‘I Did Feel Lonely Without Ayaka’
It has been nearly five years since she was last seen on the HSBC BWF World Tour in a discipline that was her forte. Misaki Matsutomo, whose partnership with Ayaka Takahashi paved the way for Japan’s rise in women’s…
· DEV SUKUMAR
It has been nearly five years since she was last seen on the HSBC BWF World Tour in a discipline that was her forte. Misaki Matsutomo, whose partnership with Ayaka Takahashi paved the way for Japan’s rise in women’s doubles, offered fans a glimpse once again of her prowess in women’s doubles in two events this year.
Having confined herself to mixed doubles – apart from a couple of team events – after the retirement of Takahashi in 2020, Matsutomo has been curiously absent in the discipline in which she helped break many barriers. In her two events this year, both in women’s doubles, she showed she’s far from done.
Partnering Chiharu Shida, Matsutomo made the quarterfinals of the PETRONAS Malaysia Open, and followed up with a second round at the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open. And while the results did offer promise, Matsutomo was reluctant to commit herself to women’s doubles for the season, opting for a flexible approach. Just as interestingly, she was in the coach’s chair for her club teammates, and had the satisfaction of shepherding fresh pair Arisa Igarashi/Ayako Sakuramoto to the India Open title.