From humble beginnings to the current queen of Japan TT.  Well done, HH.

張本智和５年ぶりシングルス制覇ならず　悔やむ１本のサーブ「決断が間違�£ていた」…卓球全日本
https://hochi.news/articles/20230129-OHT1T51174.html?page=1

The one player who has not really been talked about much is Kihara.  Granted she had the easiest draw and did not have to face Ito in her half.  However, she looks to be physically noticeably stronger than before.  And getting the 1st 2 games from Hayata is no joke.  She's currently positioned at the #2 spot ahead of Hirano by 22 pts, but Hirano will get an Asian Games boost later in the year, probably 20 points.  Competition for that 2nd spot will be extremely tough especially between Kihara and Hirano because if Ito does not get the 2nd spot, she'll most likely get the 3rd spot due to her pairing with Hayata in doubles.

There is a problem if they use the Zennihon Takkyu 2023 final standings to seed the draw, namely 9 Nagasaki/10 Kato/11 Odo/12 Harimoto. Among Nagasaki, Kato, and Odo, one of them must be placed in the lower half, which violates the separation. Same issue for 13 Ito/14 Minagawa/15 Hashimoto/16 Ando. Among Ito, Minagawa, and Ando, one of them must be placed in the upper half.

Based on final standings at Zennihon Takkyu 2023


http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91479&PID=1137307

zeio wrote: Based on final standings at Zennoh Cup Funabashi It's not explicitly stated but I suppose the final standings at Zennihon Takkyu 2023 will be used to seed Zennihon Takkyu 2024. That means Ishikawa will likely play the role of final boss.

http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91479&PID=1130033

zeio wrote: Regarding the draw, JTTA does it a little differently, 5/6 and 7/8 instead of 5/6/7/8, 9-12 and 13-16 instead of 9-16 and then 17-24. Well, a picture speaks a thousand words. 2022 LION CUP TOP32 https://youtu.be/V3SZ2iY0UJ4?t=2114

Based on final standings at Zennihon Takkyu 2022

Namba lost to Odo but she had to draw among 5[9], [10]28, [11]21, and 12[12].
Hirano lost to Sato and so she only had to draw between [11]21 and [10]28.
Ishikawa lost to Kato and so was drawn to [10]28.
Mori lost to Kihara and so was drawn to 5[9].
Hashimoto lost to Hayata and so she only had to draw between 4[16] and 13[13].
Ando lost to Kimura and so was drawn to 4[16].
Shibata lost to Ito and so she only had to draw between [14]20 and [15]29.
Nomura lost to Nagasaki and so was drawn to [14]20.

Edited by zeio - 02/13/2023 at 10:51am

I suppose anything can happen, but I'm operating under the belief that they'll use the Zennoh Funabashi results to see Paris 2024 Trial #4.  I can understand why they used the 2022 All Japan to seed Paris #1. It was the 1st trial so they needed something to start off the seeding and why not the most recent at the time domestic tournament where all the best players are playing.  Now that the race is well under way, it makes sense to seed the next Paris tournament from the previous Paris tournament.

Edited by pongfugrasshopper - 02/03/2023 at 10:08am

FWIW, Mima is really struggling going into next week's WTT Contender.  She lost the 1 game victory match against Cheng I-Ching in T-League and took it really hard:

Murakami gives his reasoning on fielding Ito for the victory match. Needless to say, ITO Jyota has a word as well...

https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2023/02/04/0016021891.shtml
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/561e51b7b392e7f1c0bfecd203b512c7e17a7662

伊藤はシングルスで�£覇が懸か�£ていた全日本選手権でまさかの６回戦（１６強）で敗退し、涙を浮かべていた。１週間を経て再スタートとな�£たが、Ｔリーグではチームを勝利に導けず悔し�£き。早田やチーム関係者から慰められた。 　日本生命の村上恭和総�£�£は「ダブルスが最も重要で、早田と�£�で勝�£て後のシングルスにつなげる想定だ�£たが、ここを落としたのが最終的に敗戦につなが�£た」と誤算を語�£た。最後ビクトリーマッチを落とした伊藤については「過去の対戦成績は伊藤の方が上回�£ていたが、相手は第４試合を快勝して体温ま�£ていて、あとネットインも４回くらいあ�£た。不運の負けだと思�£て、仕方ない、仕方ないと�£�がけをした」とおもんぱかり、「（ビクトリーマッチ出場者は）負ければ責任を感じるし、勝てばチームを勝ちに導いたという喜びの両面がある。それはどのスポーツにもある宿命」と語�£た。 　Ｔリーグは今シーズンから２４年パリ五輪�£表選考ポイントが付与され、今�£は１勝＝１点、ビクトリーマッチ１勝＝０・５点。前週の全日本選手権を終えた時点で早田が首位を独走しており、伊藤は４番手とな�£ている。プレーオフもポイント対象となるだけに、シーズン残り５試合で浮上を狙う。

