Akane Yamaguchi signals generational shift in women’s singles

Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand greets Liu Xin of China during the women’s singles final of the 2013 China Masters in Changzhou, on September 15, 2013. Liu won 21-4, 13-21, 21-12. (Getty Images)

“I didn’t expect to win this time,” Akane was quoted as saying by Badzine in the post-match conference. “My first senior title is a Superseries. It’s amazing. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I still feel like I’m in a dream.”

A week earlier, at the China Masters, another unheralded player had surged through the draw into the final. Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand, a top-20 player with middling accomplishments, stumped everyone by beating Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in the semi-finals, a day after beating another talented Chinese, Han Li. Porntip eventually fell to Liu Xin, also of China, in the final, but she’d underscored the point that the Chinese were not so infallible anymore.

Once their unrivalled domain, women’s singles has suddenly opened up. Consider the last one year since the Olympics. Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand became the first non-Chinese player since 1999 to win the women’s singles world title. The big two – Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan of China – who lorded over the discipline for the last three years – have been upset by new talent such as PV Sindhu, Sayaka Takahashi (Japan), Ratchanok Intanon and Porntip Buranaprasertsuk.

Japan and Thailand are in the forefront of producing an exciting new crop. Japan have Akane Yamaguchi, Shizuka Uchida, Sayaka Takahashi, Nozomi Okuhara (world junior champion), Minatsu Mitani (French Open winners), while Thailand can look to world champion Ratchanok, 2012 India Open winner Porntip, and three others: Sapsiree Taerattanachai, Busanan Onbumrungpan and Nichaon Jindapon.

Worldwide, of course, there are the likes of Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Carolina Marin (Spain), Sung Ji Hyun (Korea) and Bae Yeon Ju (Korea), apart from Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu, to lead us into an era where the Chinese are not assured of total dominance. The game has much to gain from a non-monopolistic era.

To be sure, many of these names have yet to prove themselves over a period of time. The odd victory does not a career make, and there have been numerous examples of teen prodigies who fizzled out. For the moment, we can feel thrilled that many of these players have already achieved much at their young age, and are likely to do so much more.