Yonex
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Native name | ヨネックス株式会社 |
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Romanized name | Yonekkusu Kabushiki-gaisha |
Company type | Public |
TYO: 7906 | |
Industry | Sports equipment |
Founded | 1946 | (incorporated in 1958)
Founder | Minoru Yoneyama |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ben Yoneyama ,[1] Chairman Alyssa Yoneyama, President |
Products | Rackets, tennis balls, shuttlecocks, golf clubs, athletic shoes, apparel, bags, accessories |
Revenue | ¥74.48 billion (2022) |
¥5.78 billion (2022) | |
Subsidiaries |
|
Website | yonex.com |
Yonex Co., Ltd. (ヨネックス株式会社, Yonekkusu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running.[2]
Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis (rackets, shuttlecocks, balls, bags) and golf (clubs, bags). Yonex also produces athletic shoes and apparel including T-shirts, jackets, skirts, shorts, hoodies, leggings and hats.[2]
History
[edit]The company was founded in 1946 by Minoru Yoneyama as a producer of wooden floats for fishing nets. The company was later forced out of this market because of the invention of plastic floats. This led to a commitment by Yoneyama to never again be left behind by technological advancements.
In 1957, Yoneyama began to make badminton racquets for other brands. By 1961, the first Yoneyama-branded racquet was introduced, and within another two years an export company was created for the worldwide distribution. After the company began to make aluminium badminton racquets in 1969, it found that the same technology could be applied to the tennis racket which the company introduced in 1971. The company began to experiment with graphite shafts for both types of rackets and found that these would also be useful for golf clubs.
In 1982 Yonex came out with the new oversized tennis racquet in the REX-series with the R-7 and R-10 racquets. At that time Martina Navratilova played with the R-7 and was very successful. One year later, the new series Rexking was developed with the R-22. Navratilova subsequently used the white RQ 180 widebody frame until the early 1990s.
![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Yonex_IFB_2013_-_Quarterfinal_-_Tian_Qing_-_Zhao_Yunlei_vs_Misaki_Matsutomo_-_Ayaka_Takahashi_12.jpg/220px-Yonex_IFB_2013_-_Quarterfinal_-_Tian_Qing_-_Zhao_Yunlei_vs_Misaki_Matsutomo_-_Ayaka_Takahashi_12.jpg)
Finding a growing market, the Yonex Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary) was established in Torrance, California, US in July 1983. In 1992 Yonex introduced the widebody badminton racket, the "Isometric 500", a racquet that was much less "tear drop"-shaped than previous ones. The more "square" head gave it a much larger striking surface, which provides a larger "sweet spot" to hit the shuttle. It led other manufacturers to follow suit in "square-head" or isometric designs.
The parent company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1994. Yonex describes itself as the world leader in golf, tennis and badminton equipment.[3] Yonex provides clothing for national badminton associations around the world, such as the Malaysian Badminton Association, Badminton Scotland, Badminton England, Badminton Ireland, and Badminton Wales. Yonex has also been teaming up with OCBC (Orange County Badminton Club) since 2007 to host the annual U.S. Open Grand Prix Badminton Championships.[4]
Yonex has become the dominant corporate player in badminton. Yonex sponsors the All England Open Badminton Championships and is a partner of the Badminton World Federation which organizes the World Championships.[5] Upwards of 80% of competitive players use their racquets, as it is the preferred choice amongst professionals.[6] Yonex is significant in the tennis and golf industries as well and is a major sponsor of professional athletes in all three sports.[7]
Sponsorships
[edit]Yonex supplies official materials for the following leagues, athletes, teams, or associations:
Olympic Committees
[edit]Football
[edit]Club teams
[edit]Avispa Fukuoka
Kashiwa Reysol
Tegevajaro Miyazaki
Tokyo Musashino United (Since the 2019-2020 season).
Tennis
[edit]Male players (active)
[edit]Pedro Cachin
Sebastián Báez
Tomás Martín Etcheverry
Nick Kyrgios
Rinky Hijikata
Jurij Rodionov
João Fonseca
Zizou Bergs
Denis Shapovalov
Alejandro Tabilo
Tomáš Macháč
Jaume Munar
Harri Heliövaara
Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Daniel Altmaier
Billy Harris
Márton Fucsovics
Sumit Nagal
Luca Nardi
Luciano Darderi
Yoshihito Nishioka
Chung Hyeon
Kwon Soon-woo
Ričardas Berankis
Radu Albot
Casper Ruud
Hubert Hurkacz
Jan Zieliński
Kamil Majchrzak
Lloyd Harris
Stan Wawrinka
Ben Shelton
Brandon Nakashima
Denis Kudla
Frances Tiafoe
Marcos Giron
Tommy Paul
Female players (active)
[edit]María Lourdes Carlé
Daria Saville
Storm Hunter
Greet Minnen
Eugenie Bouchard
Gabriela Dabrowski
Wang Yafan
Wang Xiyu
Zhu Lin
Donna Vekić
Linda Nosková
Marie Bouzková
Markéta Vondroušová
Clara Tauson
Aliona Bolsova
Caroline Garcia
Fiona Ferro
Varvara Gracheva
Eva Lys
Laura Siegemund
Sabine Lisicki
Tamara Korpatsch
Tatjana Maria
Harriet Dart
Katie Swan
Anna Bondár
Tímea Babos
Ankita Raina
Jasmine Paolini
Ena Shibahara
Nao Hibino
Naomi Osaka
