill is still up to par and a player that everyone has trouble beating.
2. Akane Yamaguchi (Japan)
Akane Yamaguchi has been steadily rising throughout the past few years and really shines at improving. She has been consistently getting better and eventually won the 2019 Asia Championships. She may be ranked at only number four right now, but that’s sure to change as time goes by.
Honorable Mentions:
There are quite a few honorable mentions with a mix of young players from China and more established players looking to keep up with the league. Here are some honorable mentions.
Nozomi Okuhara (Japan)
Nozomi Okuhara, currently ranked number two and won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016 stands as one of Japan’s most popular players. Although she is ranked higher and played longer than Akane Yamaguchi, her performance recently has not been spectacular and is falling behind her teammate, Akane Yamaguchi.
Chen Yu Fei (China)
Chen Yu Fei has been noted as one of the most promising rising stars from China. There was a time where women’s singles players from China were unbeatable; however, that time has ended, and the women’s singles category has undoubtedly become more competitive. Chen Yu Fei has not won anything major recently, but as world number three, she is still a player to be noted.
Pusarla V. Sindhu (India)
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist and world number five, Pusarla V. Sindhu (along with Saina Nehwal) has been the core of India’s best badminton players. Unfortunately, this year PV Sindhu has not been performing as well as everyone thought she would as she has lost multiple times in the early stages of recent tournaments to lesser-known players. However, she can still be a badminton player to be considered when she ups her game.
Others:
Another notable player is Carolina Marin, the current Olympic champion. Unfortunately, she is recovering from injury right now and has not played any tournaments recently. It is a question of whether she’ll be able
to perform to how she did before when she comes back.
Other active players to watch are Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and India’s Saina Nehwal who both had splendid performances at one point. However, these two players have also been relatively inconsistent in their tournaments recently and thus, don’t take my top spots.
Men’s Doubles
Men’s doubles, often the most exciting category of badminton to watch, is full of players looking to make their mark on the world. Right now, the competition in men’s doubles has been extraordinarily close, and as such, my rankings may be extremely controversial.
1. Li Jun Hui/Liu Yu Chen (China)
Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen are some of the tallest badminton players in the world which makes them extremely scary on the court. It’s not just their height that makes them suitable though, they have performed exceptionally well in the significant tournaments despite not playing in some of them. As the current world champions, they are definitely players to watch.
2. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (Japan)
Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda is a pair from Japan that has been getting a lot better. Since getting second place in the 2018 World Championship, they have performed consistently reaching the semi-finals or finals of many significant tournaments recently and even winning them. Huge focus will be put onto them by the Japanese national team.
Honorable Mentions:
In the men’s doubles sector there are a few other players to consider namely players from Indonesia and Japan.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (Indonesia)
Although Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon are ranked number one, they have had quite a poor performance recently. After finally breaking their curse of losing before semi-finals, they reached the finals of the 2019 Asia Championships only to suffer an utter defeat, 21-18, 21-3, by the hands of Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe. If they improve and go back to the state of dominance they were in; however, the minions may be able to win the 2020 Olympics.
Hendra Setiawan/ Mohammad Ahsan (Indonesia)
Another pair from Indonesia, Hendra Setiawan, and Mohammad Ahsan had been sitting in the shadows of teammates Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon until recently when they won the 2019 All England. Although since then, their performance has not been outstanding, they are still performing well.
Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (Japan)
This pair from Japan has been improving like crazy! They went from being quarterfinalists to champions handing the world number ones their most significant loss! Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe are certainly pairs that can compete at the top, and if they continue this streak, they will become a doubles pair that shouldn’t be messed with.
Others:
Among other players, we should look at Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen from Denmark, Chen Hung Ling and Wang Chi-Lin from Chinese Taipei, and Han Cheng Kai and Zhou Hao Dong from China. These are all young players looking to make their mark, but we have yet to see more of them.
Another exciting player to watch is Lee Yong Dae who was noted as one of the best doubles players from Korea until his “retirement.” Alongside Kim Gi Jung, his doubles partner, Lee Yong Dae has to play in small tournaments to rack up points to fight in the major ones, and with his recent victories, it seems like we will see him again playing in the top soon.
