WTT Contender Almaty 2025 Sep 2-7

[Catenaccio]

https://www.worldtabletennis.com/eventInfo?selectedTab=Overview&eventId=3096

Good news is that Hashimoto is scheduled to play. Given that Miwa won't play I wonder what the WD configuration among the Japanese players will be. Hoping for the Hashimoto/Sato pairing.

 

[zeio]

9 players signed up and so at least one of them will not play WD, hmm...

2025WTTコンテンダー アルマトイ（カザフスタン）
https://jtta.or.jp/tour/31541

 

[zeio]

MD
Togami/Matsushima

WD
Odo/Yokoi
Sato/Hashimoto

XD
Aida/Hashimoto

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Good chance we get a 2024 WTT Finals Fukuoka WD rematch: Sato/Hashimoto vs. Odo/Yokoi !

 

[tzifos]

WD
Sato/Hashimoto

It's ballet time

 

[driversbeat]

Hashimoto will want to get into the finals or win the event to take herself one step closer to the 3000 mark, which is roughly what it takes to enter top 10. This tournament looks simple for her on paper but there are a few potential stumbling blocks:

• Shi Xunyao (unlikely but in good form recently beating KM, Ito and Odo)
• He Zhuojia (lost before, long pips doesn't give chopper much to work with)
• Sato and Yokoi (curse of teammates, losing record IIRC)
• Ayhika Mukherjee and Kaufmann could potentially create some trouble as well

Hashimoto/Sato and Hashimoto/Satoshi are ranked 11 and 21 respectively. They are obviously underrated with very few events, albeit to a much lesser extent since very few pairings have maximised the full 8 events. This is probably another area of ranking inefficiency that ITTF/WTT has yet to or doesn't care to work out. The good news is that it's much easier for pairings to rise up by simply participating more, although I wonder how seriously anyone takes these rankings unless you're in the top 4 or top 8.

But if Hashimoto can get into the Top 2 for singles in JNT and top 4 in WD + XD it'll be even harder for JNT to ignore her. Taking over Odo is doable in the short term considering she has 1000 points expiring in two months. Ito is a bit further away but not out of the question. It will boil down to luck of the draw, whether she can maintain her form, and constantly developing her game so that the rest of the world doesn't get used to it.

Sounds like a pretty uphill battle once it's spelled out like that.

 

[zeio]

8 seeds for a main draw of 32. In that case, SXY (final), QTY/HZJ (SF at the earliest), KNY/Yokoi/WXT/Sato (QF at the earliest).

There are also SXN, Ojio, Akae who are good at playing choppers. Will see how many booby traps Idesawa can remove... Also chopper Chang Li Sian of MAS...

Seeds 1-8
WR14 Hashimoto
WR15 SXY
WR17 QTY
WR23 HZJ
WR28 KNY
WR31 Yokoi
WR38 Wang Xiaotong
WR39 Sato

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

The whole Malaysian contingent will come as placeholder. MS / WS / WD / WS & XD all events are participating.

 

[Catenaccio]

Hashimoto will want to get into the finals or win the event to take herself one step closer to the 3000 mark, which is roughly what it takes to enter top 10. This tournament looks simple for her on paper but there are a few potential stumbling blocks:

• Shi Xunyao (unlikely but in good form recently beating KM, Ito and Odo)
• He Zhuojia (lost before, long pips doesn't give chopper much to work with)
• Sato and Yokoi (curse of teammates, losing record IIRC)
• Ayhika Mukherjee and Kaufmann could potentially create some trouble as well

I agree in general, but have a slightly different view

• Hashimoto would be the favorite against Shi Xunyao imo
• Hashimoto's H2H is 0-2 vs He Zhuojia (last meeting in 2022), but it's at least 50:50 imo based on Hashimoto's improvement
• Hashimoto's H2H is a whopping 1-8 vs Sato 😲
• I can't find any info regarding the H2H vs Yokoi, but Hashimoto would be the favorite imo
• Hashimoto beat Ayhika Mukherjee 4-0 (3,2,0,1) in 2022
• Is Kaufmann good against choppers?