Elena Rybakina
Lulu Sun
Magda Linette
Ana Bogdan
Elena-Gabriela Ruse
Sorana Cîrstea
Alina Korneeva
Diana Shnaider
Kamilla Rakhimova
Olga Danilović
Rebecca Šramková
Viktória Hrunčáková
Kaja Juvan
Tamara Zidanšek
Mirjam Björklund
Belinda Bencic
Hsieh Su-wei
Anhelina Kalinina
Dayana Yastremska
Bernarda Pera
Emma Navarro
Jessica Pegula
Taylor Townsend
Former players
[edit]David Nalbandian
Lleyton Hewitt
Natasha Zvereva
Magdalena Maleeva
Marcelo Ríos
Zheng Jie
Iva Majoli
Nicole Vaidišová
Andres Gomez
Sergi Bruguera
María José Martínez Sánchez
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Mary Pierce
Angelique Kerber
Annika Beck
Anke Huber
Elena Baltacha
Richard Krajicek
Elena Dementieva
Maria Kirilenko
Anna Kournikova
Ana Ivanovic
Martina Hingis
Daniela Hantuchová
Magdaléna Rybáriková
Paradorn Srichaphan
Martina Navratilova
Monica Seles
Badminton Advisory Staff
[edit]Badminton National Team Advisory
[edit]Male players
[edit]Lin Dan
Chou Tien-chen
Lee Yang
Wang Chi-lin
Viktor Axelsen
Peter Gade
Chris Adcock
Marcus Ellis
Thom Gicquel
Mark Lamsfuß
Lee Cheuk Yiu
Tang Chun Man
B. Sai Praneeth
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
Chirag Shetty
Fajar Alfian
Muhammad Rian Ardianto
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
Taufik Hidayat
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo
Hiroyuki Endo
Takeshi Kamura
Kento Momota
Keigo Sonoda
Kanta Tsuneyama
Lee Chong Wei
Choi Sol-gyu
Lee Yong-dae
Seo Seung-jae
Yoo Yeon-seong
Dechapol Puavaranukroh
Kantaphon Wangcharoen
Female players
[edit]Michelle Li
Gabby Adcock
Lauren Smith
Tse Ying Suet
Saina Nehwal
Yuki Fukushima
Arisa Higashino
Sayaka Hirota
Mayu Matsumoto
Nami Matsuyama
Wakana Nagahara
Aya Ohori
Chiharu Shida
Sayaka Takahashi
Akane Yamaguchi
An Se-young
Chae Yoo-jung
Chang Ye-na
Kim Ga-eun
Kim So-yeong
Kim Hye-rin
Kong Hee-yong
Lee So-hee
Shin Seung-chan
Sung Ji-hyun
Ratchanok Intanon
Busanan Ongbamrungphan
Sapsiree Taerattanachai
Beiwen Zhang
Controversy
[edit]- Yonex signed a contract with the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association regarding national team jersey sponsorship in 2014. However, Yonex would often send players clothing and shoes to wear a few days before major tournaments, with the shoes unfit for players, as players had blisters and bruises from playing in them.[8]
- In May 2016, Yonex acted in a way that was ultra vires when criticizing the Taiwan national team players who had violated the dress code. Yonex sent official documents to the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association threatening to sue the national team head coaches if the Association did not provide a reasonable answer.[9]
- During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Yonex provided unfit shoes to non-contract badminton player Tai Tzu-ying. This forced Tai to wear other shoes made by her personal sponsor brand, Victor, without any logo. This event caused a controversy as the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association was going to punish Tai based on Yonex's pressing. [10][11]
- After the Tai incident, five other badminton players found themselves in the same situation and were punished. For example, Yonex was dissatisfied that badminton player Liao Kuan-hao used his personal sponsor racquet and as a result Yonex asked the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association to fine Liao and force him to be suspended for six months.[12] In August 2016, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association held a board meeting to resolve the situation. The meeting resulted in three key decisions: no punishment will be enforced on the “player”; to accept the resignation of Chairman Tsai Hung-peng for the controversy; to remove the word “Shoes” and “Racquets” from the contract with Yonex. [13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Directors & Officers". Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- ^ a b "Yonex Official Website". Yonex group. Retrieved 11 Aug 2020.
- ^ Company profile
- ^ tournamentsoftware.com: Tournaments of the BWF
- ^ World championships on tournamentsoftware.com
- ^ "Badminton Star becomes UNICEF Ambassador". badminton information.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ yonex.com: Featured players
- ^ "戴資穎4聲明談球鞋 為符規定打到腳底流血". 台灣蘋果日報. 2016-08-17.
- ^ "YONEX施壓羽協公文曝光 「對選手教練最懲厲處份」 | 即時新聞 | 20160818 | 蘋果日報" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ^ RIO 2016: Badminton quarrel prompts outrage
- ^ Top badminton player Tai Tzu-ying stands by her actions in shoe row
- ^ Worse than Tai, Liao had been fined NT$300,000, and suspended for six months
- ^ "羽協理事長鞠躬道歉 戴資穎不懲處、不禁賽 | 即時新聞 | 20160823 | 蘋果日報". 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2017-08-03.
External links
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Sportswear brands
- Japanese brands
- Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo
- Sporting goods manufacturers of Japan
- Shoe companies of Japan
- Badminton equipment manufacturers
- Golf equipment manufacturers
- Tennis equipment manufacturers
- Cycle manufacturers of Japan
- Manufacturing companies established in 1946
- 1946 establishments in Japan
- Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange