JTTA Selection Trial for ATTC 2026 and WTTC Continental Stage 2027, 5/26-27

[Janard]

Hijacking this thread.

Seems like new men and women's head coaches have been announced as Seiya Kishikawa and Nakazawa Rui.

 

[zeio]

Hijacking this thread.

Seems like new men and women's head coaches have been announced as Seiya Kishikawa and Nakazawa Rui.

A Yahoo Japan user nailed it for the MT.

 

[zeio]

New head coaches to be announced on 1/19, two weeks from now. It's said Tasei is expected to be replaced for MT. Coach Ito for WT?

【卓球】日本卓球協会強化本部、日本代表新監督を1月19日に発表。男女とも新体制か?
https://world-tt.com/blog/news/archives/237710

Nothing on the selection system at the moment.

卓球女子日本代表新監督に中沢鋭氏「金メダルしかない」２８年ロス五輪へ　石川佳純さん、平野美宇ら指導
https://hochi.news/articles/20250119-OHT1T51104.html?page=1

　中沢氏は「重要なポジションを任せていただき、大変光栄に思うと同時に責任を強く感じている。これまでの監督さんが築いた貴重な経験を継承しつつ、さらなる強いチームを作り上げたい。目標はロサンゼルス五輪の団体戦で銀メダル以上、個人でメダル数を増やしたい。次世代の強化もしっかりやっていきたい。テーマは金メダルしかない」と決意を語った。

Nakazawa stated, "I am extremely honored to have been entrusted with this important position, and at the same time I feel a strong sense of responsibility. I would like to inherit the valuable experience built up by the previous coaches and build an even stronger team. My goal is to win at least a silver medal in the team event at the Los Angeles Olympics, and to increase the number of medals in individual events. I also want to work hard to strengthen the next generation. The theme is nothing but gold medal."

卓球男子日本代表新監督に岸川聖也氏「メダル獲得がテーマ」選手で北京、ロンドン五輪代表
https://hochi.news/articles/20250119-OHT1T51105.html?page=1

　岸川氏は「パリ五輪でメダルを逃しているので『メダル獲得』がテーマしかない。五輪前までに選手個々の世界ランクを上げて、シングルスのランキングを上げていいシードを取るのが大事。早めに世界ランキングを上げて、実力をつけたい。（選手時代に）ナショナルチームでいろんな経験をさせてもらったので、監督として恩返しをしたい」と決意を語った。

Kishikawa stated, "We missed out on a medal at the Paris Olympics, so our only theme is 'winning a medal.' It is important for each player to improve their world ranking and singles ranking before the Olympics and obtain good seeding. I want to improve their world ranking as soon as possible and improve their skills. I was able to have a lot of different experiences on the national team (when I was a player), so I want to give back as a coach."

【卓球】日本代表次期監督が決定　男子は岸川聖也氏　女子は中沢鋭氏
https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202501190000389.html

スーツ姿で会見に臨んだ岸川氏は「前回のパリ五輪でメダルを逃した。次の（28年）ロサンゼルス五輪ではメダル獲得を目指したい。五輪までの4回ある世界卓球でもメダル獲得。特にシングルスでのメダル獲得を目指して頑張っていきます」。同じくスーツ姿の中沢氏も「重要なポジションを任せていただき、大変光栄に思うと同時に、責任を強く感じています。就任後、これまでの監督さんたちが築いた貴重な経験を継承しつつ、さらに強いチームをつくっていきたい。目標はロサンゼルスで団体戦銀メダル以上、個人、混合のメダルも増やしていきたい。もちろん結果だけではなく、次世代の強化も、しっかりとやっていきたいと思います」と誓いを立てた。

Kishikawa, who appeared at the press conference in a suit, said, "We missed out on a medal at the last Paris Olympics. We want to aim to win a medal at the (2028) Los Angeles Olympics next, and to also win a medal at the four WTTCs before the Olympics. We will especially work hard to win a medal in singles." Nakazawa, who was also in a suit, vowed, "I am very honored to have been entrusted with such an important position, but at the same time, I feel a strong sense of responsibility. After taking office, I would like to inherit the valuable experience built by the previous coaches and create an even stronger team. My goal is to win at least a silver medal in the team event at Los Angeles, and to increase the number of medals in singles and mixed events. Of course, I would like to do my best not only to achieve results, but also to strengthen the next generation."

