Badminton News: Japanese women’s singles star Akane Yamaguchi wants to rediscover her tough look in her own backyard.

Since winning the world title last year, Akane Yamaguchi has struggled after suffering an unexpected loss to a lower-ranked player, but the world number 1 is set to turn the tide at the World Championships. world which will begin in Tokyo on Monday.

Apart from the absence of India’s 2019 world champion PV Sindhu, who was forced to retire with a broken left ankle, other players in the top 10 include Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan (No. 2), South Korea’s An Se-Young (#3) and China’s Chen Yufei (#4) looked more than capable of thwarting Yamaguchi’s dream of defending the title he won in Huelva, Spain.

Performance-wise, all three seem to be better bets than the Japanese who haven’t made it past the quarter-finals of any World Tour event this year since winning the All England title in March.

In her last two matches at the Malaysia Open and the Masters last month, Akane Yamaguchi suffered back-to-back losses to Indonesian world number 24 Gregoria Mariska in the first round and last eight.

The Japanese player had to be vigilant from the start as he was due to meet Gregoria again in the second round after receiving a bye in the first.

The Indonesian, meanwhile, had to beat world number 17 Scot Kirsty Gilmour in her opening match.

If Yamaguchi can clear his first hurdle, his next big test will be in the quarterfinals where he could face either He Bingjiao (#9) of China or Spain’s three-time world champion Carolina Marin (#5).

Despite its declining performance, Japan’s core players relaxed in the face of the challenges ahead.

“I don’t want to set myself a specific goal at the World Championships, but I just want to be fully focused and play well,” Yamaguchi said.

Tags: Akane Yamaguchi, 2022 World Championship

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