Women’s Doubles
Women’s doubles have just been a battle between Chinese players and Japanese players. Many of the recent tournaments have been dominated by Chinese and Japanese players with either of two winning or getting second place. But there are a few that stand out among the rest which is listed here.
1. Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (China)
Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan has been performing exceptionally well recently. Although ranked at number four, they have taken down higher ranked players multiple times.
2. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (Japan)
Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara are the current world number ones. Although they haven’t been especially dominant recently, these two are still players to be considered for the Olympic women’s doubles title.
Honorable Mentions:
Continuing with the Japanese Chinese battle, my honorable mentions consist only of Japanese and Chinese players. I really do believe that the best women’s doubles players right now are from Japan and China although it is still relatively early in the year.
Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (Japan)
Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota are the world’s number two players from Japan. They are equals with other top Japanese players, so it is tough to rank these players. Nonetheless, we have to consider these two.
Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (Japan)
Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi are also two players that must be considered. After all, they were the 2016 Olympic champions! However, they are ranked a little lower because their recent performance has not been superior to other players so I can not rate them higher.
Du Yue/Li Yin Hui (China)
Du Yue and Li Yin Hui from China are players that have come into the scene recently and shown some impressive results. Making their way into multiple semi-finals matches throughout the year, these two players are rising up to compete with others.
Others:
A few other doubles pairs to consider is Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu from Indonesia and Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan from Korea. However, these players have not been at the top of their game, and thus I cannot put them higher up.
Mixed Doubles
In mixed doubles, the skill level is a lot more spread out. Chinese mixed doubles pairs have been performing notably better than other players around the world which is why both my top two are Chinese players.
1. Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong (China)
At number one, I have Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong listed. These two won the 2018 World Championships, 2019 All England, and among other tournaments. They only have 8 match losses in the entire season and has done exceptionally well.
2. Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping (China)
Recently, Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping have shown to have mixed doubles prowess beating Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong and winning the 2019 Asia Championships. These two are also ranked number two in the world.
Honorable Mentions:
Although the two Chinese mixed doubles players are quite a bit better than other mixed doubles pairs, there are a few players that are still really good and have a chance at winning the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (Japan)
Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino are the most notable pair that comes close to the two Chinese pairs. This pair is uniquely special in terms of Arisa Higashino’s attack, but they do fall apart in terms of defense and its the reason they cannot beat players such as Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong.
Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying (Malaysia)
Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, 2016 Olympic silver medalists are a stable pair in the world. Sitting at rank number five, these two players from Malaysia are still a force to be messed with.
He Ji Ting/Du Yue (China)
Only recently, He Ji Ting and Du Yue have been performing quite well making it to the semi-finals of the 2019 Asia Championships. However, they are still not as good as the top two Chinese pairs, but they can definitely improve.
Others:
Other players to watch for include Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock as well as Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen. Although we haven’t seen them much at the major tournaments recently, you never know if they could be a darkhorse team that takes over.
There are also various players from Indonesia and Thailand on the rankings that are worth watching as well.
Conclusion
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics looks to be a hard fight between China and Japan with the majority of my top players taking those spots. There will definitely be exciting matches taking place. Although the Olympic qualification period has started, it will be some time before the players will actually face off on the big stage. We still have a World Championship and the Sudirman Cup beforehand!
As the year passes and people change, there will definitely be shifts in the ranking which will result in a change of opinion. I will probably do another post predicting the top players when the 2020 Tokyo Olympics come closer.
What do you think about this list? I would love to see you make your own list and put it in the comment section down below! As always, good luck in your games and have a great day!
Whoa, this year, the strength of the Japanese National Badminton Team has been impressive! They’ve indeed grown quite a bit and won a significant amount of titles that had never been won before. Japanese badminton players are certainly on the rise!
What sparked this growth and increase in skill level though? I’m going to talk about that in this post.
Recent Results
First, let’s look at some of Japan’s recent results in tournaments.
The most recent major tournament as of April 29, 2019, was the Asia Championships. This tournament is of a little bit different style than tournaments such as World Tours or World Championships as it focuses around the team. Japan won the competition grabbing 3 golds versus China’s 2. China, however, did have more total medals than Japan.
This tournament also had some eye-opening results with Akane Yamaguchi becoming the first Japanese female player to secure an Asian Championship women’s singles title. Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe also crushed the first seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo from Indonesia in straight sets of scores, 21-18, 21-3; a significant upset from Japan.
Let’s go a little further back and take a look at the results from the 2019 Singapore Open. In this tournament, Japan secured every single title except for women’s singles and mixed doubles. Even so, in the women’s singles sector, Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara still managed to secure second place, and Akane Yamaguchi still reached semi-finals.
Some of these players have been remarkably consistent with winning as well which I will talk about in the notable player’s section.
How Japanese Players Are Getting Better
The big question is, how are the Japanese players improving so fast? It all starts with their head coach, Park
Joo-Bong.
This man was actually a doubles player from South Korea that won the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games! During his time as a badminton player, he has won multiple World Championships and Asian Games and was considered one of the greatest doubles players of all time. Park Joo-Bong didn’t just play doubles though, during his early career, he displayed immense skill as a singles player and still holds the South Korean national record of 103 consecutive wins in men’s singles!
Now as the head coach of Japan’s national team, he is undoubtedly qualified for the role.
But it wasn’t his immense skill or technique that actually improved the Japanese National Badminton Team. While it could have certainly boosted each player’s individual ability, Park Joo-Bong contributions were more focused on the psychology of the players.
He even says, “Each individual player in the Japanese National Team is very strong, they just don’t have the confidence.”
Before Park Joo-Bong, Japanese players were recommended to play smaller tournaments that they could win so that it seems like they’re right from the number of titles they earned. While this method did get Japan multiple medals from small tournaments, most players could never compete at the highest level.
That’s when Park Joo-Bong comes in. When Park Joo-Bong becomes the head coach, he encourages all players on the team to play higher level tournaments. It was under the thought that the only way for the players to get better was to play against the best, fight tough fights, and learn from them.
Throughout 2018, this strategy worked significantly well. There have been many rising players from Japan that we may have never known unless they started playing larger tournaments.
The Japanese would also surprise themselves playing in the major tournaments. Many of them found that they could hold up against the best players in the world and it gave the players a boost in confidence and lowered their anxiety when it came to playing in the larger tournaments.
Let me show you a few examples of Japan’s success.
Notable Singles Players
One of the first players that will come to mind when thinking of badminton players from Japan is Kento Momota. This player was not necessarily a product of Park’s reform as Kento Momota had always been a
solid player since his international debut.
Many people do not know this, but before Momota’s suspension due to illegal gambling, he was already ranked number 2 in the world. And only months after coming back from suspension, the left-hander would win the 2018 World Championships against Shi Yu Qi in a compelling manner.
Kento Momota has continued to show his dominance in various tournaments including the recent Asia Championships and Singapore Open. Right now, he is ranked number one in the world and one of the top contenders to win the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On the women’s side, we should watch for Nozomi Okuhara, 2017 World Champion, and Akane Yamaguchi, the first Japanese player to become rank number 1 in the world. These two players have been consistently reaching semi-finals or higher in major tournaments and threats that other countries must be worried about.
These three players, Kento Momota, Nozomi Okuhara, and Akane Yamaguchi and Japan’s most influential singles players.
Notable Doubles Players
Doubles is where we can see Park Joo-Bong’s efforts paying dividends.
The central doubles pair to watch is Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda. Early in this pair’s career, they have been playing tournaments categorized as the BWF International Challenge/Series. Later throughout their life, they started playing larger tournaments but to a very minimal degree. It was only until 2018 when they would begin to play a lot more competitions and honestly, this pair surprised the world and themselves when they beat the Indonesian pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamiljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon in the 2018 World Championships.
Although at that time, the adrenaline was extremely high for the pair, now they are stably competing at the top of the ladder in men’s doubles.
The other men’s doubles pair that must be watched is Yuta Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo. These two players have only recently been paired up and thus, their beginning of the season was not too impressive. However, just recently they managed to give the world number one Kevin Sanjaya Sukamiljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon the worst defeat of their careers with a score of 21-3 in the second game.
