Duora 88
Model DUO-88
Price history
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Duora 88: the stiff, Taiwan-made export Duora that Yonex Japan never listed
The offensive model of the export range
For its first months the Duora series was a single racquet, the Duora 10 of September 2015. By late February 2016 Yonex USA’s Duora page listed four: the 10, the 7, and two models Yonex Japan never carried, the 88 and the 77. Yonex UK’s 2016 catalog gave each a role. The 10 was the advanced model for hard hitters and the 7 an all-round model, both made in Japan. The 77 was all-round too, adding power on the forehand and distance on the backhand. The 88 was the offensive model, meant to increase power on the forehand and speed on the backhand. It was rated stiff where the 77 was medium, it came in one weight, 3U, and it was made in Taiwan. Its shaft says so plainly: one face reads “Developed by YONEX Japan / made in Taiwan.”
Two faces, simpler materials
Every Duora carries Yonex’s Dual Optimum System, two head profiles in one frame. On the 88, as on its siblings, a box-shaped forehand face was meant for power and a solid feel, and an aero-shaped backhand face for sharp, quick returns with less air resistance. What separates the 88 from the Duora 10 is the material list. Yonex gives its frame as H.M. Graphite with Nanometric (Nanometric β on the US page) and Super HMG, and its shaft as plain H.M. Graphite. The 10 had Nanometric DR, which Yonex built on a Toray aerospace material, and nickel-titanium fiber; the 7 had an IC Elastomer layer. The 88’s technology list is the Duora core: Aero+Box frame, Isometric head, built-in T-joint and Control Support Cap. The frame is 10 mm longer than standard, Yonex rates it stiff and recommends 19–26 lb for the 3U, and the shaft carries Yonex’s own balance word, “EVEN BALANCE.”
No named player
Yonex named no player for the 88, and no documented Yonex equipment report lists one on it. Lee Chong Wei’s name does appear on its product page, in a quote about pushing faster at the net with forehand and backhand alike. The quote sits under the page’s series overview, the text Yonex used for the Duora line as a whole. Yonex tied Lee to the Duora 10, which it introduced in August 2015 as his weapon of choice, and to the LCW editions built on it, not to the 88.
Two color names, one documented finish
Yonex’s own color names for the 88 differ. Its UK 2016 catalog lists White/Lime Yellow. Yonex USA’s page, which carried the 88 from 2016 to 2020, and Yonex UK’s product page of 2019 both say Yellow/Blue. Photographs of a China-market example, sold with a Yonex (Shanghai) certificate, show a navy frame with lime-yellow graphics on one face and white on the other, which fits both names. Yonex named the Duora 10’s launch colors after the two shades that mark its faces, so the catalog name may describe the faces and the later one the frame. No Yonex source says so, and no second standard finish is documented. UK retail listings also offered a Pink/Sax 88 that no Yonex page lists. Yonex made no player or limited edition of the 88; the Frosty Blue LCW edition in that export range is a Duora 77.
Four years in some markets
The 88’s run depended on the market. Yonex USA listed it from February 2016 and still showed it in its nine-model Duora range in June 2020. Other Yonex ranges dropped it sooner or never carried it. Yonex Poland’s 2017 catalog pictured the Z-Strike, 10, 7, 6, 77 and 55 but not the 88, and Yonex’s 2019 catalog pictured the Z-Strike, 10, 10 LT, 8 XP, 7 and 6; both name DUO88 only in their stringing instructions. Yonex Japan’s Duora lineups of 2017 and 2018 never included it, and by September 2020 Yonex’s new global site listed the 77 but not the 88. No verified sales of the Duora 88 are recorded yet.
Fakes and mismatches
No counterfeit report specific to the Duora 88 has been found, and Yonex published no guide for the model. The useful checks are about consistency. The 88 was made in Taiwan, so a Japan marking points to a Duora 10 or 7. It came only in 3U, so a 4U or 2U label doesn’t match any Yonex listing. And it is stiff, unlike the medium-flex Duora 77, which shares its Taiwan origin, its 3U weight and its shaft wording, so the model name on the shaft matters. The black Duora 99 (DUO99), first documented in 2019, is also stiff, Taiwan-made and 3U, with titanium mesh added to the frame; it has its own page. Readers searching for its “max tension” should know that Yonex publishes a recommended range, 19–26 lb for the 3U, not a maximum; a higher figure on a retail page is the retailer’s own.
A short branch of the Duora family
The Duora series grew around the 88 and then past it. Yonex added the Z-Strike in 2017 and the 8 XP and 10 LT in 2018, and Yonex’s international Duora list added the 55 in 2017 and the 9 and 33 in 2018; the 55 and 33 have their own pages. In early 2022 Yonex told UK coach Paul Stewart that the Duora range was being withdrawn, and today only the Z-Strike remains on Yonex’s global Duora page. The 88’s place in the story is as the stiff, offensive half of the Taiwan-made pair that arrived when the Duora grew from one racquet to four in early 2016. It has no player story; what it offers a collector is a documented place in that lineup.
Yonex’s item code is DUO88 (DUO88EX on China-market certificates, which say the production date is recorded on the cone). Yonex listed only 3U (average 88 g), with G4 or G5 grips, and rated it stiff. The shaft is printed “Developed by YONEX Japan / made in Taiwan” on one face and “HIGH MODULUS GRAPHITE / SLIM SHAFT / EVEN BALANCE / LONG SIZE” on the other, beside the DUORA 88 logo, and the frame is 10 mm longer than standard. Run a finger around the head: one face should have a squared box profile and the other a slimmer aero profile. The documented finish is a navy frame with lime-yellow and white graphics. A Japan-made marking means a Duora 10 or 7, and a medium flex rating means a Duora 77. Yonex’s own test is the hologram sticker, which resists lifting on a genuine racquet.
The Duora 88 is a modest piece: an export-market, Taiwan-made Duora sold for about four years, with no player edition and no tour record. Buy on condition and identity. Ask for daylight photographs of both head profiles, the shaft prints and the cone, confirm the 3U marking and the DUORA 88 name, and look for cracks and repainting. For stringing, Yonex recommends 19–26 lb.