Source: USA TODAY Sports/Denny Medley
[Saba Sports News] The active Korean coach of the Japanese badminton team, Park Joo Bong, recently spoke about the Japan Badminton Association’s decision to cancel national team training this year in an interview with the media. Park expressed profound disappointment over this move. He candidly stated that the national badminton team has gradually become ineffective and it is essentially difficult to win the Olympics. Park Joo-bong, who once won the Olympic badminton championship, has led the Japanese badminton team since 2004, guiding them to impressive performances, particularly from 2017 to 2020, which marked the peak of Japanese badminton. During the 2018 season, Japanese players occupied top-ten positions in five individual events, and there were even five Japanese women’s doubles pairs ranked among the world’s top ten. At that time, the Japanese team also dominated the Badminton World Championships, winning 46 gold medals throughout the year, firmly securing the top spot and surpassing other nations with 33 gold medals. However, in recent years, the Japanese badminton team has seen a significant decline. For the upcoming Paris Olympics, Japan has significantly reduced its investment budget for badminton programs and has even scrapped training sessions for national team players.