If US representative Phillip and Ryan Chew played Japan in the men’s Olympic badminton doubles Tournament their names were shortened for TV broadcasting in the country.
A screenshot can be seen exactly here.
As reported Yahoo! News Japan, the names of the US players on the screen became “P ・ チ ュ ウ” (“P. Chew” in English) and R ・ チ ュ ウ (“R. Chew”) with their last names in Katakana and their first names Phillip and Ryan. just get their initials written. That was men to fit in the chyron box, togetherfrom the names of the Japanese players Keigo Sonoda and Takeshi Kamura. If foreign surnames are the same, this practice is not uncommon in Japan.
However there J-Cast news adds that adding the player’s first initials resulted in some Japanese viewers instantly connecting to Pokémon and reading their names such as “Pikachu” and “Raichu”. P. Chu and R. Chu, written in Japanese, are reminiscent of Pikachu and Raichu.
(Although P ・ チ ュ ウ (P Chu) sounds more like “Pichu” so I have no idea why this connection wasn’t made first.)
“I watch badminton, but I’m really sleepy, and when I saw P ・ チ ュ ウ and R ・ チ ュ ウ written, I read them as Pikachu and Raichu,” wrote a Twitter user.
“Sorry,” wrote another, “I thought P. Chu and R. Chu on Team USA were Pikachu and Raichu.”
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The chew toy Brothers have a deep connection with badminton. Her grandfather Don Chew founded the Orange County Badminton Club, where the two train. Phillip competed in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, which is Ryan’s first ever Olympic Games. The two have before won silver and gold at the Pan-Am championships.
Accordingly Reuters, the duo was the best-placed men’s double since 2018. “Some people tell us they could never play with their siblings, but for us we do a good job of communicating with each other, whether it’s suggestions about our game or our style, so it works for the two of us, ”Ryan told the publication.
Team USA was ultimately defeated of Japan’s badminton team in men’s doubles.
Below are the highlights from the Chew brothers’ game against China. Team USA was the underdog, but watching the game, my goodness, all reflexes are the players violent. Look in case you missed it:
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