Yonex

Yonex Co., Ltd. (ヨネックス株式会社, Yonekkusu Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 7906) is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and appareal for tennis, badminton, golf, and running.[1]

Yonex Co., Ltd.
Public
Traded asTYO: 7906
ISINJP3960000002 
IndustrySports equipment
Founded1946 (1946) (incorporated in 1958)
FounderMinoru Yoneyama
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ben Yoneyama, Chairman
Kusaki Hayashida , President
ProductsRackets, tennis balls, shuttlecocks, golf clubs, athletic shoes, apparel, bags, accessories
¥2,227 million (2015)
Subsidiaries'Yonex Corporation', 'Yonex UK Ltd.', 'Yonex GmbH', 'Yonex Taiwan Co., Ltd.', 'Yonex Canada Ltd.', 'Yonex Golf China Co., LTD'
Websiteyonex.com

Its range of products manufactured and commercialised includes equipment for badminton and tennis (rackets, shuttlecocks, balls, bags), and golf (clubs, bags). Yonex also produces athletic shoes and a wide line of apparel that includes t-shirts, jackets, skirts, shorts, hoodies, leggins, and hat.[1]

History

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 aluminum 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.

Yonex advertising banners at the 2013 badminton French Open

Finding a growing market, the Yonex Corporation (a wholly owned subsidiary) was established in Torrance, California 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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] Upwards of 80% of competitive players use their racquets, as it is the preferred choice amongst professionals.[5] Yonex is significant in the tennis and golf industries as well and is a major sponsor of professional athletes in all three sports.[6]

Sponsorships

Yonex supplies official materials for the following leagues, athletes, teams, or associations:

Olympic Committees

Football

Club teams

Tennis

Male players (active)

Female players (active)

Former players

Badminton Advisory Staff

Male players

Female players

Controversy

Yonex signed a contract with 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 on from playing.[7]

In May 2016, Yonex was ultra vires to criticize the Taiwan national team players who have violated the dress code. Yonex sent official documents to the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association threatening to sue the Taiwan national team head coaches if the Association could not provide a reasonable answer.[8]

During the period of 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 due to Chinese Taipei Badminton Association is going to punish Tai based on Yonex's pressing. [9] [10]

After Tai's incident outbreak, there are other five badminton players caught in the same situation and got punished. For example, Yonex was dissatisfied that badminton player Liao Kuan-Hao used his personal sponsor bat and then Yonex was ultra vires to ask Chinese Taipei Badminton Association to fine Liao and force him be suspended for six months.[11]

In August 2016, the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association held a board meeting to resolve the situation. The meeting resulted in 3 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 between Yonex. [12]

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References
  1. "Yonex Official Website". Yonex group. Retrieved 11 Aug 2020.
  2. Company profile
  3. tournamentsoftware.com: Tournaments of the BWF
  4. World championships on tournamentsoftware.com
  5. "Badminton Star becomes UNICEF Ambassador". badminton information.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  6. yonex.com: Featured players
  7. "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.
  8. "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). Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  9. RIO 2016: Badminton quarrel prompts outrage
  10. Top badminton player Tai Tzu-ying stands by her actions in shoe row
  11. Worse than Tai, Liao had been fined NT$300,000, and suspended for six months
  12. "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). Retrieved 2017-08-03.
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