If the two players continue their dominance as shown in that match, they could undoubtedly rise up to be one of the best if not the best.
The Japanese have lots of women’s doubles pairs. They sit at 4 doubles pairs. I would say the two uprising pairs to watch are Yuki Fukushima with Sayaka Hirota and Mayu Matsumoto with Wakana Nagahara. Although these players have not produced any new shows of dominance, they are certainly creeping up the ladder.
Another doubles pair that must be watched are the Rio Olympic Champions, Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. However, despite their Olympic victory, this doubles pair has not been consistent enough and haven’t shown much growth recently. Things can definitely turn around at any time though.
As for mixed doubles, this is an area that Japan can genuinely improve upon. Their leading pair Arisa
Higashino and Yuta Watanabe have shown extremely aggressive play and won the All England in 2018 against current number ones, Zheng Si Wei and Huang Ya Qiong from China. Unfortunately, it seems that other mixed doubles players have caught onto Arisa Higashino’s weak defense and thus the Japanese pair have not performed well recently.
Conclusion
What do you think about Japan’s badminton growth? The players in the singles and men’s doubles sector are certainly going to be players that we should keep eyes on as the year continues. I hope that other players in other categories will also find their pacing and become top players.
2019 is truly an exciting year for badminton. I’ve found out about so many new players taking over the stage fighting for full reign over the number spot.
Which player are you most looking forward to watching?
A while back, I did a blog post on Lee Chong Wei getting cancer. If you haven’t been following him, he is now able to train again although not at his maximum intensity. But with recent events and announcements from Lee Chong Wei and BWF, can Lee Chong Wei accomplish his dream of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
His Declarations
Lee Chong Wei had definitely made a few bold announcements when he was being treated for cancer.
He wanted to return from cancer as soon as possible; about one month estimate to start training again. And then Lee Chong Wei wanted to start playing tournaments again in about two months after getting
cancer.
Unfortunately, due to doctors and his body condition, it seemed like he had to wait just a little longer until he could play tournaments again. About three months.
Lee Chong Wei is back on the court again and training, but according to his coaches, he is only training at half-intensity mostly getting used to the racket and refining shots.
Like I mentioned in the introduction, Lee Chong Wei also talked about how he wanted to win the gold medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as he has gotten silvers for the last three. It’s a tough road for him, and many people have said that he might not be able to do it.
But it’s also to be noted that Lee Chong Wei has said that if he isn’t performing to his best, then he wouldn’t want to give up an Olympic spot for another better player. Keep in mind that there are only 2 men’s singles players that are allowed to play in the Olympics from each country.
Recent Tournament Drop Outs
It wasn’t Lee Chong Wei haters that were saying that he might not make it. Most of these people were actually fans worried about his health as well as taking in some statistics that shouldn’t be ignored.
His health was too weak for him to play in the Malaysia Open which was one of the saddest things happening to him as Lee Chong Wei has played and won multiple consecutive Malaysia Opens as well as that tournament is from his home country.
Although after seeing Lin Dan play exceptionally well and win the tournament, Lee Chong Wei is more fired up than ever to fight for Olympic qualification just like Lin Dan.
However, getting fired up might be essential to help Lee Chong Wei succeed, but with him recently dropping out of the Singapore Open and his coach saying that he isn’t up to par for the Sudirman Cup, can Lee Chong Wei really qualify or even win the Tokyo Olympics?
And that leads us to the next problem, the BWF ranking system.
BWF Ranking System
To qualify for the Olympics, coaches and teams will look at a player’s rankings against the world and in their home country. Lee Chong Wei has not played any tournaments for almost a year now which theoretically would have meant for Lee Chong Wei’s ranking to dive down.
Luckily, the coaches managed to persuade the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to freeze his rankings so that it doesn’t put Lee Chong Wei into a hole that makes qualifying for the Olympics impossible. Right now it’s still at a place where if Lee Chong Wei does well in the next few tournaments, he can easily qualify for the Olympics.
