https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/wtt-star-contender-doha-2024.32659/post-439692
We've already seen that happen many times in the Paris 2024 cycle (2021/8/15-). Ni Xia Lian, Doo Hoi Kem, Yuan Jia Nan, Szocs, Hirano, Samara, Han Ying and Kihara have all benefited from the bo5 format. The "deviation" is even more pronounced for the men. LSS scored his first win against FZD after 14 straight losses, 13 of which happened before this cycle. LSS got a total of 3 games out of the first 12 matches (10/2013-11/2019) and in this cycle he's already gotten 5 games out of 4 matches (4-12/2023). The fact that Hayata is (still) not part of that club after 2.42 years could be an indication that the way she had played thus far did not maximize her good luck, as suggested in the paper.
She finally got it.
Hayata on key to beating CM - by playing disgusting table tennis, inspired by Team India.
どんな取り方でも1点は1点。中国に勝つために早田ひなが考えた「気持ち悪い卓球」とは？
https://world-tt.com/blog/news/archives/166022
その会見で早田が語った、陳夢戦の勝利のひとつの理由。「ベンチから見た（伊藤）美誠とかならわかるかもしれないけど、本当に気持ち悪い試合というか、とにかく気持ち悪くして、相手に強打させない。そして粘り続けるのが、今日の勝つ卓球だった」。「気持ち悪い試合？」。深夜で少し頭がグラグラしていたが、「お、また『ひな語録』が出てきたぞ」と背筋が伸びた。
...
「今日の試合の立ち上がりは、いつもの陳夢選手より3倍くらい強い感じで、今までと同じように卓球をしても全くノーチャンスだと思った」と早田は語っている。確かに陳夢は1番で孫穎莎が勝利した流れに乗り、出足からフォアの強打を連発。優勝した東京2020オリンピック時のプレーを彷彿とさせた。それをどうやって崩していったのか？
「中国選手は好きなようにやっていても勝てる相手ではないですし、自分が気持ち良くプレーして、相手にもっと気持ち良くプレーさせてしまったら全然意味がない。綺麗なプレーをしても点数が取れなかったらダメだし、逆にどんなヘンテコな点の取り方でも、1点取れれば1点です」
...
「今日の陳夢選手には、王道の卓球をやっていても全く抜けなかった。でも、（大会の序盤で）インドの選手が中国に勝つのなら、そういう気持ち悪い卓球、変化のある卓球が中国に通用する部分はあるのかなと思った。それが完全にハマったと思います。
もちろん、自分のやりたいプレーを貫いたほうが良い時もあるし、それは試合の状況によって変わります。陳夢選手との試合については、自分もやりにくいけど相手もやりにくいプレーにして、それで耐えようという試合になった」
...
「陳夢選手と孫穎莎選手ではプレーのクセも全く違う。孫穎莎選手の今日のプレーの感覚に慣れることなく終わってしまったのは悔しい部分です。今まで、団体戦で中国選手相手に1勝した経験がなかったので、勝った後のエース対決への切り替えが十分にできていなかった。今後、本気で中国チームに勝つためには、2試合を考えてやらないと最後の壁は越えられない」
「今日のこのコンディションで孫穎莎選手に0−3でやられた。今の感覚だと自分は陳夢選手や王芸迪選手とは勝ったり負けたりくらいのレベルになってきていると思うんですけど、孫穎莎選手はもう3つくらい上にいるなと感じた。そこに到達するためには、まだまだやらなければいけないことがたくさんある」
...
今大会での通算成績は8勝1敗。エースとして大車輪の活躍を見せながら、最後の中国とのエース対決では課題も見つかった。「相手が中国だからしょうがない、とはならないように、自分のことを真のエースだと自信を持って言えるように、もっと頑張っていかなきゃいけないなと思います」（早田）。
At the press conference, Hayata talked about one of the reasons for her victory against Chen Meng. "You might understand if you watched (Ito) Mima from the bench, but it was a really disgusting match, just a disgusting one, not letting the opponent hit hard, and continuing to persevere was the winning table tennis today." "A disgusting match?" It was late at night, and my head was a little hazy, but I straightened up and said, "Oh, there's another Hina Quote."
...
"At the start of today's match, I felt like Chen Meng was about 3 times stronger than usual, so I thought I had no chance even if I played table tennis like before, said Hayata. It is true that Chen Meng rode on the momentum of Sun Yingsha's victory in the 1st match and hit a series of strong FHs from the get-go. It was reminiscent of her play at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she won. How did you break that down?
"CNT players are not opponents you can beat by playing however you want, and if you play comfortably and let your opponent play even more comfortably, then there's no point in that. It doesn't matter how beautiful you play if you can't get points. In contrast, no matter how weird the scoring method is, if you can get one point, then it counts."
...
"I wouldn't have gotten through the Chen Meng today at all even if I played the king's way table tennis. However, if the Indian players could beat China (in the group stage of the tournament), then I wondered whether such disgusting and variable table tennis could be applied to China, and I think I was completely mesmerized.
Of course, there are times when it's better to stick with the way you want to play, and that depends on the situation of the match.
Regarding the match against Chen Meng, it was a match where I made plays that were difficult for myself but also difficult for my opponent, and persevered through that."
...
"Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha have completely different playing habits. It's frustrating that the match ended without my getting used to the way Sun Yingsha played today. Because I had no prior experience defeating a CNT player in team competitions up until now, I was not able to fully transition to the ace showdown after winning. To truly defeat Team China in the future, I will have to think about 2 matches, otherwise I won't overcome the final hurdle."
"Under that condition today, I was beaten 0-3 by Sun Yingsha.
As I feel now, I think I am at a level where I am neck and neck with Chen Meng and Wang Yidi, but I feel like Sun Yingsha is already about 3 spots higher than me. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done to get there."
...
The overall record in this tournament is 8 wins and 1 loss. Although she showed great success as an ace, she also found some issues in the final ace showdown with China.
"I think I have to work harder so that I can say with confidence that I'm a true ace and not feel like I can't help it because my opponent is China," said Hayata.
