This version of the SC was lit up by the brilliance of the ladies gamers. Their spirit and power had been on the coronary heart of probably the most profitable groups.
Misaki Matsutomo
The return by Misaki to Ladies’s Doubles for this event was a bittersweet present to her admirers. The scratch pairing with Mayu Matsumoto had a couple of tough edges but it was a deal with to look at. Misaki is a genius on the web – her contact and imaginative and prescient are sensational – however the talent that lifts her to Goddess standing is her will to win. At vital moments she will be able to discover a new stage and seize victory. Within the semi-final towards Malaysia, particularly within the second set, her drive and aggression had been unplayable they usually beat TAN/THINAAH to seal the win for Japan. I want her all one of the best in her Blended Double’s journey however I want she was nonetheless taking part in WD.
Akane Yamaguchi – Most Precious Participant
At a pivotal time within the ultimate Akane gave a stellar efficiency: she had the self-belief and assets to problem one of the best and gave BirdJapan hope. She is an excellent defender; within the ultimate there have been patches towards CHEN Yufei when she was underneath intense stress from the Olympic Champion. Her technique of preserving her tempo and defending all the things nonetheless hopeless meant that CYF may by no means actually settle into the kind of rhythm that lets her win 5 or 6 factors in a row. Usually performing on intuition, she was merely sensible and received the match in two video games 21-19, 21-16.
CHEN Yufei
Within the run-up to the ultimate, CYF was at all times the nucleus of Chinese language victory. Within the quarter-final towards Denmark her match towards Mia Blichfeldt was a ‘should win’ as a result of China – already trailing – risked elimination 0-3 if she couldn’t stage earlier than the Males’s Singles. The tie was pulsating with the aggressive benefit ebbing and flowing between the 2 athletes. She held her nerve underneath intense scrutiny and clung on within the decider to win. Within the semi-final towards Korea, she misplaced the primary set to AN Seyoung however was firm and sucked ASY into her affected person, error-free type which suffocated resistance. It was solely within the ultimate towards Yamaguchi’s sooner tempo that she misplaced a match.
Pearly TAN & THINAAH Muralitheran
The younger Malaysian pair have been catching my eye for the final yr or so they usually have actually began to problem among the extra established doubles groups. They stood out on this competitors due to their combating spirit and unwillingness to concede defeat. Towards GreyAp within the quarter ultimate they battled the Olympic Champions for 90 minutes and saved six match factors. There’s little doubt they’re the rising stars of this sector and I can’t wait to look at them once more.
Honourable Mentions Additionally To:
CHEN Qing Chen and JIA Yi Fan for closing out the ultimate and refusing to be intimidated by MatsuMatsu. Gregoria for making a combat of it in Indonesia’s quarter ultimate and ending the competitors with a 100% file. Mia Blichfeldt for her epic encounter with CHEN Yufei, and Greysia Polii for ‘surviving’.
Congratulations to China for his or her twelfth win within the Sudirman Cup – even with out a few of their best-know stars they arrived as favourites. There have been some nail-biting matches and Denmark got here near eliminating them however ultimately they deserved their victory.
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