The problem, however, is that the BWF is saying that if Lee Chong Wei does not play any tournaments by September, his ranking will be un-frozen and he will start to drop. Currently, his ranking sits at 74 and has about 4 Malaysian men’s singles players ahead of him.
If his rank drops below 100, he will have no chance to recover and climb back up even if he wins multiple tournaments in a row.
Best Wishes
But I personally want Lee Chong Wei to succeed and make the Tokyo Olympics, or even win it! It’s just with all these factors going against Lee Chong Wei right now, the real question should be, does Lee Chong Wei have the spirit and mentality to push forward?
It’ll make one heck of a story if he does manage to make it and an even more legendary story if he manages to win the tournament. If Lee Chong Wei manages to qualify for the Olympics and win, it’ll be a dream come true for him and many others.
We wish him the best of luck and hope for his recovery to play again!
Conclusion
Do you think Lee Chong Wei can make the Olympics? It’ll be one of the hardest roads one has ever taken. To recover from cancer and play at the age of 36, Lee Chong Wei could make himself a story that will inspire people for decades. It’s already amazing how well Lee Chong Wei has been able to perform in the last few years despite his age. Lee Chong Wei would be superhuman if he qualifies and wins the Olympics.
But the odds are stacked against him, and with young players such as Kento Momota, Shi Yu Qi, and Viktor Axelsen going big as well as other players clawing their way for first place, it really does beg for the question of whether or not Lee Chong Wei can succeed.
I want to hear what you have to say! Do you think Lee Chong Wei can make it? Leave your opinion in the comment section down below and as always, have a great day!
Today we’re going to talk about a juicy topic not necessarily helping you get good at badminton, but something you may not have known before. Did you know that China’s National Badminton Team does not allow couples to play mixed doubles professionally together?
The rule was created relatively recently after one incident.
The Workplace
Before we get into the actual incident, first we need to look at some reasons why going after your love interest at work can be problematic.
A lot of professional workplaces either forbid or discourage love relationships between employees. One of the primary reasons this rule is actually implemented is because businesses could end up with severely abusive and manipulative relationships. Many fear that a person of a high positioning in the company could go after someone of a lower position and blackmail them with notions such as firing them should they do anything that the person of the higher positioning disagrees with.
On a less serious note, it’s also because of the professionality of the workplace. Surely you don’t want people making out or having sex in business rest areas and cubicles. It can get extremely distracting for the other workers and not to mention the general unproductivity the business will have.
However, a lot of businesses are okay with relationships as long as it doesn’t interfere with the operations. And this was true for the Chinese national badminton team until that incident.
The Incident
Have you ever heard of the mixed doubles pair, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yun Lei? These two players have been considered as one of the most successful mixed doubles pair having won all the major titles including multiple World Championships, numerous Asian Games, and the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
These two players actually started a relationship in 2010, but just before the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Zhao Yun Lei actually announced that they were no longer together. That was also the year
where they only won a bronze medal and shortly after, Zhao Yun Lei retired as a player.
Although this could have been the players naturally weakening because of age, the Chinese badminton team actually forbid relationships in mixed doubles.
How Relationships Affect The Players
A lot of sources actually suggest that because the two players broke up before the Olympics, their performance was significantly worse than expected. In that year, mixed doubles competition from other regions did not get much stronger, in fact, Zhao Yun Lei and Zhang Nan actually won the Asian Games that year. Thus, many people deduct that their poor performance was because of the relationship.
Chinese badminton is quite severe. Even though the pair still won a bronze medal, China aims for all gold medals especially in a sport like badminton. And because of their numbers and overwhelming competitiveness of all the players, poor performances mean that players on the national team will be switched off without notice.
But going back to relationships, two crucial factors lead to poor performances. One is how the media and surrounding people look at them, and the other is what the players are thinking about.
One of the reasons, celebrity relationships don’t last long is because all the eyes are on them. This puts the couple in under quite a bit of stress because every little action they make is being watched. Just look at some of the Kardashians. Sure, some of them might want to be in the spotlight, but I bet you there are certain times when they don’t.
I’ve seen the news all too many times about Kylie Jenner trying to hide her baby by wearing certain clothes or doing specific actions. When the media covers this stuff, someone is definitely forgetting about people’s privacy.
