Yushi Tanaka or Yuji, if you go by the Japanese phonetics, had once told Japanese media that he loves to talk, and once he starts talking, he can’t stop. Now that he’s started winning, the World No 27 will hope he doesn’t stop. At that point, while battling domestic competition and completing a college degree, also winning the inter collegiate, he was still finding his feet on the international circuit.
On Saturday, he made the Australian Open Super 500 finals, beating Lin Chun-Yi 21-18, 21-15. Earlier at the Paris World Championships, the Japanese, a late bloomer at 25, had defeated Chinese World No 4 Li Shifeng, to create quite the stir on Day 1 of the Worlds. He is coached by the very popular former World champion Kento Momota, from whom he has learnt defensive rigour.
Very unlike the Japanese conservative style in singles, Tanaka is quite an amalgamation of very many players. His original intent is fiercely attacking, with speed bursting abd bustling in him, which explains the presence of his other coach, the former restless maverick Sho Sasaki. But Momota has brought in the poised shuttle control.
Speaking to Nikkan Sports earlier in the year, Tanaka had said, “Learning from the world’s best player has really helped me improve.”
Tanaka took his time, but gained immense confidence by consistently beating Kodai Naraoka, the top Japanese at No 8 currently. Back at home, Tanaka was gaining miles on Kodai in domestic ranking events, though he was criticised for being a ‘domestic lord’ and not managing results abroad. But brought into the national setup, he has taken the opportunity to prove himself.
While he continued to struggle in international tournaments, he was determined to change his fortunes. “I’ll do my best so that people won’t say that Tanaka can only win in Japan. First of all, I want to be in the top 10 in the world,” he had declared to Nikkan.
Soon after he started working with Momota, Tanaka won Orleans Masters, beating Sathish Karunakaran, Mark Caljouw and Alex Lanier on the way.
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After getting his second All Japan title, he had explained Momota’s contribution. “The most important things are his demeanor and mindset as champion. It is not just about learning about his sense of the game but learning from someone who has become World champion even though there can be only one. I am learning a lot from his teaching and observing him. And members of Nippon national team are lucky to gave him,” Tanaka said.
Momota after tragically missing out on an Olympic medal, and facing eye issues post his accident in Malaysia, had vowed to help Japan in his second innings as coach.
Momota had said in December 2024, “I’ve always wanted to leave something for the Badminton World. I thought about continuing on the national team until I no longer could, but I also felt it was important to train the next generation while I still could. I chose the latter. I want to contribute till I still can.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