Ｔリーグ４�£覇中の日本生命、プレーオフ争いへ痛い黒星　伊藤美誠は涙
https://hochi.news/articles/20230204-OHT1T51157.html?page=1
Ｔリーグ・トップ名古屋、初のプレーオフへ大きな１勝　鄭怡静が伊藤美誠を破る
https://hochi.news/articles/20230204-OHT1T51216.html?page=1

Edited by zeio - 02/05/2023 at 1:47am

Down but not out.  Mima Ito gets back on her feet earlier today with a convincing 3-0 win over Shibata in TLeague earlier today:

Togami's interview with TAKAGI Mina. Togami says match-up is part of the reason behind his win over Harimoto and he still can't perform at will against CNT players, revealing that his head was blank when playing FZD and WCQ at WTTC 2022.

https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/856366?page=2

中国勢との対戦「頭が真�£白にな�£た」 ... 　男子中国のエースで世界ランキング1位の樊振東と次期エースの呼び�£�高い王楚欽を張本が撃破した一方、戸上はその2人から1ゲームも奪えずストレート負け。デュースで競�£た惜しいゲームもあ�£たが、張本に比べて「自分は大事な場面で余�£�がなくなり頭が真�£白にな�£て、中国戦ではなかなか1本が取れなか�£た」と肩を落とした。 　この苦い経験と悔しさは戸上の頭から離れない。 　パリ五輪でもメダル獲得には必ず中国が�£�になる。戸上の脳�£�に焼きついた対中国の意識は、「海外で勝てる選手がオリンピックで通用する選手」と語�£た全日本選手権の優勝会見の言葉にも滲み出ていた。 ... 海外武者修行で�£�いた「意外性」 ... 「ゲームポイントを取�£た時に全て自分のサーブからの展開だ�£た。サーブの工夫だ�£たり（サーブから）3球目の待ちだ�£たり悔やまれるところは多い」と張本。 　対する戸上は球質やピッチの速さが合い、サーブ・レシーブからも先手を取りやすい張本との対戦は「相性的にも良い。自分に分がある」としながらも、「相手が中国人選手とな�£た時はまだ（張本選手のように）実力が発揮できない」と冷静に自己分析した。

That would explain why Ito "opted" for WTT CT Amman. She had no choice.

WTT CT Amman
https://jtta.or.jp/tour/10769
WTT SCT Goa
https://jtta.or.jp/tour/10929

Edited by zeio - 02/08/2023 at 4:48am

ITTF Successful Visits Reinforces Commitment to Table Tennis Growth in Japan
https://www.ittf.com/2023/02/02/ittf-successful-visits-reinforces-commitment-table-tennis-growth-japan/

Given CIC lost to Fan Siqi at WTT CT Doha 2023, if Kuai Man can play like she does at home, then CIC has no chance. In other words, it depends on Kuai Man and not CIC.

The last time CIC beat a CNT player goes back to Hong Kong Open 2019, where she beat HZJ 4-3 in R16.

Tieba users are totally ignoring CIC...
https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8223244878
https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8251229290

Edited by zeio - 02/08/2023 at 11:54am

Seriously. CIC is roughly the same level as DHK now. Look how DHK played Kuai Man.

Look up who Kuai Man lost to in 2022 and 2023 and you will see a pattern of players/styles she has trouble with.

Kuai Man plays well against the most common style.

WTT CT Muscat 2/2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGLZt-uGFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy-N5ka-_BE

WTT CT Doha 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4RzrlK7eUY

Edited by zeio - 02/08/2023 at 12:33pm

Matsuzaki's name is there for WTT CT Amman.

zeio wrote: Matsuzaki's name is there for WTT CT Amman.

LIVE! | T1 | Day 1 | WTT Contender Amman 2023 | Session 1