While Zhang Nan and Zhao Yun Lei aren’t American celebrities that are out there flashing their lifestyles and their talents, they are professional badminton players who win a lot. That means there are definitely fans of this pair and people who research and follow these players everywhere. And that also means people will talk about their relationship and post it in different places.
The truth is that professional players often read these posts and such belief or not, and it puts them under stress. There is usually a mixture of both negative and positive comments, but negative ones certainly hit the hardest. It makes the players think that they’re doing something wrong or they need to do something to make the audience happy.
Having a relationship also makes it hard for the players when they’re training or even when they’re in a game. Professional players are already built with a mindset to focus on the game, but because their significant partner is so close to them, it’s hard not to think about their relationship.
Another thing is from personal experience that I think others may perhaps also have. When I play mixed doubles with my girlfriend, I actually feel like both of us play worse. It has to do with an expectations thing. She expects that I have a high expectation of her to perform well and I think she thinks that too. I also do have my own high expectations of her and her of me as well. This caused tremendous stress and anxiety for both of us that we just automatically played worse.
If you read my Badminton Tips and Tricks #4, I actually tell a story about the roots of what makes me play good and what makes me play atrociously.
This problem may or may not have affected Zhao Yun Lei and Zhang Nan. Of course, I wouldn’t know because I haven’t actually interviewed them and neither did they say anything. Let me know what you think in the comments down below!
What Players Can Do
One thing to note is that the Chinese National Team doesn’t forbid relationships completely; just no mixed doubles ones. If you do happen to get into a relationship with your mixed doubles partner, they’ll probably just change your partnering up.
Relationships can and definitely do happen on the Chinese National Team. Although most of these relationships aren’t necessarily active players getting together, former national players to get along with active ones.
One of the examples is Lin Dan and Xie Xing Fang. These two players actually got together when both were still playing and winning World Championships, but Xie Xing Fang did retire earlier than Lin Dan. The two married September 23, 2012, and have had two sons since then.
Many other players are also in relationships but usually with someone lesser known or outside of the team.
Generally, relationships between players will hold them back, but if the players find someone to support them outside, it can be really beneficial to them.
Conclusion
The Chinese National Badminton Team is quite intense. They want to be void of all distractions which is why they do things like pay for their players’ living expenses and homes and sponsoring them with equipment. So when a new distraction is introduced in the form of love, the Chinese definitely wanted to take it down.
In the end, Zhang Nan and Zhao Yun Lei did move on. Both players married other people who were also badminton players and Zhang Nan continues to play pretty successfully, and Zhao Yun Lei moved on as a coach.
If you have any questions, comments, or experiences you want to share, I definitely want to hear from you! As always, go out, play some badminton, and have a great day!
Hey everyone, another short announcement here. Get Good At Badminton is finally on Twitter! Some of you may have followed my personal account, which is okay, but now I invite you guys to follow the new account. This way, things will be a lot more separated from each other.
Follow our Twitter to keep up with our new posts and updates! We will be posting there lots in combination with other social media too.
A lot of people have always wondered why Asian countries are so dominant and why western countries, mainly the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada can’t compete with the likes of China at the highest level. There are a few factors in why Western countries generally don’t perform that well which I will talk about in this blog post.
The Skill Level
The most apparent factor why western countries can’t compete at the highest level is because their skill level isn’t as high. You’re better than me so I can’t beat you. But it doesn’t really explain anything. It’s just a fact.
The difference can be seen just by seeing the top countries. Right now, those countries would be China, Indonesia, India, Japan, and the exception of Denmark. Just take a look at the current number one players. Kento Momota, Zheng Si Wei, Huang Ya Qiong, and other players. Also, look at how far the western players get. Most lose in the first round or so and you rarely see western players in top tournaments like World Championships anyway.
However, there are western countries that have seen some great players namely players such as Viktor Axelsen and Peter Gade from Denmark, Carolina Marin from Spain, and others who have played exceptionally well at the highest level. Which is why this topic requires a lot more information.