 

[NextLevel]

I'm rather in zeio camp.

He's the one making efforts to gather info from Chinese / Japanese source and translate it in english for the international public.

agree or not with his conclusions, one should at least respect his efforts to present us the raw facts.
this forum would feel much more empty without his contributions. No one else is putting as much effort.
---

Regarding Hayata, as a JNT fan, ofc i've been rooting for her all along and i did believe for a while she would be Japanese best chance against China and get sometime a gold medal against China.

Well it didn't happen in OG Tokyo 2021 where she wasn't even in the lineup. she got "only" singles bronze in WTTC2023 and OG Paris2024. She didn't play the historical Asian Champ team final this year.

Its a fact she injured badly her wrist during the OG QF- as Zeio reported quite early, and its unfortunately likely her best performances are over, she might even quit TT sooner rather than later. I'm afraid she'll be knocked out early at Zennihon.

Fortunately, even if there is no Ito or Hayata, there's plenty of talented young ladies in Japan who will have their go.

No hating on zeio for the facts he provides, but there is a clear distinction between facts and opinions.

IT's unfortunate that Hayata disappointed you as well, but you could have put those hopes on just about anyone in the Japanese team and you would still be disappointed. Even Harimoto is still showing that losing is a possibility for her. And Hayata's accomplishments in singles are still by medals won some of the best ever outside of China. Should she have preserved her wrist to give up the Olympics medal?

Let's celebrate what people have done, not what we hoped they would do especially when no one else could do it. Hayata, even with the Wrist injury still beat Yokoi before losing a close match to Chen Yi - her career is clearly not over. A lot will depend on what level she can find after this period. But if it is over, who is going to complain over a WTTC bronze, an Olympics bronze, and ATTU gold and silver, all in singles?

 

[JackJohnson]

So who’s the coach thats been currently coaching the mens at the moment such as Tomokazu Harimoto, Sora etc? Did he get fired?

Didn’t Nakazawa Rui been coaching the women’s team for the past 6 months or so at WTT events that I’ve been seeing?

 

[NextLevel]

So who’s the coach thats been currently coaching the mens at the moment such as Tomokazu Harimoto, Sora etc? Did he get fired?

Didn’t Nakazawa Rui been coaching the women’s team for the past 6 months or so at WTT events that I’ve been seeing?

I believe his name is Tasei - probably not fired so much as replaced, I wouldn't be surprised if he retains a place on the staff if he wants to work with certain players and continues to do so.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

No hating on zeio for the facts he provides, but there is a clear distinction between facts and opinions.

IT's unfortunate that Hayata disappointed you as well, but you could have put those hopes on just about anyone in the Japanese team and you would still be disappointed. Even Harimoto is still showing that losing is a possibility for her. And Hayata's accomplishments in singles are still by medals won some of the best ever outside of China. Should she have preserved her wrist to give up the Olympics medal?

Let's celebrate what people have done, not what we hoped they would do especially when no one else could do it. Hayata, even with the Wrist injury still beat Yokoi before losing a close match to Chen Yi - her career is clearly not over. A lot will depend on what level she can find after this period. But if it is over, who is going to complain over a WTTC bronze, an Olympics bronze, and ATTU gold and silver, all in singles?

ofc I'm happy for Hayata. those Bronze meant a lot to her. i'm grateful for her, Ito and Hirano for everything they brought to us.
[IIRC ATTU gold singles was when China was away. Much less meaning than Hirano 2017 ATTU bronze]

but Hayata now alas is injured and she'll alas probably never be her former self. You say her career is not over ? She's the first to decide but if the pain is too big, which it seems to be, she'll probably retire and focus on KONKATSU.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

ofc I'm happy for Hayata. those Bronze meant a lot to her. i'm grateful for her, Ito and Hirano for everything they brought to us.
[IIRC ATTU gold singles was when China was away. Much less meaning than Hirano 2017 ATTU bronze]

but Hayata now alas is injured and she'll alas probably never be her former self. You say her career is not over ? She's the first to decide but if the pain is too big, which it seems to be, she'll probably retire and focus on KONKATSU.

