As demonstrated in that video, one of Mima's issues, which her opponents are exploiting more often, is her short legs/arms.  I remember watching Mima vs. Suthasani Sawetabutt at the 2021 WTTC and noticing over and over again that Suthasani was exploiting this by hitting the corners.  And again this was an issue with her match with Nagasaki.  She noted in her post Nagasaki match interview that she felt like she couldn't move thus unable to score points.

As for Miwa, all I can say is wow!  Despite the 0-4 score, each game was as close as can be with Miwa being up 10-6 in the 1st (need to work on her mental game).  Her development has been better than her brother's as it doesn't look like she's skipping anything.  Perhaps part of that is that girls develop at an earlier age.  But already, she beat Minami Ando who has a pretty decent record in T-League.  There's something about the Harimotos around that age 13/14 where they just explode in level so it'll be fun to keep an eye on her development this year.

HH has been the most stable of all of the Japanese women so I expect she'll be in Paris.  I'll also be watching if Miyu Nagasaki will fulfill her potential.  Very powerful player from both wings like HH.  Looks like her transition to being a Red Elf with HH has really helped her game :).

Glad you posted that point, zeio. I watched the match last night and it was a good one. Very close games with Miwa just not being able to convert. And that one point was amazing haha.

Japan's last Olympics selection process was obviously flawed, therefore they did not pick the best players.  They simply picked the highest ranked players to play in the last Olympics. That was insane. You pick your best players according to ability, not according to the Ittf ranking.

Possibly... at a minimum she has hit a plateau.  The Chinese have video analyzed her to death.  And her compatriots are aware of her weaknesses.  Shibata took her to 7 games before losing though to be fair Mima Ito beat her 4-0 straight at the All Japan.  And now she's been beaten by Nagasaki's wonderful play.  

It's pretty amazing she's even gotten where she has despite her physical size limitations and limitations of short pips.  I remember back in 2019 when she was going through a slump losing to CXT at both the Bulgarian and Czech Open.  The next tournament was in Paraguay and she elected to skip it.  Lots of netizens were criticizing for that since she was in a points race towards the Tokyo Olympics, but I fully understood it.  She needed to right the ship.  She was proven right by beating SYS and WMY at the Swedish Open before losing to CM.    

I've noticed she's limiting her serves by serving exclusively from the middle now.  I'm assuming she and her coach analyzed this to be most effective.  But I've always felt her service game was one of her best attributes, and I wonder if limiting the serve variations is the right decision.  Plus, I wanna see that scorpion serve again :).  Knowing that her opponents are keying on her physical limitations, she has to do a better job of anticipating this and be ready to move.  And before the bh-bh rallies get too spinny especially with the Chinese, she'll have to hit to the opposite corner or pivot to fh despite the risk.  Anyhow, I hope she can right the ship again.

Although I agree Ishikawa won't go down without a fight, I just don't see her being top 3 any longer.  She can get overpowered by HH, and as we saw at the All Japan, Miyu Kato did the same to her.  

Hirano does have mental problems, but I wouldn't count her out just yet.  She played exceptionally well at the 2021 WTTC taking CM to 7 games.  

I agree this will all be fascinating to watch as this tournament just goes to show how fiercely competitive the race to Paris 2024 will be as none of the current Tokyo Olympians made it to the semis.

Did we watch the same WTTC where Hayata was in Houston?

No, I am talking about the 2019 WTTC singles and doubles tourney in Budapest where Hayata should have been selected. The Japanese players selected at that tourney were Kasumi Ishikawa, Mima Ito, Miu Hirano, Hitomi Sato and Miyu Kato.

The last WTTC singles tourney in Budapest where Hayata should have been selected, instead Japan picked Hitomi Sato and Miyu Kato. 

It isn't the last WTTC, it was the 2019 WTTC.  And for this admittedly flawed process, let's remember that Hayata lost a direct matchup with Kato for the spot that could have changed her fate.

I should have said the last world table tennis singles championship.  Hayata had a better record than Kato at the time, especially against the Chinese. It was Definitely a bad selection. 

So 2021 WTTC wasn't the last WTTC singles championship... I give up...

2024 may be too soon for Harimito. 

I would say the 2026 WTTC.

NextLevel wrote: It might sound crazy to contemplate right now, but Ito might not make 2024.  Between Hayata, Nagasaki, Harimoto, and Kihara, there is enough competition.  Ito's biggest advantage is that it is only 2 years away.  But a lot can happen in 2 years.

There's also Haruna Ojio, Satsuki Odo, Sakura Yokoi... There is a ton of competition coming.

Let's have it!!! 

Sounds crazy.  

I don't think there's one best solution, but I can see the argument for having a round robin format to determine the strongest.  OTOH, the Olympics is single elimination and players have to deal with the added pressure.  So having multiple selection tournaments from now until the Olympics I think is pretty good.  That none of the Tokyo Olympians made it to the semi-finals is actually good because it illustrates the competition for making the Paris Olympic Team is fierce.  There are also interesting story lines.  Will the All Japan Champion, Mima Ito, even make the team?  Can Miyu Nagasaki sustain or surpass her current level in the next selection tournament?  Who will join Harimoto on the men's team?  ...Etc.  I did not, however, like the scheduling of this tournament being sandwiched in between T-League playoffs and Singapore Smash.

