Japan Badminton defeated China in the women’s team final at the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 Asian Games .Japan won its first Asian Games women’s team gold medal in 48 years, while China was dethroned from the top spot it had held for five consecutive tournaments since 1998.At the time, South Korea had been knocked out in the quarter-finals earlier in the tournament, their first medal defeat in 40 years. At the centre of the stark contrast between Korea and Japan was Korean badminton legend Park Joo-bong, 58, the head coach of the Japanese team. Park has been at the helm of Japan’s badminton programme since the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he led a major overhaul of the sport and ushered in a revival .At London 2012, Japan won its first Olympic medal (silver in the women’s doubles), and at Rio de Janeiro 2016, Japan finally won its first gold medal (women’s doubles).At the World Individual Championships, she has won “five consecutive titles” since 2017.Until last year, South Korea was the envy of Japan’s growth .But at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, the tables have turned. South Korea emerged as strong favourites, led by women’s singles world number one Ahn Se-young, who was also strong in the three doubles events .Japan, on the other hand, has been hit by the loss of women’s singles ace Akane Yamaguchi, as well as injuries to Nozomi Okuhara (ranked 29th in singles) and Sayaka Hirota (ranked fourth in doubles).Yamaguchi was forced to withdraw from the women’s team quarter-final against Chinese Taipei on 29 September with an ankle injury. The result was a 3-1 victory for Japan. Park Joo-bong, who was interviewed after the match, was well aware of the turn of events .”Japan is a weaker team than they were five years ago, and they haven’t changed much (since then). On the contrary, their best player is injured, so it’s quite a difficult situation for them at this Asian Games. “Speaking about Korean badminton, he said, “We are at our peak right now. They have now gained an advantage over Japan. “In particular, he pointed to last month’s World Championships as a leap forward. South Korea won the women’s singles (Ahn Se-young), mixed doubles (Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yoo-jung), and men’s doubles (Seo Seung-jae and Kang Min-hyuk) at the World Championships, their best ever performance. Japan only reached the final in the men’s singles, settling for silver .”I think (Korea) gained a lot of confidence from the World Championships,” Park said, adding that the men’s doubles and mixed doubles were also among the world’s best .Park also pointed out the rivalry between Ahn and Yamaguchi: “At the beginning of the year, they were winning and losing against each other, but now Ahn has completely moved up.”Japan will play China in the women’s team semi-finals on the 30th. In the opposite bracket, South Korea and 바카라사이트 Thailand will meet.