Hayata's injury is bad
she isn't the only one that has injury that is affecting performance.
LYJ, CSY, for example from Taiwan, have never been the same since injuries.
It doesn't mean they need to retire or have all these hatred (from China) targeting them. Remove the Chinese audience, there isn't really much "retirement" noise from the rest of the world. And especially for Hayata, there are so many internet head coaches coming from Chinese ip addresses too.

Learning to cope with injury is part of the job and extremely in-humane from my point of view (playing through the pain), but that is life.

 

[zeio]

I'm rather in zeio camp.

He's the one making efforts to gather info from Chinese / Japanese source and translate it in english for the international public.

agree or not with his conclusions, one should at least respect his efforts to present us the raw facts.
this forum would feel much more empty without his contributions. No one else is putting as much effort.
---

Regarding Hayata, as a JNT fan, ofc i've been rooting for her all along and i did believe for a while she would be Japanese best chance against China and get sometime a gold medal against China.

Well it didn't happen in OG Tokyo 2021 where she wasn't even in the lineup. she got "only" singles bronze in WTTC2023 and OG Paris2024. She didn't play the historical Asian Champ team final this year.

Its a fact she injured badly her wrist during the OG QF- as Zeio reported quite early, and its unfortunately likely her best performances are over, she might even quit TT sooner rather than later. I'm afraid she'll be knocked out early at Zennihon.

Fortunately, even if there is no Ito or Hayata, there's plenty of talented young ladies in Japan who will have their go.

Like it or not, Hayata has failed to shoulder the burden as the ace of the team. This is a sad truth, seeing Li Sun thought Hayata had the most potential back at ATTC 2017.

In the BS TV Tokyo special on the Harimoto siblings that aired on 2025/1/3, Miwa, who thought she was playing doubles only at Paris 2024 and so was preparing accordingly, actually shed tears from the anxiety after Watanabe asked her to play 2 singles instead at their base in Amiens, Paris on 2024/7/20, 6 days before the opening ceremony.

卓球 張本智和＆美和 兄妹の“今”とふたりで描く“未来”
https://tver.jp/episodes/epvsu8md1b
https://video.tv-tokyo.co.jp/harimotokyodai_imatomirai/episode/00119084.html
https://lemino.docomo.ne.jp/contents/Y3JpZDovL3BsYWxhLmlwdHZmLmpwL2dyb3VwL2IxMDJkMmQ=

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Hayata's injury is bad
she isn't the only one that has injury that is affecting performance.
LYJ, CSY, for example from Taiwan, have never been the same since injuries.
It doesn't mean they need to retire or have all these hatred (from China) targeting them. Remove the Chinese audience, there isn't really much "retirement" noise from the rest of the world. And especially for Hayata, there are so many internet head coaches coming from Chinese ip addresses too.

Learning to cope with injury is part of the job and extremely in-humane from my point of view (playing through the pain), but that is life.

Yes but motivation is important. If she had achieved nothing maybe she’d find the will to keep on. But she’s got already all those titles. Why go through the pain ?

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Seiya Kishikawa takes over JNT Men's team
Rui Nakazawa takes over JNT Women's team

【卓球】日本代表次期監督が決定　男子は岸川聖也氏　女子は中沢鋭氏（日刊スポーツ） - Yahoo!ニュース

　日本卓球協会は19日、25年4月1日に就任する男女日本代表の次期監督を発表した。都内で記者会見を行い、男子は08年北京、12年ロンドン五輪（オリンピック）代表の岸川聖也氏（37）、女子はTリーグ木

news.yahoo.co.jp

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Yes but motivation is important. If she had achieved nothing maybe she’d find the will to keep on. But she’s got already all those titles. Why go through the pain ?

that's sports for you
why Chen Meng played for another cycle and got booed? She isn't short of money (since her family is extremely wealthy). Why did CM go through the hardship and the insults? for the love of the sports is my only guess

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

that's sports for you
why Chen Meng played for another cycle and got booed? She isn't short of money (since her family is extremely wealthy). Why did CM go through the hardship and the insults? for the love of the sports is my only guess

was CM injured as bad as Hayata is ?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

was CM injured as bad as Hayata is ?

