Kenichi Tago
Kenichi Tago (田児 賢一, Tago Ken'ichi, born 16 July 1989) is a badminton player from Japan, the son of badminton player Yoshiko Yonekura. In 2010, he reached the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships. En route to the final he beat three seeded players including Nguyen Tien Minh, Chen Jin and Bao Chunlai. In the final, Tago lost to the first seed and reigning World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia with a score of 21–19 and 21–19,[1] following an incorrect line call in Lee Chong Wei's favour at matchpoint.[2] In 2012, he competed at the London 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's singles event, but did not advance to the knock-out stage after being defeated by Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka with a score of 18–21, 16–21.[3] In 2014, he reached the Indonesia Open final after a shocking win over Lee Chong Wei in the semifinal but could not keep up his good form and went on to lose by straight games in the final to Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark. He competed at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.
Kenichi Tago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kenichi Tago at the 2013 French Super Series. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Saitama Prefecture, Japan | 16 July 1989||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Handedness | Right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest ranking | 3 (3 April 2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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BWF profile |
Achievements
Asian Championships
Men's singles
Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Siri Fort Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, India | Wang Zhengming | 14–21, 21–19, 16–21 | Bronze |
BWF World Junior Championships
Boys' singles
Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | The Trusts Stadium, Waitakere City, New Zealand | Chen Long | 16–21, 14–21 | Silver |
Asian Junior Championships
Boys' singles
Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Han Ki-hoon | 21–13, 16–21, 26–24 | Gold |
BWF Superseries
The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[4] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011,[5] with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Men's singles
Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | All England Open | Lee Chong Wei | 19–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
2011 | French Open | Lee Chong Wei | 16–21, 11–21 | Runner-up |
2012 | Malaysia Open | Lee Chong Wei | 6–21, 13–21 | Runner-up |
2013 | India Open | Lee Chong Wei | 15–21, 21–18, 17–21 | Runner-up |
2013 | Japan Open | Lee Chong Wei | 21–23, 17–21 | Runner-up |
2013 | French Open | Jan Ø. Jørgensen | 19–21, 21–23 | Runner-up |
2014 | Indonesia Open | Jan Ø. Jørgensen | 18–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
- BWF Superseries Finals tournament
- BWF Superseries Premier tournament
- BWF Superseries tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series
Men's singles
Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Swedish International | Jens Kristian Leth | 21–15, 21–15 | Winner |
2007 | Scottish International | Björn Joppien | 11–21, 21–15, 21–18 | Winner |
2007 | Korea International | Shon Seung-mo | 15–21, 21–18, 10–21 | Runner-up |
2008 | Belgian International | Chetan Anand | 21–16, 15–21, 21–19 | Winner |
- BWF International Challenge tournament
- BWF International Series tournament
Record against selected opponents
Includes results against Olympic quarterfinals, Worlds semifinalists, and Super Series finalists, as well as all Olympic opponents.[6]
- Chen Jin 2–3
- Chen Yu 1–1
- Chen Long 4–7
- Bao Chunlai 2–0
- Lin Dan 1–3
- Wang Zhengming 1–3
- Du Pengyu 2–2
- Hsieh Yu-hsing 1–0
- Jan Ø. Jørgensen 7–7
- Joachim Persson 2–0
- Peter Gade 1–3
- Viktor Axelsen 2–2
- Marc Zwiebler 5–0
- Hu Yun 6–2
- Parupalli Kashyap 3–2
- Srikanth Kidambi 2–0
- Simon Santoso 2–2
- Sony Dwi Kuncoro 1–7
- Taufik Hidayat 2–4
- Tommy Sugiarto 1–3
- Sho Sasaki 3–2
- Shon Seung-mo 0–2
- Lee Hyun-il 0–1
- Park Sung-hwan 0–3
- Park Tae-sang 0–1
- Shon Wan-ho 2–3
- Lee Chong Wei 2–17
- Liew Daren 2–0
- Wong Choong Hann 1–4
- Chong Wei Feng 5–1
- Ronald Susilo 1–0
- Niluka Karunaratne 0–1
- Boonsak Ponsana 2–1
- Nguyen Tien Minh 2–1
Gambling scandal
In October 2015, Kenichi Tago was kicked out of Japan's national team by Park Joo-bong because of indiscipline, after he repeatedly missed training sessions and was proving to be a bad influence to other players.[7] On 8 April 2016, Tago admitted to squandering 10 million Japanese yen over a period of 2 years after making over 60 visits to illegal casinos. Gambling in Japan is illegal, with frequent gambling punishable with imprisonment of up to 3 years.[8]
References
- "All England: Chong Wei Crowned All England Champion". Bernama. Bernama. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- "Video replay shows final shot to be out". YouTube. YouTube. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- "Tago exits in badminton first round". The Japan Times. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
- "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
- "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". www.ibadmintonstore.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
- Tournaments of Kenichi Tago
- "Bad boy Tago axed from Japan national team - Badminton". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
“It was a difficult decision to make, but we had to do it because we did not want his action to influence others in the national team,” said head coach Park Joo-bong, who added that Tago was dropped after the Japan Open last month. “Without him, our strength in men's singles will be diluted, but we had no choice because he broke the national camp rules several times.” It is learnt that Tago did not report for centralised training and preferred more personal attention. Joo-bong believes that the axing of Tago would keep others in check. “If this can happen to Tago, it can happen to anyone in the national team,” he said.
- "Tearful Tago wants mercy for Momota over casino visit". Reuters India. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kenichi Tago. |
- Kenichi Tago at BWF.tournamentsoftware.com
- Profile on Badspi.jp (in Japanese)
- Profile on Smash-net.tv (in Japanese)