Japan Open 2018

[ping fun]

I say Harimoto should retire. He is doing worse and worse these days.

There he is . I guess after zjk , xu xin and timo boll its time to malong to retire lol

 

[jawien]

where is carl ???? He should have been here ....

Ha ha ... just check Carl's signature, and you'll know ...
; )

 

[ttmonster]

I don't understand why you guys are arguing against such useless arguments ... there will always be some who will try to find fault in every achievement if the person in question is not their absolute hero ... plus its a game ... harimoto winning today does not guarantee from here on he will win ever match against Ma Long , and when he loses, these same people will come and say see I told you that Japan open match was a fluke ... so don't bother ...

people like this and people who just take up an extreme position just because their predictions did not match are just egomaniacs who want to prove they are right on everything even when they were obviously wrong , no point in arguing with such people ... just enjoy the current situation in Japan open .. its a lot of fun ... I hope Mima Ito wins her semi final too ...

infact when ZJK was almost losing yesterday, in my fantasy I was wondering, what happens if but some chance , he comes back and wins this one and ML loses to HT ... and I never thought either of them was possible after seeing how ML was able to stop FZD with his short game and tactics , but I guess such tactics work on more familiar players ... but just enjoy this situation ... its so so much fun ... now nobody knows whats going to happen in the rest of the tournaments ... its one of those rare tournaments, certainly there won't be a CNT vs CNT in the final , which is exciting !!

I still don’t buy it. Harimoto would have put thousands of hours of practice in with the celluloid ball as he was growing up. It is these hours that have formed the foundations of his game? I just don’t buy that the ball had any sort of impact. None whatsoever.


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[jawien]

I still don’t buy it. Harimoto would have put thousands of hours of practice in with the celluloid ball as he was growing up. It is these hours that have formed the foundations of his game? I just don’t buy that the ball had any sort of impact. None whatsoever.

I assume you played with those two kinds of balls. I know a coach, a friend of mine who stopped playing (competition level) after the introduction of poly (specially these first types, not even abs). Change is quite noticeable (for me at least too) and it's not too hard to imagine that different styles benefits or suffer more because of this.

 

[jawien]

I don't understand why you guys are arguing against such useless arguments ... there will always be some who will try to find fault in every achievement if the person in question is not their absolute hero ... plus its a game ... harimoto winning today does not guarantee from here on he will win ever match against Ma Long , and when he loses, these same people will come and say see I told you that Japan open match was a fluke ... so don't bother ...

people like this and people who just take up an extreme position just because their predictions did not match are just egomaniacs who want to prove they are right on everything even when they were obviously wrong , no point in arguing with such people ... just enjoy the current situation in Japan open .. its a lot of fun ... I hope Mima Ito wins her semi final too ...

The thing which is really "not my absolute hero" is the poly ball - sorry, and I just tried to look on the match from this perspective.
As to the rest I agree, Harimoto's result is unique! Japan must be proud.

 

[RidTheKid]

Coming from a huge ML fan (me): The ball certainly didn't decide the match between ML and TH, that's ridiculous. ML wasn't on top of his game mentally and TH was quite fired up.

One can't take anything away from Harimoto, he's a genuine talent. Having said that I still believe that ML will figure TH out and end up with plus wins against him when he retires.

I really liked how TH found the corners with both his bh and fh, really stretching ML out and disrupting the control game that ML likes.

I assume you played with those two kinds of balls. I know a coach, a friend of mine who stopped playing (competition level) after the introduction of poly (specially these first types, not even abs). Change is quite noticeable (for me at least too) and it's not too hard to imagine that different styles benefits or suffer more because of this.

 

[drunix80]

Ma Long lost mainly because he did not have acquaintance with HM's game. For example could not pick up his serve ( just like ZJK ). He did not have plan B , C and D like he has for most of the other guys. Speed is not a big factor because CNT has many players of equal or faster speeds - FZD , LGY etc. Ball is of course not a major factor . ML has won many with the same ball.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

I think ML was far from his best in that match as well, but hats off to HT to take advantage of it.
Now in their next encounter, ML won't want to lose twice in a row, so it will be very very interesting. If he leads 3-0 again, HT won't choke next time either, I believe !

 

[drunix80]

Anyway I will be rooting for the 'underdog' ZJK tomorrow. I just hope against hope he makes the final and gets to take revenge against HM or LSS.

 

[jawien]

Coming from a huge ML fan (me): The ball certainly didn't decide the match between ML and TH, that's ridiculous. ML wasn't on top of his game mentally and TH was quite fired up.

"certainly didn't decide" ... cell and plastic are two different eras, who knows ..

 

[ChrisWhite]

I can't believe Harimoto beat Ma Long... He has millisecond reflexes and pinpoint precision. And he is only 14. How strong will he be when he will be in his prime? Amazing times we live in.

 

[RidTheKid]

All competitions have used plastic balls since 2014 so how could the ball have anything to do with ML losing today? Knowing ML's work ethic he probably have more practice hours than anyone with every ball that exists. ML will start the next match against TH in much more dominant style. Today he didn't plan to be having these troubles the way he did.

"certainly didn't decide" ... cell and plastic are two different eras, who knows ..

 

[RidTheKid]

How strong he will become also comes down to how good his opponents are. His potential is insane. But I really don't like his fh, it looks clunky and hurts my eyes looking at it. The bh is another story, effortless, almost like Jikes.

I can't believe Harimoto beat Ma Long... He has millisecond reflexes and pinpoint precision. And he is only 14. How strong will he be when he will be in his prime? Amazing times we live in.

 

[Suga D]

.... and gets to take revenge against HM or LSS.

Isn't it HT vs LSS??
Who is HM? New player with a wildcard replacing HT??
What has happened to HT then? Could it be that he read carl's suggestion and retired??
Questions after questions...
[Emoji12]

 

[Shifu]

All competitions have used plastic balls since 2014 so how could the ball have anything to do with ML losing today? Knowing ML's work ethic he probably have more practice hours than anyone with every ball that exists. ML will start the next match against TH in much more dominant style. Today he didn't plan to be having these troubles the way he did.

there is a massive difference between ABS and CA, surely you must notice that? I don’t say that’s the only reason but I am sure it has an impact on results.

 

[jawien]

All competitions have used plastic balls since 2014 so how could the ball have anything to do with ML losing today? Knowing ML's work ethic he probably have more practice hours than anyone with every ball that exists. ML will start the next match against TH in much more dominant style. Today he didn't plan to be having these troubles the way he did.

2014/15 season to be precise (in our amateur leagues my team was living in a blissful ignorance till last year) ... well you have a good point, but still ML's game developed and matured during the cell era, and as I initially said his powerful spin game would be a greater obstacle for Hari for sure, specially considering their styles.

 

[shinshiro]

Isn't it HT vs LSS??
Who is HM? New player with a wildcard replacing HT??
What has happened to HT then? Could it be that he read carl's suggestion and retired??
Questions after questions...
[Emoji12]

Yeah, we should standardize Tomokazu Harimoto abbreviation LOL
TH / HT / HM
Three ways to refer to the same player is not good hahaha

 

[jawien]

I.e. I'm pretty sure Tomo - with full respect to this amazing kid - wouldn't be able to play fh to fh counters so easily.

 

[TTRockz]

 

[drunix80]

I.e. I'm pretty sure Tomo - with full respect to this amazing kid - wouldn't be able to play fh to fh counters so easily.

His game is to slap the ball hard if he is drawn out backwards. Thats it. No FH to FH counters for him.