Bangkok: He was one of the all-time greats as a player, with 1 Olympic gold medal (1992, men’s doubles), 5 World Championship titles (2 men’s doubles, 3 mixed doubles), 9 All England titles (4 men’s doubles, 5 mixed doubles), Park Joo-bong, is now merits consideration as one of badminton’s greatest head coach after he led Japan’s Uber Cup team to win the 2018 Uber Cup last Saturday, and his men’s team produced a brilliant battle before losing to China in 1-3 in the Thomas Cup final last Sunday.
At a press conference after the Thomas Cup final, Park praised both the Japanese Uber Cup team and the Thomas Cup team.
“Our players and coaches have been working extremely hard, and they all have high-level of motivation to play their best during training and competition,” said Park.
“The team spirit and unity were keys for our success,” added Park.
“Both teams played exceptionally well, unfortunately our men’s team couldn’t win the Thomas Cup due to our weakness in men’s doubles. Kento Momota was performing really well, and our second men’s doubles pair was almost able to push the Thomas Cup final to the deciding fifth match.”
“My strategy was to win at least one point through men’s doubles, and to push the tie to the third men’s singles match,”
Despite losing the Thomas Cup final, Japan have certainly become strong medal contenders at the World Championship in July and the Asian Games in August.