CM also has niggles,
but for her, she had to receive mental abuse. It was so bad, they didn't even register her for CTTSL (while Ma Long was okay).
Hayata doesn't have a fractions problem, CM has and that pain isn't less than what Hayata has.

BTW, Hayata can still play
if it is career ending, she would have not played

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

IIRC, Hirano started having great results after changing coaches to coach Nakazawa. He also coaches T League team, Abyell which includes Miwa, Hirano, Kihara, and Nagasaki. Great pick for WT head coach.

 

[zeio]

Kishikawa makes a mention of Matsushima. I like how Nakazawa makes it clear he wants the top 8 players to strengthen collectively.

日本卓球協会・強化本部が次期代表監督を発表。男子は岸川聖也氏、女子は中澤鋭氏
https://world-tt.com/blog/news/archives/240571

男子・岸川聖也氏のコメント
「パリ五輪でメダルを逃しているので、次のロス五輪でのメダル獲得を狙いたい。その間にある世界選手権でのメダルも多く届けたい。今はオリンピック、世界選手権、ワールドカップ、WTTの試合が増えてきている。そこで成績を出すことと、試合のない時に質の高い合宿をやっていく。
パリ五輪のメダルを逃しているので、ロス五輪までに選手個々の世界ランキング、チームランキングを上げていく。
前回のパリ五輪に出た3人はまだ20代なので強化していくし、松島を含めた若い選手も鍛えていきたい。
話を頂いた時に率直に嬉しかった。ぼくがナショナルチームに入ったのは13、14歳だった。今までドイツ留学、世界選手権、オリンピックと選手時代にお世話になったので、卓球界に少しでも恩返しをしたい」

女子新監督・中澤鋭氏のコメント
「重要なポジションを任せていただき、責任を強く感じています。これまでの監督が築いてきた貴重な経験を吸収しつつ、さらに強いチームを作っていきたい。目標はロス五輪で銀メダル以上、シングルスでもメダルを目指していく。
釜山の世界選手権では中国を追い詰めた。これから金メダルを獲るために何度もそういう機会があるだろう。女子のテーマは金メダルしかない。
渡辺監督は女子の母体とうまくやっていたので、そこを吸収したい。今のランキング上位の8名、全員同じように強化して、チームの軸になってほしい。
私にとってナショナルチームの監督は目標だった。今まで多くの選手を育ててきた。いつか育てた選手と最高の舞台でメダルを獲りたかった。このタイミングで声をかけていただいて嬉しかった」

馬場美香強化本部長のコメント
「岸川さんは海外、ドイツでの経験が長く、選手としても世界での厳しい戦いを経験しているので、監督として選手に伝えてほしい。中澤さんは、中国の技術、戦い方に精通しており、指導者として素晴らしい選手を指導した経験を持った方です」

Men's Kishikawa Seiya's comment:
"We missed out on a medal at the Paris Olympics, so we want to aim for a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics next. We also want to win as many medals as possible at the WTTC in the meantime. There are now more matches at the Olympics, WTTC, World Cup, and WTT. We will perform well there, and hold high-quality training camps when there are no matches. We missed out on a medal at the Paris Olympics, so we will improve the world ranking of each player and the team ranking by the time of the Los Angeles Olympics. The 3 players who participated in the last Paris Olympics are still in their 20s, so we will strengthen them, and we also want to train young players, including Matsushima. I was honestly happy when I heard about the offer. I joined the national team when I was 13 or 14 years old. I would like to give back to the table tennis world, even if only a little, because they have been kind to me during my time as a player, studying abroad in Germany, at the WTTC, and at the Olympics."

