Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships
Shimadzu’s Professional and Employee Players Finish Runner-Up in Singles and Doubles!
The 59th Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships, which Shimadzu is a special sponsor of, was held at the Shimadzu Arena Kyoto from December 12 to 24, 2023. Hiroko Kuwata, a professional from the SHIMADZU Breakers, won second place in singles, and doubles players Suzuho Oshino and Ari Matsumoto won second place in the doubles event!
This tournament has a long history. This was the 35th time Shimadzu has been a tournament special sponsor, and the competition was fierce from the qualifying rounds.
The Breakers Took Second Place in Both the Singles and Doubles!
The women’s doubles final on December 23 featured the Breakers pair of Oshino and Matsumoto. The duo had shown their competitive spirit by winning all their matches up to the semifinals in full sets, but in the final, they lost to Hikaru Yoshikawa (Asia University) and Shiho Shibata (Est Tennis Club) 3-6.6(3)-7 to finish in the runner-up position.
From left to right: Oshino, Matsumoto, Shibata, and Yoshikawa
Oshino announced her retirement at the 38th Tennis Japan League (December 2023-February 2024), a team competition to determine the best Japanese player in the corporate world, and this was her last individual competition. After the awards ceremony, the Breakers teammates presented her with a bouque.
The following day, Kuwata faced Kayo Nishimura (Ai Love All Tennis Academy, Koroen) in the women’s singles final. Kuwata won the same event in the same tournament in 2017, and this was her second final match. Kuwata took the first set with her characteristic tenacious and steady play but was frustrated by Nishimura’s aggressive attacks and lost 6-3.2-6.4-6.
Nishimura (left) and Kuwata (right)
Kuwata’s success in Kyoto follows her second-place finish at the GS YUASA OPEN (an international tournament with a prize purse of $25,000) that was held at the Kyoto City Gymnasium in September!
Comments from the Players
Hiroko Kuwata
I was the runner-up at the GS YUASA Open in September and I was determined to get my revenge this time, so it was disappointing to lose. However, I gave it my all that day. I want to fix my mistakes and do my best in the next tournament. During the tournament, a lot of people came to cheer us on every day, and their support helped us a lot during the difficult moments in the finals. I will try my best to win the next championship! Thank you very much.
Suzuho Oshino
Since this was my last tournament as an active player, I had a different feeling from the first match because I thought, "This could be the last match of my tennis career. Many people, including my family, came to the event every day to cheer me on, and it made me very happy to be able to play the final match in front of them. It was a shame that we didn't win the championship, but I'm proud that we did our best and I want to thank everyone who was involved. The many, many shouts of encouragement from our supporters gave us great strength every day of the tournament. Thank you very much.
Ari Matsumoto
Playing in the finals of a big tournament was nerve-wracking, but more than that, it was a valuable experience. I was happy that so many spectators were able to see me play. I will use this experience as a springboard to continue to improve my game in the future!
Tournament Results
Men’s Tournament (December 12-17, 2023)
Singles champion: Koki Matsuda (IKAI)
Singles runner-up: Shunsuke Nakagawa (Iyo Bank)
Doubles champions: Ryuki Matsuda (Noah Indoor Stage) and Ryotaro Taguchi (Team REC)
Women’s Tournament (December 19-24, 2023)
Singles champion: Kayo Nishimura (Ai Love All Tennis Academy, Koroen)
Singles runner-up: Hiroko Kuwata (Shimadzu Corporation
Doubles champions: Hikaru Yoshikawa (Asia University) and Shiho Shibata (Est Tennis Club)
Doubles runners-up: Suzuho Oshino and Ari Matsumoto (Shimadzu Corporation)
Page Title and URL Copied.