CHENNAI: After becoming the first Japanese to reach PSA tour finals last year, World No 6 Satomi Watanabe did not have the best of starts this year. She struggled with an injury and could not replicate the form she displayed then. In these difficult times, it was coach and fiance Taiki Kaido who played a key role in getting Satomi back to her best.
Hailing from Yokohama region in Japan, the 26-year-old took up the sport when she was eight and went to Malaysia at 12. Watanabe and Kaido first met when they were 10 and 15, respectively, in Yokohama through the sport. Kaido, who suffered injuries to his lower back, switched to coaching at an early age of 21. "It was six years ago when he asked me out, and we have been having a good relationship," Watanabe said. Kaido became Watanabe's coach a year ago while he was the designated national coach.
One thing that is crucial to their relationship is how Kaido lends his ears to a "talkative" Watanabe. "He understands my personality well, and he knows how to advise me the right way. He advises in a way where I can put that into my game," she said, after a hard-fought victory over Iran's Fereshteh Eghtedari in a group stage tie of the ongoing World Cup here on Tuesday. She pulled off the win without Kaido's presence as he had to take a step back from the team due to player availability issues. "He also had some work in Japan, too."
"I'm still going to be in touch with him. We will talk throughout this tournament. So, I think it would not affect too much," she explained.
Kaido as coach
Sports at the elite level is demanding. Training sessions can get monotonous and add to frustrations of athletes. Watanabe is not immune to this. Kaido has been her balm during those times. She recalled one such instance when results were not going in her favour. "I didn't start quite well at the beginning of the season. I was struggling with my squash, my body and everything. Even during training, I was not in a good mood. It is hard for me to listen to someone, not because it is him or anyone. Then, after the session, he will spend loads of time talking to me," she said.
During times when negative thoughts get the better of her, it is Kaido who helps her find perspective. "I can really be negative sometimes, like 'oh, I can't do this, I can't do that', but he will be like it is maybe cause you're feeling this way, so he guides me really well and that helps me overall. Towards the end of the first half of the season, I think I got my squash back and started enjoying it," she added.
The 'enjoyment' reflects in the results she has had in recent weeks. In the China Open last month, she beat World No 1 Hania El Hammamy, after beating World No 15 Sana Ibrahim in the same meet, which is a PSA Squash tour gold event. Just before the World Cup, Watanabe took part in a PSA Platinum level event in Hong Kong, where she reached the semifinals.
Off the court
Kaido, she explained, is the quiet guy in the relationship but leaves her in splits with his "unique sense of humour." "He always tries to make me smile, that way," she said.
One thing that the couple are trying to attain balance on is between the sport and life. "On court, he is strict when I am lazy but when I am overworking, he insists that I take rest. Off the court, we rarely talk about squash, but it is quite difficult sometimes to balance the coach-player relationship as well as the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. When we are focussing on squash, we try to focus on squash."
The couple have been engaged for more than a year, and are hopeful to see the wedding bells ring soon. "Paperwork involving the change of my surname takes a lot of time, so we are trying to find a time next year to do it."
Results: Pool A: Hong Kong, China 4-0 South Korea; Pool B: India 4-0 Switzerland; Pool D: Japan 4-0 IR Iran.
Wednesday's fixtures: Australia vs Poland (10.30am), Egypt vs Iran (1.00pm), Brazil vs Switzerland (3.30pm), South Africa vs Korea (6.00 pm), Malaysia vs Poland (8.30 pm).
