Miyazaki & Son: Rising Stars | Korea & Japan Football

[스포티비뉴스=박대현 기자] Japanese women’s badminton rookie Tomoka Miyazaki (19) is boasting ‘post-Asian level’ popularity.

While compliments such as “Even the acne is cute” are flowing in various languages, the interest of Korean fans is also skyrocketing after posting a photo imitating Son Heung-min’s ‘Snap Ceremony’ on his social media.

Japan’s ‘Junichi Sports’ wrote last month, “On Miyazaki’s SNS, you can easily discover not only Japanese, but also languages ​​from around the world, such as Malay and Indonesian,” and added, “His SNS, which was updated as of January 26, is full of complimentary comments (in various languages) such as ‘cute’ and ‘lovely.'”

Miyazaki participated in the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Indonesia Masters (Super 500) held in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 20th of last month.

As she was ranked 9th in the world in women’s singles, she aimed for her first win of the new year and her third win on the BWF World Tour, but she suffered an unexpected blow in the round of 16.

He was defeated 0-2 (10-21 13-21) by Pichamon Opadnipus (Thailand, ranked 30th in the world). Before this game, his record against Pichamon was 3 wins and 0 losses, but on this day, he was unable to use his strength even once and lost in both games.

Chunichi Sports said, “Nevertheless, Miyazaki’s popularity is worldwide,” and added, “There are overwhelmingly many responses expressing affection for her in the Indonesia Masters ‘Meet and Greet’ video released this time. She naturally smiled for two shots with fans and did not lose her smile the whole time,” highlighting her country’s status as a badminton idol.

“Many followers are frequently leaving comments such as, ‘She looks like a member of an idol group,’ ‘How can she be so cute,’ and ‘Even her acne suits her well.’ They are praising Miyazaki’s charming smile and innocence,” he explained.

There are not many achievements in high-level international competitions yet. In her home country, Akane Yamaguchi (World No. 4) still has a high barrier.

Last December, at the All Japan Championships, he lost 0-2 to Yamaguchi, thus failing to achieve his second consecutive championship.

However, at the award ceremony for this competition, he imitated Son Heung-min’s unique ‘click ceremony’ and attracted attention. The photo was also posted on social media, and fans left Son Heung-min’s video in the comments section, asking about their interest in Korea, creating quite a stir in Japan.

As a senior athlete, your career is just beginning.

Since his debut in 2023, his winnings to date include two wins and one runner-up in the Super 300-level competition, and a runner-up finish in the Super 1000-level competition.

Although the team participated in 18 competitions last year, there is still a lot of room for improvement as they advanced to the semifinals only twice. However, even though she was born in 2006 and is young, she is considered to be a promising player with great potential, as she ranked as high as 6th in the women’s singles world rankings.

Chunichi Sports noted the high growth potential of the young team representing their country, saying, “Miyazaki has been gaining experience by playing a large number of senior games over the past two years. As he is an outstanding talent who rose to the top of the world as a junior, expectations for the future are quite high.”