New women's head coach Nakazawa Rui's comment:
"I feel a strong sense of responsibility in being entrusted with such an important position. I will be grateful for the valuable experience that the previous coaches have built up. I want to absorb what I have learned and build an even stronger team. My goal is to win at least a silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, and a medal in singles as well.
At the WTTC in Busan, we cornered China. There will be many more opportunities to win the gold medal from now on. The women's theme is nothing but the gold medal.
Coach Watanabe has been working well with the women's team, so I want to absorb that. I want all 8 of the top-ranked players to be strengthened in the same way and become the core of the team.
For me, being the coach of the national team was a goal. I have nurtured many players up until now. I want to win a medal on the biggest stage with the players I nurture someday. I am happy for this offer at this timing.

Director of Development headquarters Mika Baba's comment:
"Kishikawa-san has a long history being abroad, especially in Germany, and has experienced tough battles on the world stage as a player, so I want him to convey that to the players as a coach. Nakazawa-san is familiar with Chinese techniques and fighting styles, and has experience as a coach who has coached great players."

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

...
New women's head coach Nakazawa Rui's comment:
...
Coach Watanabe has been working well with the women's team, so I want to absorb that. I want all 8 of the top-ranked players to be strengthened in the same way and become the core of the team.
...

Interesting. I wonder if this means they will extend the national team to include 8 players instead of the current 5. For sure Odo will have to be on the national team in the next update, but this may allow someone like Hashimoto(I hope so!) to make the team giving her greater access to resources and travel with the team to international tournaments. The other thing I'd like to see is that it's obvious that Japan has best in the world class doubles pairings in Odo/Yokoi and Sato/Hashimoto. It makes no sense for them not to be included in teams events where there's a doubles component even if Yokoi or Sato aren't ranked high enough. I know that will ultimately mean someone higher ranked is left out, but I think for teams focused major events that's understandable.

 

[zeio]

Yokoi gets the short end of the stick either way for the time being. We will find out this 4/1 when the new head coaches assume their positions.

https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025_3_SEN_WS.html
5 Hayata
6 Harimoto
7 Odo
10 Ito
12 Hirano
17 Kihara
23 Nagasaki
34 Hashimoto
------------
40 Yokoi
43 Mori
77 Sato
...

https://jtta.or.jp/national/womens (as of 2024/10/1)
NT
1 Hayata
2 Hirano
3 Harimtoo
4 Ito
5 Kihara

NT reserve
1 Nagasaki
2 Sato
3 Odo
----------
4 Yokoi
5 Shibata
6 Hashimoto
...

 

[zeio]

Hello Kitty for Hirano first and now Kuromi for Harimoto.

サンリオ、卓球女子・張本美和選手とスポンサー契約を締結
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000631.000037629.html

卓球 平野美宇選手とスポンサー契約を締結
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000426.000037629.html

 

[zeio]

kittyyoyaji either isn't aware or completely ignores what Nakazawa said.

中澤鋭 女子代表監督就任
http://kittyoyaji.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-3070.html

いまの日本女子は木下グループが一大勢力で
女子代表も木下G主力といえるから
代表監督も木下Gに手渡した実質木下体制だろう
新代表監督が一旦木下Gから離籍しても
所属の代表選手とは意思疎通も日常活動の範囲でできる

一方
早田ひな・大藤沙月ほか外様の選手にどう関わるか
木下Gと他母体と利害の対立が起きかねない関係性をうまく調整して
日本チームとして強化できるかどうか

The Kinoshita Group is a major force in the Japanese women's team right now
The women's national team is also a mainstay of the Kinoshita Group
The national team coach has been handed over to the Kinoshita Group, so it's essentially under the Kinoshita system
Even if the new national team coach leaves the Kinoshita Group
He will be able to communicate with the national team players within the scope of his daily activities

On the other hand
how will they deal with outside players such as Hayata Hina and Odo Satsuki
Can they effectively adjust the relationship between Kinoshita Group and other parent organizations, which may cause conflicts of interest
and strengthen the Japanese team