Watanabe vows to win Olympic gold despite uncertainty

Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo in action during their men's doubles final match. - Filepic

PETALING JAYA: High-flying Japanese doubles ace Yuta Watanabe has vowed to stay motivated in his bid to become an Olympic champion despite the uncertainty surrounding the Tokyo Games due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The 22-year-old Watanabe is in high spirits after winning the All-England men’s doubles title with Hiroyuki Endo, 11 years his senior.

They became the first-ever men’s doubles champions from Japan since the tournament’s inception in 1899.

It was Watanabe’s second All-England title having also captured the historic mixed doubles title with Arisa Higashino in 2018.

Watanabe and the rest of the team members arrived to a warm welcome at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo with more than 30 media personnel awaiting eagerly to interview the All-England victors that included women’s pair Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota.

“I don’t know whether the Olympics is going to be held as scheduled, but what we aim for is the gold medal, ” vowed Watanabe.“Winning the All-England title is in the past, we will start from scratch again, ” he said.On the Covid-19 pandemic that has caused chaos in the sports calendar, Endo said: “It’s difficult when the schedule keeps changing, but we still have to think positively. During this long break, I will focus on training well and strengthening my body.”

Endo-Hayakawa were three-time All-England finalists in 2013,2014 and 2016.