Men’s Singles WH1
Kouhei KOBAYASHI (Fukuoka)

I’m so happy that I won this tournament held in Kurume, the city where my company Bridgestone was founded. People from my hometown and colleagues came to cheer for me, which gave me a lot of strength to battle hard. I’m filled with gratitude to all the people who are always supporting me.
I played against my doubles partner in the final so it was difficult because we knew each other inside out, but the support from everyone pushed me over the line. From here I want to do my best towards winning a medal at the Paralympics in2020.

Men’s Singles WH2
Atsuya WATANABE (Tokyo)

First of all I feel glad to have won consecutively following on from last year. There are only a few competitors in WH2, but my opponent in the final was KAJIWARA, who is a good rival. I hope we can keep pushing each other to work hard and improve to bring excitement to WH2 and wheelchair badminton in general.
The point race to appear at Tokyo 2020 will begin next year, so my first goal is to achieve qualification for the Paralympics. Of course I’m also aiming to win this championships for the 3rd time in a row.

Men’s Singles SL3
Daisuke FUJIHARA (Ibaraki)

I managed to achieve my 4th victory in a row at this tournament. I think I won because I could play in my own way as I normally do.
There are about 3 months left before the point race for the Paralympics begins, so I’m going to focus on my training for the time being. The point race will begin in 2019, but first I want to work hard to make sure I win the overseas tournament in March so that I can make a strong starting dash towards qualifying for the Paralympics.

Men’s Singles SL4
Katsuhiro YAMAMOTO (Osaka)

I wasn’t able to win last year so it was great to win this time. I think I won because I managed to make the most of all the advice I got from the coaches and other national players during the overseas tours.
Next year I want to keep winning one match at a time at international tournaments so that I can appear at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

Men’s Singles SU5＋
Taiyo IMAI (Kanagawa)

I won the first edition of this tournament but I was the runner-up on the second time, so I couldn’t make it consecutive wins at that time. I managed to win it last year so I was really determined to defend the title this time, it is great that I managed to achieve this. Defending the title gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.
This year I worked to strengthen my lower body throughout the year and the results of that came through, it definitely helped me win today.

Men’s Singles SS6
Yohei HATAKEYAMA (Tokyo)

I worked hard at this tournament to play in my own way. I was able to achieve this and I think this put my opponents off balance.
My next goal is first to be selected as a designated player, then to keep getting points so that I can be chosen as a representative for the 2020 Paralympics. I hope that our efforts as players can increase public awareness for the sport of para-badminton.

Men’s Singles ID7
Rintaro NAKANO (Nagano)

It’s the best feeling! I’m so happy to win 3 tournaments in a row. The support from my friends and everyone who cheered for me helped me to win.
Next time I want to be able to battle longer and tougher. I’m aiming to win next year as well of course.

Women’s Singles WH1
Sarina SATOMI (Chiba)

I had never been the number one in Japan before, so my goal was to win this championships. I have always trained a lot, but from April this year I was selected as a designated player (next generation athlete), so the quality of my training improved. This has helped me to get this result.
This year I managed to defeat the number 2 player in the world, so my goal next year is to beat the world number 1. The point race to appear at Tokyo 2020 will also begin next year, so I will do my best to get points one match at a time.

Women’s Singles WH2
Yuma YAMAZAKI (Tokyo)

My physical condition was actually not very good for the last few days, so it was great that I somehow managed to battle through and win the tournament.
My form has been good all year and my condition got better with each match, so I was able to win a number of gold medals. I will work hard to win in both the Singles and Doubles next year as well. The race to qualify for the Paralympics will begin next year, so I hope to steadily win each match and earn points.

Women’s Singles SL3
Mio HAYASHI (Tokyo)

First of all I was happy to return to playing badminton after quite a while away, so I was able to enjoy just playing the sport. Of course I was happy to win the tournament as well of course, but it was just great to play badminton again after a 3 year break.
I hope I can continue to play and also appear at international tournaments. I’m also aiming to get to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Women’s Singles SL4
Haruka FUJINO (Fukuoka)

My goal was to win this tournament. Other than just trying to win, I also care about the content of my matches, so I have to try and fix the number of errors I made.
I identified some of my week points at this tournament, so I’m going to do my best to train hard so I can overcome these problems and remove these mistakes.
I’m hoping to keep playing this sport until at least the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, so I’m going to do my best to achieve this goal.

Women’s Singles SU5＋
Ayako SUZUKI (Miyagi)

The final of this tournament was the last match of the year, so it was the best possible result to finish with.
I feel a decline in my stamina and strength each year, but I want to train well so I can improve my condition. Training is tough, but I can keep putting in more effort by reminding myself that it is all for the Paralympics in 2020. Putting this year to one side, I want to be even more motivated to battle hard and get results next year.

Women’s Singles ID7
Noriko UCHIDA (Aichi)

I was nervous because it was my first time appearing at a big tournament. All my teammates had lost though, so I wanted to win for them as well. It was good that I was able to move well during the matches.
Next year I will do my best to win this championships for the 2nd time in a row.

Men’s Doubles WH1-2
Atsuya WATANABE (Tokyo) / Osamu NAGASHIMA (Tokyo)

We haven’t been a pair for very long, but after thinking about many things as we played each match together, we decided to treat this championships as a milestone. That’s why it was so great to be able to win here.
At this tournament we fought with a sense of determination that we had to win as this pair. We want to keep motivating each and improve even more and aim for a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Men’s Doubles SL3-4
Taku HIROI (Hokkaido) / Toshiaki SUENAGA (Kanagawa)

To tell the truth I was really happy to win against the opponent I lost to in the Singles final. Our pair’s strong point is that we both are able to attack, so we are going to work hard to improve our attacks even more.
Next year we are going to play at this championships as a pair again, if we don’t fight with each other (laughs). So we’re aiming to defend our title.

Men’s Doubles SU5+
Yuya ITO (Tokyo) / Wataru KIMURA (Kanagawa)

We were focused on playing every match with maximum effort. We’re happy that this total effort gave us a winning result.
The final was a difficult match, but the coach’s advice helped to control our emotions so we could play on the front foot. It was so great to win the championships.
Next we are going to appear as this pair at the Deaflympics, multi-sport tournament for these with hearing disability. We want to get the gold medal there.

Men’s Doubles ID7
Rintaro NAKANO (Nagano) / Kazuya TANAKA (Tokyo)

To be honest these last 2 days were really tough, but we managed to win somehow by supporting each other. I’m so grateful to Mr. NAKANO, said Mr.TANAKA.
There are still only a few people who participate in the intellectual disability class for badminton, so as players we all want to do our best to let people around the world know about this kind of badminton.

Women’s Doubles WH1-2
Yuma YAMAZAKI (Tokyo) / Sarina SATOMI (Chiba)

Playing in doubles is difficult if your combination with each other doesn’t match, but we were able to complement each other and win against a strong opponent. We are both able to hit strong clearances, so it was good that we could recover straight away even if our play broke down.
You are stronger in doubles if you enjoy playing together. We were able to have fun playing this time as well, which helped us to win the championships.

Women’s Doubles ID7
Asuka KURIMARU (Fukuoka) / Sayaka ISHI (Nagasaki)

We were able to do our best together as a pair, this is why we managed to get a winning result this time. We are going to keep working hard!