People :
Soft-ball tennis club captain
Mr. Shinji Mouri

Mr. Shinji Mouri He was born in Ehime prefecture, in 1984. He graduated from Okayama University of Science High School, and is now senior in the School of Human Sciences. He belongs to Professor Junichi Okada’s seminar. His hobby is watching movies.

In the division of the general adults of last year’s East Japan Championship, Mr. Mouri defeated the best players, including the all-Japan champion, and won the first prize in doubles. His position is that of forward, the position that holds the key to the matches. In the last year’s intercollegiate games, he advanced to the finals but was defeated by a narrow margin, and tears fell from his large and impressive eyes. He says, “I deeply regretted the weakness which caused me to lose in spite of the winning mood I was in.” It was a memorable match which burned into his mind. This year’s intercollegiate games, the last games for him as a senior, is “the one that I think of as the culmination of what I’ve done till now. There will be nothing if I can’t take first place.”

As a captain, he shows a strong sense of responsibility, saying “I make it a point to go to the court as frequently as I can. Members differ between those who come to practice in the morning and those who come in the afternoon, so I want to take a overall look at the team's practice.” His appearance in the court makes lazy players dedicate themselves to the practice. Is it the captain’s aura that makes them stand up straight in his presence? “I think maybe I’m projecting the message ‘Do your best!!’ I am the type of person whose feelings can be easily seem in my facial expression or attitude.” He is conscious of a lack of calmness which makes him unable to concentrate and play his best once he gets frustrated in a match or practice, but recently he’s gotten better at controlling his mentality. Previously, he was preoccupied with aggressive play, but nowadays he focuses on moves that could decide the outcome of a match. His mentality and skill are so sophisticated that one member of the club says “He has changed greatly in three years and I think seniors will be amazed when they see him.”

“Unlike hard-ball tennis, doubles is dominant in soft-ball tennis. It's not enough just to do your best by yourself. Teamwork is also important and tactics are interesting.” He started soft tennis in 5th grader of primary school, and has devoted himself to it since that time. Though he took it up without much thought, he played in prefectural tournaments for juniors as a primary school boy and placed third in the national tournament as a third-year student in junior high school. He was admitted into both high school and university because his past records of soft tennis were appreciated.

“I’m not good at interviews," he says playfully clowning around, and he gets nervous when trying to choose his words seriously. Even so, he asserted “I’m the person who achieves what has to be done!!’ The stage of his good performance is definitely in the court!!