Nozomi Okuhara ( 奥原希望 )

By Racketplayer May 22, 2023 Badminton 0 Comments

Nozomi Okuhara: The new rising star in Japan

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Oh I see.

Miyuki Komiya posted this in Badzine on 12-Dec-2011;

The All Japan Badminton tournament was held from Dec 6th to 11th at Yoyogi Stadium N2 in Tokyo, and saw an unexpected victory from the new rising star in Japan: Nozomi Okuhara.

An unexpected player who had already made a name for herself this year in the Austrian International, Canada Open, and the World Junior Championships, Nozomi Okuhara got her first national title in women’s singles on Sunday. She beat national team veterans Sayaka Sato in quarter-final and Minatsu Mitani in the semi-final.

Okuhara then grabbed the title without playing the final match because All England runner-up Eriko Hirose had to withdraw because of an injury.

“I didn’t expect that I would win the title. I entered this big tournament for the first time 3 years ago. I lost in first round then and watched the tournament as a spectator. I knew how hard it would be to be a winner in this tournament. So I didn’t expect to win one day here,” she said in a post-match interview. “I am not tall. So I let small players know that you have chance to get a win if you train hard.“