Training Problems
Badminton is already an expensive sport with court shoes, rackets, shuttles, nets, and gyms. Expensive training makes it even worse for players who do want to play for the highest level.
In Calgary where I live, high-level training can cost from $300 to $600 for just 8 2-3 hour sessions. So basically training once a week every two months. Countries in Asia such as China and Indonesia have much lower costs, and players would train at least two times a week with more extended hours.
The reason training is so expensive in western countries is because coaches and badminton centers are able to hold monopolies simply because of the lack of other training centers. Asian countries also fund badminton while most western countries do not.
The systems between the different countries also contrast in how the players are brought up. Asian countries are generally more strict and have fewer rules about pushing the players to the extreme while western countries just have too many blockades. The size of the population also plays a role in that many of the people who can’t handle the training will eventually be filtered out in Asian countries while western countries have a knack to include everyone for the money they can make which results in less intense exercise.
Popularity of the Sport
A lot of the training factors come from the popularity of the sport. Western countries don’t fund badminton because there just isn’t enough people playing the game whereas badminton is basically the national sport in Indonesia and China.
There’s a reason why sports such as basketball and soccer aren’t dominated by China despite their population, society, and ability to push players. Those sports just aren’t popular enough in those countries.
The popularity of badminton in various countries plays one of the significant roles in the training. Governments and companies like to invest in things that have lots of demand. They wouldn’t put their money into unrelated, obsolete things. So because of the overwhelming popularity of badminton in China and Indonesia and relatively underwhelming support for badminton in the United States, we can see why players can’t compete.
The Growing Up Factor
The popularity of the sport is also a result of another factor; the growing up element.
Things become popular because the younger generation will always inherit a lot from the older generations. A kid who’s been playing badminton since five years old would almost always be better than a kid who starts playing badminton at the age of 15.
Likewise, a kid with parents that play badminton would have better support than a kid with parents that play something like hockey.
Exposure to badminton is one of the biggest reasons western countries can’t perform well. If we take a look at some of the players such as Zhang Beiwan from the United States and Michelle Li from Canada, these are players that had parents who played the sport or at least watched it. They are Chinese-American and Chinese-Canadian respectively.
With the exception of Carolina Marin (who seemed to be a random miracle), all the top players were brought up with badminton from a very young age.
Taufik Hidayat (also known as the backhand God) actually told the media that he wanted to play soccer when he was younger, but his dad said to him that he would be more successful playing badminton in
Indonesia. And so, that’s what he did.
What We Can Do
Western countries won’t always be bad though, badminton is becoming an increasingly popular sport, and we can certainly do things to help improve the conditions.
Blogs and YouTubers like Get Good At Badminton all help to make it easier for players to start playing badminton and train at a competitive level without paying thousands of dollars per year. Help us spread badminton across the world!
Hey everyone, we’re announcing our new badminton ambassadorship with Alien Pros! Some of you might wonder what might happen to this site and what exactly is Alien Pros, well that’s what I’m going to get into in this short post.
What is Alien Pros?
What is Alien Pros? Alien Pros is a Hong Kong based company that specializes in designer grips for badminton rackets, tennis rackets, baseball bats, and golf clubs.
Although the designs may not be for everybody, Alien Pros certainly has excellent grips. These grips are on par, if not better than Yonex grips, and they’re quite cheap as well. It’s actually quite surprising how good the products from certain small companies are.
Their grips also come with great technology that makes playing badminton so much better. Personally after using the grips, no longer did I feel my racket slipping out of my hand and I felt a lot more in control. I will do a lot of in-depth reviews on each individual grip soon.
In the meantime, you can check them out at alien-pros.com.
If you’d like a grip from Alien Pros, make sure you use our discount code: GGAB for 15% off your next order!
What It’ll Mean For This Site?
If anyone reads the affiliate disclosure (which probably most do not), you may notice how we wrote that we do not write sponsored posts. Although we are Alien Pros ambassador
s, our reviews and opinions on Alien Pros will remain genuine as we think that will benefit both the reader and company a lot more.
Our ambassadorship with Alien Pros will also be a great addition and benefit to Get Good At Badminton. Now we can offer readers more variety on different products giving everyone better deals and buys. It’s also an excellent opportunity to connect with others out there.