JTTA should make it a priority to get both Miyus into WTT events.  One reason is to get the experience.  Another is to get them into the top 50 so they would be automatically entered into the Grand Smash events.  WTT plans to have 4 Grand Smash events each year and the money can be pretty significant.  Here is the payout at the Singapore Smash :

Yes

Hina, Ito, the two Miyus, Harimoto are the Japanese core for the next decade. Kasumi and Hirano are surplus to requirement.

And no Miwa Harimoto at the Asian Games Trial either? SMH

Miu Hirano has decided not to renew with Nippon Life in T-League in order to focus on Paris 2024 (  https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/f5426ed2148f4ee45a68369261f9c8ca501bb9b5" rel="nofollow - https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/f5426ed2148f4ee45a68369261f9c8ca501bb9b5 ).  She says she wants to change her environment.  She's had a rough start to the year with getting Covid during the All Japan.  She was ousted by Kihara at the 1st Paris Selection Tournament.  But she's known as a hard worker so can't count her out.

Asian Games Qualifier starts in 8 days so double Miyu don't have much time to rest and prepare.

How were these players selected?  I assume Hayata and Harimoto are already in somehow and that Uda had no way to show his true level in all this?

pongfugrasshopper wrote: Catching up on video replay, I'm not surprised Hirano (new coach?) beat Ishikawa, but 4-0, 11-3 in the 4th?  And Ishikawa also loses to Sato 2-4.  Sato barely beats Yurika Nanba 4-3.  Poor Hashimoto, she just missed out on 2021 WTTC, and now she's in the same group as defense destroyer Mima Ito.

Rui Nakazawa is so good. His work with Kihara speaks for itself.

Yes, looks like Miu Hirano is making all the right moves.  Changed sponsors to Kinoshita Group (so I assume she'll be with Abyell along with Kihara and Ishikawa?).  Now seen coached by her former coach, Rui Nakazawa:

https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2022/04/09/0015206564.shtml" rel="nofollow - https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2022/04/09/0015206564.shtml

I assume Nakazawa is still coaching Kihara since he was with her during Doha.

We've got a long road ahead of us, but so far HH looking good to take 1 spot with the other 2 up for grabs. Kihara is really on the rise making a statement by beating Mima Ito. And now after a rough start to the year, Hirano takes a singles spot next to HH at the Asian Games.

Here's their match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrD8sfKv8N8&t=9870s" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrD8sfKv8N8&t=9870s

There was a staff change beginning of April. I see a EA staff coaching Kihara, and Nakasawa coaching Hirano with Kinoshita affiliation. 

The biggest problem is that this year is looking really poor for Senior Pro Tournaments..... just a few Feeder and Contender tournaments remaining on the event calendar.  After the Singapore Smash, there has not been any other Smash events scheduled, and there hasn't been a single WTT Champions tournament at all.  Hopefully, this changes; otherwise, this year is looking really bad except for the World Teams Championship.

For those observing this thread, zeio's post is a sampling of just the top 100 so some will not necessarily end up with the above rank.  It's where they would rank if only looking at the top 100.  For example, Zhu Yuling, who will end up with zero points, won't end up in the 90s.  Actually, I don't think she'll be ranked because it looks like you have to have at least 1 point.  Also, some currently out of the top 100 will jump into the top 100.  For example, Kuai Man is currently at 102 with with 746 points. Her Initial Points (136) will go away leaving her with 610 points so she should end up in the low 30s.  

It's now inline with what I have with the exception that I have Juan Liu tied with Liu Shiwen at 175 points.

I think given her more chances to participate in more events (damn Covid), Hayata definitely has more potential to grow! 

Not to discount Kasumi's past achievements, but her 2019 World Champion is Mixed Doubles WC - silver with Yoshimura.  More recently, HH is the 2021 Mixed Doubles World Champion - silver with Miwa's brother.  HH is also 2021 Women's Doubles WC - silver with Mima Ito.  Kasumi lost to HH at last year's WTT Contender Doha.  She also lost to HH at the 1st Paris Olympic Trials this year. TBH, HH has been really solid as of late.

She was also the T league MVP with the best winning percentage in the previous year.  She also achieved  first place  in this year's trial as well.

Apart from Ito, I don't think there is any japanese player better than Hina at the moment. You are welcome to prove me wrong. Maybe the 2 miyus would get close to her level in the near future.

Oh no!  Now I'm wondering if they'll postpone the ITTF World Teams Championships as well.

If going by number of titles, then Kasumi, who is 8 years older, definitely wins.  But in terms of recent performance, I really can't think of any measure that puts Kasumi ahead of HH.  I will give credit to Kasumi for playing HH exceptionally well at Top32 losing 9-11 in the 7th.  

BTW, by saying HH is better now, I don't want to disparage in any way Kasumi either professionally or personally. She's had a good career and is loved by table tennis fans throughout Japan and rightfully so.  She was on a tour in April promoting table tennis throughout all of Japan to young children.