Notes
badminton tournament バドミントン大会;
final 決勝戦；
women’s double 女子ダブル；
mixed doubles　男女ダブルス

—————————–
The Japan Open badminton tournament was held in Tokyo, July 24-28. There were five events. Yamaguchi Akane beat Okuhara Nozomi in the finals to win the women’s singles, and Momota Kenji won in two straight sets against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia. The Japanese women’s double team of Matsumoto and Nagahara made it to the finals but lost to the Korean team. Indonesian players won the men’s doubles, and China won the mixed doubles. All in all, things are looking good for Japan in the 2020 Summer Olympics. (by Prof. Douglas Jarrell)

—————————–

————————-
Speed skating has become a sport where Japan is very strong. Over the weekend, several Japanese skaters did very well at the World Cup Final which took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the U.S. Because the city is 1,400 meters above sea level, the thin air helps skaters to skate faster than usual. In the 2002 Winter Olympics, for example, many world records were broken. Yesterday, Takagi Miho skated in the women’s 1500-meter race and showed the world that she was the best. She set a new world record for the 1500-meter race when she broke the old record by more than one second. (by Prof. Douglas Jarrell)
————————-