If you would like to become an ambassador of Alien Pros yourself, check out this link to apply.
One thing some people have always wondered is, how do professional badminton players make money? Well, it’s a very in-depth topic and varies among player to player, but I was able to pull out some of the main ways badminton players are able to maintain a healthy financial life while playing badminton.
Company Sponsors
Once you play to a certain level, some companies can sponsor you. With these sponsors, they’ll often give you a full set of equipment, special discounts on their products, as well as money from associated sales made with your name and image.
But getting sponsored by major companies such as Yonex, Li-Ning, and Victor is no easy task. They have prerequisites, many of which are difficult to achieve such as top 20 in the world, playing tournaments consistently and many more.
Many companies also prefer to sponsor a general team which makes getting personal benefits really difficult.
Teams from countries such as Canada and Korea have team sponsors in which the players do not receive the benefits of the dividends from the sales.
Very profitable sponsorships are generally limited to the top of the best players in the world. Only players such as Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan were able to earn a lot of money from sponsors.
Government Funding For Professional Players
But then why are there still so many players if only the top players are profitable?
One of the ways professional badminton players can make money is through government funding.
For Asian countries, badminton is one of, if not, the most popular sport and professional players in countries like China are government-funded.
Specifically, in China, all Chinese National Team members get all of their living expenses paid for so that they can focus on their training.
They even made a statement saying that, “We pay for all of our players’ living expenses so that they can focus on training and winning and so that they don’t have to worry about housing and other financial issues.”
And this funding definitely sees results with China being at the top of the badminton world.
As for many western countries, our funding is meager. All of our training is personally paid for, and our living expenses come right from our very own pockets. In the United Kingdom, mixed doubles players Chris and Abby Adcock even had their own problem of near-bankruptcy.
Another problem with western countries is that training is costly because it’s privately run. Paying for high-quality training costs around $500 per month which is more than how much many high-level volleyball, basketball, and soccer players have to pay.
Plus we also need to pay for our own rackets and shoes. Badminton is genuinely an expensive sport.
Earning Tournament Prize Money
Top professional badminton players don’t just get government and sponsorship funding. Players who win or even get to quarterfinals in tournaments also get prize money. The amount can range from a few hundred dollars to upwards of $50,000.
Some notable players that have earned more than $500,000 are Kento Momota, Lin Dan, and Lee Chong Wei. Lee Chong Wei has actually almost made $2 million!
What’s great is that many lower-tier tournaments still pay out relatively good so if lower-tier national players needed the money, playing in competitions such as Canada Open provides a better opportunity to get the money.
Winning tournaments is another way for professional badminton players to make money.
Creating Businesses
Here’s what happens to most western badminton players though. In the badminton world, we can’t all be winning tournaments.
Even after training every day for 6 hours, sometimes there are players that want to win much more and have put in so much more effort.
There are only a few people in each tournament that actually win prize money. Not all professional players can earn that money.
These players usually become coaches and open up a private training facility or start businesses like a badminton store or both. They can also become coaches and work for individual facilities.
A certain skill level is needed, but it’s not the skill level required to play even nationally. Just good enough to be playing provincially. Many youth players can also fit into coaching positions.
The options are open! Are you going to become a professional badminton player?
How Do I Make Money As A Badminton Player?
There are lots of ways you can make money from badminton. Two ways are creating blog posts and YouTube videos just like what I am doing here at Get Good At Badminton.
The objectives of Get Good At Badminton are three-fold.
To help you get better at badminton.
To get better at badminton myself.
To make money.
You could do the same thing and kill a few birds with one stone.
If you have any passion, you could start a blog to teach people and share your passions. You could go search up how to blog, but how would you like to have coaches guide you one-on-one and show you steps to making money through blogging?
I personally got started at Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate has everything you need. All the tools to set up and run your website, training, and a community to help guide you.
You could head over to Wealthy Affiliate and create a blog about badminton just like the one I created here. And over time, you can start generating income to become financially free and pursue your badminton goals.
I hope you have found this post useful. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below and I would gladly respond. Good luck in your games and have a great day!
