Japan’s Tori Aizawa leaps for the smash return during a men’s doubles match of the Dove Saipan International 2024 at the Ada gym.
South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee reaches for the save alongside teammate Jung Jae Woo during a men’s doubles match against Japan’s Tori Aizawa and Daisuke Sano in the Dove Saipan International 2024 at the Ada gym Thursday.
JAPAN is on the brink of another dominant performance with four of its men’s doubles teams making it to the quarterfinals of the Dove Saipan International 2024 at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium on Thursday.
Japan’s Tori Aizawa, who also saw action in the recently held Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024, partnered with Daisuke Sano in eliminating South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee and Jung Jae Woo.
The first set saw high-intense back-and-forth exchanges between both teams with four deadlocks recorded after just eight possessions.
The Korean duo seized control of the momentum as they played aggressively and attacked from near the net whenever the opportunity was presented for a 7-0 run to gain a comfortable lead, 11-4.
Although Heo and Jung tried to slow down the pace to avoid committing unforced errors, the Japanese pair unleashed a series of offensive and defensive highlights to score four straight points followed by a 9-0 run to hold the advantage, 19-17.
The Koreans fought back but were only allowed to score one more point before the Japanese pair secured the last two points needed to win the first set, 21-18.
The seesaw battle continued throughout the second set with Heo and Jung holding a slight advantage once again, 10-7. But history repeated itself as Aizawa and Sano cooked up another rally with eight consecutive points to take over the driver’s seat, 17-14.
The Korean duo could score two points only as their Japanese opponents drained four straight points to secure the second set, 21-16, the match, and a seat in the quarterfinals.
Winners, too
Joining the winner’s circle were Japan’s Kazuki Shibata and Naoki Yamada (they eliminated Chinese Taipei’s Hung Tzu Wei and Lee Chang Lung, 21-17, 21-10); Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi (they eliminated the NMI’s Jimenez Sernantie and Paulo Quidato, 21-5, 21-2); and Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami (they eliminated Chinese Taipei’s Chia Yen Lin and Tsai Fu Cheng, 21-13, 21-15).
Also reaching the quarterfinals are Thailand’s Nachakorn Pusri and Tovannakasem Samatcha (they eliminated Vietnam’s Dang Khac Dang Khanh and Tran Nguyen Chi Tung, 22-20, 21-9), and Chinese Taipei’s Chan Yueh Lin and Chu Bo Rong (they eliminated Japan’s Mahiro Kaneko and Shunya Ota, 21-18, 21-15).
