Another sweep for Japan in doubles finals

Japanese duos were in the spotlight once again in the last Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournament on Saipan—the Dove Saipan International 2024—as they won all three doubles finals last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

There was a repeat champion in the men’s doubles as No. 3 seed Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami claimed their second title in as many tournaments.

They took on countrymen Tori Aizawa and Daisuke Sano and put a stop to their rallying clutches and won in two tough sets, 21-19, 23-21.

Nomura and Shimogami ruled the second set early as they got a 2-0 lead. But Aizawa and Sano tied the game, 3-3, from back-to-back errors on Nomura and Shimogami’s part. The lead teetered both ways with many draws in between as both duos tried to outplay the other.

The back-and-forth went on until the game was tied up again at 12-12. Then, Aizawa and Sano had a 3-point advantage, 15-12, after consecutive errors by Nomura and Shimogami. Nomura and Shimogami then clawed their way back into contention as the match went into another draw, 19-19.

The defending champs then put a stop to it as they were fired up when the game went into the penultimate tie, 20-20. With the last draw at 21-21, Nomura and Shimogami landed the final two crucial points to take their second title on Saipan.

In the mixed doubles event earlier in the morning that opened up the finals stage, No. 1 seed Hiroki Nishi and Akari Sato made light work of Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara, 21-11, 21-10, to claim the title.

The women’s doubles finals featured fiery players from Japan and South Korea. It was an intense matchup against No. 3 Kokona Ishikawa and Mio Konegawa against Hye Jeong Kim and Yu Jung Kim that lasted three sets and almost an hour and a half.

Ishikawa and Konegawa had the upper hand first and barely escaped the first set, 21-19, but faltered in the second as both Kims targeted a fatiguing Japan duo, 11-21. The winner-take-all third set was hard fought but Ishikawa and Konegawa regrouped and made the crucial final points to win, 21-18.

Both 19-year-olds, Ishikawa and Konegawa said it’s their first time winning a tournament abroad. On how this last tourney went for them compared to the first, they said, “Since we lost to this opponent in a quick match in the first-round last week, we watched videos and took measures to prepare.”

This tourney wraps up two International Challenges in the CNMI.

Published by Saipan Tribune