Tokyo: The head coach of the Japan national badminton team, Park Joo Bong and 6 Japanese players have departed for Odense, Denmark, participating in the Denmark Open that scheduled to kick off the first day of the tournament on October 13.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Denmark Open was the first Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour event after the 2020 All England in March, and it would also be the last tournament of 2020.
Despite coronavirus cases continue to surge across Europe in recent weeks, Park said the goal of sending players to Denmark was to let players get back into playing forms as they have not participated in any tournaments since March.
“It was a difficult decision, and I conducted three surveys on the players while communicated with the staff and Nippon Badminton Association by phone every day before deciding to compete at the Denmark Open,” said Park.
“Owners of our player’s badminton clubs also raised some questions. In order to prepare for next year’s international competition and to regain the feeling of the game, I decided to participate,” explained Park.
Park was cautiously optimistic when talked about his expectations for the Japanese players at Denmark Open.
“We have Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota and Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara in women’s doubles, we hope we can win the women’s doubles title. In women’s singles, I hope Nozomi Okuhara could defeat Carolina Marin for the title,” added Park.
Japanese players who will be competing at the Denmark Open are Kenta Nishimoto (men’s singles), Nozomi Okuhara (women’s singles), Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota, Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (women’s doubles).
