Kenichi Tago (田児賢一, Tago Ken'ichi, born 16 July 1989) is a Japanese former professional badminton player. He is the son of former 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 Nguyễn Tiến 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 match point.[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 Ø. Jørgensen 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 | 16 July 1989 Warabi, Saitama, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb)（active era） 107.42 kg (236.8 lb)(2020-present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Men's singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 3 (3 April 2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| BWF profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements
editAsian Championships
editMen'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
editBoys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Trusts Stadium, Waitakere City, New Zealand | Chen Long | 16–21, 14–21 | Silver |
Asian Junior Championships
editBoys' 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 Super Series
editThe BWF Super Series, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[4] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Super Series had two level such as Super Series and Super Series Premier. A season of the Super Series featured a total of twelve tournaments around the world since the 2011 season,[5] with successful players invited to the Super Series 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 Super Series Premier tournament
- BWF Superseries tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series
editMen'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
editIncludes 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
- Nguyễn Tiến Minh 2–1
Gambling scandal
editIn October 2015, Tago was removed from Japan's national team by head coach Park Joo-bong due to 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 alongside other professional players, including countryman Kento Momota, who was banned from competition until late 2017 and forced to miss the Olympic Games as a result.[8] Gambling in Japan is illegal, with frequent gambling punishable with imprisonment of up to 3 years.[9]
References
edit- ^ "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. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. 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.
- ^ "バド桃田ら賭博関与認める「規約違反」五輪絶望的". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 7 April 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Tearful Tago wants mercy for Momota over casino visit". Reuters India. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
External links
edit- Kenichi Tago at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (alternate link)
- Kenichi Tago at BWFBadminton.com
- Kenichi Tago at Olympedia
- Kenichi Tago at Olympics.com
- Profile on Badspi.jp (in Japanese)
- Profile on Smash-net.tv at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 December 2019) (in Japanese)