At present, the Japanese women's singles players mainly include Okuhara Hope, Akane Yamaguchi, and Ōhori Mori. Akane Okuhara won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the gold medal at the 2017 World Championships, while Akane Yamaguchi became the first women's singles player in Japanese history to be ranked world Number One this year.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, each country or association has a maximum of two places to participate. Okuhara Hope and Akane Yamaguchi have almost secured the Olympic qualifications, for their own may not be eligible for the Olympics, Otori Kei recently said in an interview with the Japanese media, "Is it really their own destiny?" This is the only explanation. If there is no competitor, their strength will not increase... Although they are competitors, they are still grateful for their existence. ”
Born on October 2, 1996, Oihori won the 2013 Asian Youth Championships Women's Singles Title at the age of 17, becoming the first Japan Asian Youth Championship Women's Singles Champion.
Ōhori's rivalry with teammate Akane Yamaguchi began in middle school and high school, and in the semi-finals of the 2012 World Youth Championships, Ohori was reversed 1-2 by Akane Yamaguchi to finish third, and in the final of the 2013 World Youth Championships, Ohori once again lost to Akane Yamaguchi.
"Competitors who have been in middle school and high school have always maintained this feeling."
Judging from the results of Okuhara Hope, Akane Yamaguchi and Ōhori Sai this season, Okuhara Hope has won the Thailand and Korea Open championships this season, the runner-up of the Japan Open, and the Uber Cup team gold medal. Akane Yamaguchi won the German and French Open titles, the Women's Singles Bronze Medal at the Asian Games and world championships. Oohori only reached the semi-finals of the Japan Open and the U.S. Open.
Ōhori also admitted that seeing Akane Yamaguchi and Okuhara hoping to win the championship, he would be more negative in his heart, but at present he hopes to concentrate on himself and reduce the gap with them.
In 2016, Ohori moved to Tonami Transportation Co., Ltd., and since the club did not have a dedicated women's team, Ohhori had to train with male players. In the past, Oboru Hiroshi lost in the game, which would cause a negative mood. But now, after training with male players, Ohhori has become more confident and has a more positive attitude.
However, in training, there are also many problems, the sparring male teammates have better explosive power than female players, the killing ball is very fierce, and they rarely play more than one shot patiently like female players.
The intense training and competition left Ohori with almost no time to rest, and Ohhori teased that he wanted to "sleep". Competition within the Japanese badminton team is also fierce, everything depends on the results, but Ōhori is very strong at heart, from before to now, her goal is to be able to participate in the Olympic Games.
"If I can achieve my goals, I will work harder, now it's all for the Olympics, living a repetitive life every day."