The "World Tour Finals", which decides the annual champion on the tour of the international badminton tournament, started in Indonesia, and the pair of Arisa Higashino and Yuta Watanabe who won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles of the Tokyo Olympics started on the white star.
"World Tour Finals" is a tournament that decides the champion of the year from the top 8 players in the tour of the international badminton tournament, and started in Indonesia on the 1st.
From Japan, a pair of Higashino and Watanabe, who are 4th in the world, and Kento Momota, who is 2nd in the world and are aiming for the 3rd victory for the first time in 2 years since the adult tournament, are participating.
The qualifying league started on the first day, and the pair of Higashino and Watanabe played against the 14th-ranked pair in the world in Denmark, and won straight in both the first and second games without losing the lead.
On the other hand, Momota played against an Indian player who ranked 21st in the world, but immediately after the start of the game, he showed a gesture to hold his back and abstained on the way.
As for other Japanese players, Akane Yamaguchi, who is 3rd in the world in women's singles, is the 17th in Singapore, and Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama, who are 7th in the world in women's doubles, are in India, 24th in the world. In the men's doubles, the pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, who are 6th in the world, beat the Indonesian pair, which is 27th in the world, and got off to a white star start.
Badminton's "World Tour Finals" is held every December and is the tournament that decides the annual champion of the tour tournament.
The top 8 players will participate in the order of the total points earned in each tour tournament, and only 2 players from the same country and 2 pairs from the same country can participate.
In the tournament, the preliminary league will be held for each item, and each group will be divided into two groups, and the top two groups will advance to the semi-finals.
Many tour tournaments were canceled last season due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, but the "World Tour Finals" was held in Thailand in January, which is different from the usual year.
As for the Japanese national team, Kento Momota was tested positive for the new corona just before the overseas expedition, and all the players hurriedly canceled their participation.