On a mission: Park Joo-bong’s contract with the Japanese BA ends after the Paris Olympics.
PETALING JAYA: Will this be the last year for Park Joo-bong as Japan’s badminton head coach?
Doubles legend Joo-bong has entered his 20th year as the most successful supremo of the team but his contract will end after the Olympic Games in Paris from July 26-Aug 11.
Joo-bong, who is here for the Malaysian Open starting on Tuesday at Axiata Arena, said his focus right now was on getting the team ready for the Olympics.
He however, admitted that the situation was now different back home as there had been a change of management.
“This is my fifth Olympics stint with Japan. My contract ends after that,” said Joo-bong.
“The situation is a bit tricky right now as we have a new leadership and management since June. We are still waiting to fine tune our direction.
“I’m a bit concerned as we need to have a clear vision to move forward. There will be some discussions that will take place.”
Joo-bong, who will turn 60 in December this year, however agreed that Japan team need to make a quick rebound after going through one of their ‘lows’ last season.
“I’m managing the team to stay focused on the Olympics mission. Overall, our performances dropped last year while China and South Korea showed great strides. We did not do too well,” he said.
Japan had only won one Super 1000 title – the Malaysian Open last year through Akane Yamaguchi in the women’s singles.
They returned empty-handed from the other Super 1000 tournaments – All-England, China Open and Indonesian Open. They also did not have any winners at last year’s World Championships in Copenhagen, Asian Games and World Tour Finals in Hangzhou.
Although their players won the Super 750 titles and were consistently in the semi-finals or finals but those achievements were considered below their standard.
“Hopefully, things will pick up for us starting with the Malaysian Open here,” said the former Olympic champion Joo-bong.
Japan had grown from minnows to major title winners under Joo-bong’s guidance over the years and the Paris Olympics probably could be his last.
Can he make it the most memorable one?
Japan won their first Olympics gold through women’s doubles Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. They also won other medals through women’s singles Nozomi Okuhara (2016 Rio, bronze), women’s doubles Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa (2012 London, silver), mixed doubles Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (2020 Tokyo, bronze).
