WTT Contender Tunis 2022, 8/1-6

ZR didn’t look happy?

kakapo wrote: Harimoto Miwa still has 102 days for trying to break Ito Mima's performance when she won the German open (14 years and 153 days).  She will have a few opportunities to do it in the next 3 months: today in Tunis, in Olomouc, probably Muscat, Almaty, Novo Gorica Regarding the doubles, Ito's record is out of reach for a long time IMO.

Disappointed in singles, but Tomo really made up for it in doubles. He was especially good in the Men's Doubles both with the BH flick receives and had some FH winners as well.

pongfugrasshopper wrote: I could be wrong, but it looked like a bit of gamesmanship by ZR.  In one of the deuce in the 7th points, Harimoto crouching down to serve, ZR suddenly raises her hand and looks at the umpire as if to slow down Miwa.  In any case, Miwa has a ton of fight in her.  Her forehand was a bit inconsistent at the end, but there's a lot to get excited about in the near future.

personally, i like the pictures 

Wow at Miwa! Couldn't believe she actually almost came back from 7-10 but I think the spin variations from the pips destroyed her rhythm at the end causing those unforced errors. 

pongfugrasshopper wrote: pongfugrasshopper wrote: I could be wrong, but it looked like a bit of gamesmanship by ZR.  In one of the deuce in the 7th points, Harimoto crouching down to serve, ZR suddenly raises her hand and looks at the umpire as if to slow down Miwa.  In any case, Miwa has a ton of fight in her.  Her forehand was a bit inconsistent at the end, but there's a lot to get excited about in the near future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZqXf2Mzw0g&t=5146s

It's part of the game.

Harimoto didn't seem to mind it as she applauded for ZR(to Tieba users' delight) during the award ceremony. And according to one Tieba post, Harimoto even told ZR that she was amazing. Harimoto further congratulated ZR on her instagram, saying "she will beat her before she retires—rather, next time."

https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7963230991?pid=145008965147&cid=0#145008965147




Edited by zeio - Yesterday at 8:29am

LOL at the father, sister, brother interaction after the XD final.

https://youtu.be/3P2LyOeqDcQ?t=15181
Dad: (Fist bumps) Good daughter(a pat on the shoulder). You stubborn son! What did I tell you? FH, FH, FH...and you wouldn't have gotten yourself into a pickle.
Brother: FH? Swinging like this?
Dad: Yes, yes, like your sister there. She's going to become the Perfect Harimoto. Listen, Miwa, don't become like your brother. You're gonna be the Harimoto Dream from now on! Reflect on your yourself, you stubborn son! FH, FH, FH...
Brother: (Picks up his racket case) Nah, 反手才是王道, otousan(BH is the Kingly Way, dad!)[Ironically, 王道 in Japanese can also mean shortcut] Look how many points I won with my BH, swinging like this. BH, BH, BH...
Dad: Bull! FH is the way to go, you stubborn son!
Sister: I'm beat, dad.
Dad: Come here, I'll give you a massage. (Squeeze x 6) How is it now?
Sister: You suck, dad! (Ouch!)
Staff: Excuse me? Award ceremony now.

http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=91046&PID=1127361&title=the-end-of-the-harimoto-dream#1127361
https://www.butterfly.co.jp/takurepo/interview/detail/020956.html

お父さんともよくバックハンドの方が大事だねという話はしています。お父さんとは1、2年前くらいまではけんかというか、言い合いにな�£たりすることもありましたが、今はいい関係です。

I always tell my dad that the BH is more important. I used to bicker, even get into arguments with my dad 1 to 2 years ago, but now we are on good terms.

Edited by zeio - 19 hours 6 minutes ago at 3:07pm

kakapo wrote: zeio wrote: 1st senior singles title for Zhang Rui(3x U21 titles) after so many years. Sun Mingyang is so jealous. how many real chances did she have so far? I mean tournaments she played where there were no LSW, DN, ,ZYL, CM, WY, WMY, SYS, Cxt. She was originally destinated to be an Ito clone ( even if her SP use is obviously different) and like HZJ, she has managed having decent results

ZR started competing internationally in 2013, at 16. Didn't play in 2016 and 2021.

Her first senior event was China Open 2017, where she lost 1-4 to FTW in R32(2nd round of main draw). She also lost to Hamamoto in Grp, Maeda in U21 R16, and Yu Fu in Pre-R32. Against teammates, she beat WYD twice in R16(then lost to Gu Ruochen in QF) and U21 F and Chen Ke in U21 SF.

In 2018, she lost to Ito, CSY, and Shibata. Against teammates, she beat Sun Mingyang in U21 QF, and lost to CXT twice in R32(1st round) and QF, HZJ in U21 R16, WYD in U21 F, DN in R32(1st round), and Chen Ke in U21 SF.

In 2019, she lost to Sato in R32(1st round). Against teammates, she beat FSQ in SF at Universiade, and lost to LSW in R32(1st round), DN in R32(1st round), Liu Fei in Pre-R32, WYD twice in R16 and F at Universiade.

In 2020, she only lost to LSW in R16 and WYD in R32.

In 2022, she lost to Bernadette in R32, Kihara in QF, CSY in QF, and Hashimoto in R32. Against teammates, she beat Qi Fei in R64 and FSQ in QF, and lost to FSQ in F.

Given the above, she had her chances in 2017(2x U21 titles), the year before the World Ranking reform that forced top players to participate more often, but 2022 is really the year for her, benefiting from the PDR.

Watched Harimoto (Tomo not his sister) vs Alexis, I felt like Alexis kinda tricked Harimoto every single step of the way especially in terms of service and receive placement and spin. I don't think he will win against Harimoto the next time they play imo once Harimoto and his team analyse his patterns etc... 

Edited by blahness - 22 minutes ago at 9:51am