In the first round of the 2024 Badminton Asian Championships, Japan's women's doubles pair Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota lost 0-2 to South Korea's Lee Youlin/Shin Seung-chan after 62 minutes. The defeat ultimately decided that "Rape Flower" would not be able to overtake their team-mates and finish the Olympic points tournament in third place in the team, which could also be their final curtain call on the international stage.
The reason why it is said to be a hard fight is not only because the game took more than an hour in two games, but also because of the stumbling pace of Sayaka Hirota. As early as the French and All England tournaments in March, "Rape Flower" was making a final struggle and effort against fate with this almost self-consuming semi-mixed doubles position.
When almost everyone thought she would have surgery, Hirota made a bold but frightening decision to leave surgery for now, and to go through conservative treatment in the last push to qualify for the Olympics.
Whether this decision is risky or appropriate is anyone's guess, let alone extrapolating the outcome when the outcome is already known. But it is undeniable that this decision requires a lot of determination and is heart-wrenching. At the beginning of the injury, Sayaka Hirota underwent conservative treatment and withdrew from all competitions in January. Until her comeback at the French Open in March, she said: "We haven't practiced together once in three months. ”
At the time, they were already behind the other two Japanese women's doubles pairs in the Olympic rankings, and they had to take it easy and grab a high score in the final few tournaments to have a chance of overtaking. In France, they lost in the second round, and at England, they reached the quarter-finals in an 86-minute battle, but they were unable to steal the big points.
After the last cruciate ligament rupture in her right knee, Sayaka Hirota changed almost her entire stride habits, and her left leg was also under more pressure due to the compensation. This time, her right leg is "redeeming" her left leg in the same way. When we saw that her left knee was tied with the heavy steel plate and knee pad, and the entire knee area was bandaged so that the skin could not be seen, the word "impossible" may have been hidden in our hearts. But they are still the tenacious "rape flowers", they still do their best to save every lob, and they still steal every point in a position similar to mixed doubles. In today's Ningbo game, they still tried their best to extend their time on the court at 14-20 in the second game, chasing four points in a row, and the final score was fixed at 20-22 and 18-21.
This may be the last international match of "Rape Flower", and this last ball ended with the two of them being mobilized to fall to the ground, which is embarrassing. After the last ball landed, tears couldn't help but flow from their eyes, and they immediately wiped away their tears, shook hands with their opponents with a bright smile, and left the field with a smile.
In the mixed mining area, they were interviewed by several groups of reporters, which also surprised them. "We didn't have surgery, we fought until the last race, and we fought until the last minute, so I don't regret my choice. When she said, "I felt very touched at the end of the moment, thinking of the support of so many people, and I couldn't help but cry when I thought of the support of so many people all the way to the current scene", she could only bow her head, lean over, pick up the towel, and bury her head inside.
"It's very touching, but I still want to maintain a good image, so when I leave the scene, I tell myself to smile and leave with a smile. Yuki Fukushima said this with tears in her eyes and a smile.
"Rape Flower" was not in the Japanese team's Uber Cup lineup, which also means that Hirota Sayaka can really rest completely after returning home and consider surgery. "We don't know exactly when the surgery will be done, but it should be," she said. ”
After the 2021 Olympics, it took Sayaka Hirota seven months to undergo surgery and rehabilitation, and returned to action in March 2022. How long will it be this time? She wasn't sure. But she said she might not be competing in international competitions again. If this is the case, today's match will be the curtain call of the international competition of "Rape Flower".
But who knows? Maybe it's just an unknown hypothesis, maybe they'll be together again in Japan, maybe there's more.
I remember Jia Yifan saying in an interview: "We really admire Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota from the bottom of our hearts, they are the best opponents in the world when they are healthy." "With a Uber Cup winner, a three-time World Championship runner-up, 12 high-level trophies and stories in between, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota are undoubtedly a legendary pair of women's doubles pairs, formidable and formidable opponents. It's a pity to turn around and leave with regret, but the good news is that they will run towards a healthier version of themselves. At least when they left the scene, their faces were full of smiles, and although the tears would fall unconsciously, they did not regret it, and their hearts were full of certainty.
Goodbye, "Rape Flower" Combo!