Yuma YAMAZAKI (WH2 Women’s Singles / WH1-2 Women’s Doubles / WH1-2 Mixed Doubles Winner)

This is the first time that I have won 3 titles at the same tournament. Of course I wanted to win in all the 3 categories that I entered, but up until now I have only managed to win 2 at most, so I am so happy to win 3 this time. I really focused on building up my body this past year, especially my core, so I think this has helped me. For the mixed doubles I teamed up with a South Korean player and we managed to win, even though we could only communicate in very basic language.

Sarina SATOMI (WH1 Women’s Singles / WH1-2 Women’s Doubles Winner)

My tension wasn’t released right after the match finished, but I cried tears of joy when I realized I had won. I made many errors so it’s a match I need to learn from, but it was good that I had encouragement thanks to the cheering from the spectators and the voice of my coach, which helped me to play calmly until the end. I also think that strengthening my chair work in training enabled me to win this time.

Ayako SUZUKI (SU5 Women’s Singles / SL3-SU5 Women’s Doubles Winner)

I managed to win 2 titles, in the singles and doubles. I am really happy that I won the singles for the second year in a row. My opponent SUGINO was playing consecutive matches, so she showed sign of weariness in the second game and I could predict the placement of her shots. Our opponent in the doubles was a pair that beated us in the qualifying round, but we managed to strike their weak points that we spotted in that match. It is difficult because singles and doubles require different strategies, but I was able to change my playing strategy to suit each of them.

Asami YAMADA (SL3-SU5 Women’s Doubles Winner)

This was the first time I formed a pair with SUZUKI, but she was there to cover for me during the matches so I could concentrate on my capabilities. We lost to the same opponent in the final game of the qualifying round, so I think we won this time because we learned from the previous match and prepared carefully.

Daisuke FUJIHARA (SL3-SL4 Men’s Doubles Winner)

This was the second tournament where I paired with Siripong TEAMARROM from Thailand. We won the last time as well so our combination is still undefeated. I feel so relieved that we were able to win again. It would have been better if we settled the match in the second game, but we got complacent and dropped that game so it went down to the final game. I hope we can learn from this for next time.

Taiyo IMAI (SU5 Men’s Singles Winner)

Last year I came in third, so this year I put in an extra effort. I felt I was able to win because I went forward to attack more than usual, so that I was more offensive than my opponents. Because it was held in Japan, I competed with the feeling of wanting to show good matches to all the supporters who came. I could hear the cheering from the crowd really well and I felt encouraged by them even when I felt like I was mentally at breaking point.

Toshiaki SUENAGA (SL3-SU5 Mixed Doubles Winner)

I was really helped by SUGINO today. I’m satisfied that I was able to win against the opponents that I had never defeated before. I formed a pair with SUGINO for the first time in 2013, and have always teamed with her since 2016. I hope we can keep going to aim to win the gold medal together at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

Akiko SUGINO (SL3-SU5 Mixed Doubles Winner)

At first I was nervous when I entered the court, but as the match went on I felt I could play more comfortably. I think my movement in the final today was the best among all the tournament. Our strength is that we can create attacking patterns while covering for each other. I am glad that he was able to do that today as well, which led to our victory.