CHICAGO—For the first time in the history of Olympic badminton, Japan is heading into the Games in a position to challenge China’s longstanding dominance in the sport which was threatened at the last Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Led by men’s world no. 1 Kento Momota, Japan has nearly twice as many top-five players as China across all five tournament categories. In women’s doubles, the two top-ranked teams are Japanese – led by Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota – with China third on the list.
China has won 41 medals since badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992 – more than double the combined tally of Indonesia and South Korea, the second and third most successful teams.
But J…
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