The way I see it the biggest threat is Sato, so let's hope they end up in opposite sides of the draw.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

The whole Malaysian contingent will come as placeholder. MS / WS / WD / WS & XD all events are participating.

Depending on where she lands in the qualifying and potentially main draw, I think Tee Ai Xin is a pretty dangerous player.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Odo originally was in the Player's List but is no longer. This bodes well for Honoka, but there are pitfalls as zeio has outlined. It might mean nothing, but I thought I would mention in the qualification draw, Anne Uesawa, who beat Honoka in T-League on 9/28/2024 3-0 but lost the Victory Match to Honoka 11-9 on the same date.

I will also be keeping an eye on Kaho Akae's progress. She has been playing exceptionally well recently. She's in the player's list with a world ranking shown as 95 at the time of entry, but she's currently WR#59. Runner up to Shibata in WTT Feeder Spokane 1 and Champion of WTT Feeder Spokane 2 beating Shibata. She beat Sato in both tournaments. She lost to Miyu Nagasaki in T-League yesterday 3-2,11-6. Will be interesting to see where she lands in the draw.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

T

Depending on where she lands in the qualifying and potentially main draw, I think Tee Ai Xin is a pretty dangerous player.

Tee just got a Gold in Feeder Vientien but I know, I know, Contender is a whole different level.

 

[NextLevel]

Too many landmines in this event for Honoka, the draw will be important.

 

[driversbeat]

Shi Xunyao has replaced Hashimoto as WR11. Chen Yi also leapfrogs Odo and Ito to become the new WR8. Not that this makes a difference to Hashimoto's effective seeding, but its almost symbolic how SXY and CY have risen up after I doubted the long term dominance of China outside of SYS and WMY just a few weeks ago.

With 6 CNT, ZYL, and Miwa in the top 8, Hashimoto needs to be ranked within WR8 for better draws in Smashes. She won't be drawn against WYD every single time lol. But even with a higher seeding position, her style simply makes her more susceptible to 'landmines' as pointed out in this thread.

Perhaps there's a reason why JNT doesn't trust choppers after all Of course, this is all theoretical. How Hashimoto performs in this tournament and subsequently when she meets likes of CY and CXT will prove whether she can truly 'beat everyone but SYS and WMY'.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

 

[Catenaccio]

Hashimoto/Sato and Hashimoto/Satoshi are ranked 11 and 21 respectively. They are obviously underrated with very few events, albeit to a much lesser extent since very few pairings have maximised the full 8 events. This is probably another area of ranking inefficiency that ITTF/WTT has yet to or doesn't care to work out. The good news is that it's much easier for pairings to rise up by simply participating more, although I wonder how seriously anyone takes these rankings unless you're in the top 4 or top 8.

But if Hashimoto can get into the Top 2 for singles in JNT and top 4 in WD + XD it'll be even harder for JNT to ignore her. Taking over Odo is doable in the short term considering she has 1000 points expiring in two months. Ito is a bit further away but not out of the question. It will boil down to luck of the draw, whether she can maintain her form, and constantly developing her game so that the rest of the world doesn't get used to it.

Sounds like a pretty uphill battle once it's spelled out like that.

I agree it's an uphill battle, but let's take a step back. Early this year, I (and maybe other TTD members) was wondering why Hashimoto is not participating in more international tournaments. In the meantime, Hashimoto stated that her goal is to participate in the Olympics in 2028. Actually, she seems to do everything in her power to achieve that goal including, but not limited to the following:

• She left Miki House and the Mallets to join Denso Polaris because Denso is willing to send her to more international tournaments
• She has been performing well in WTT tournaments
• As a result, she is currently ranked 12th in the world
• More importantly, she is currently the fourth highest ranked Japanese player, so she can participate in the WTT Champions events assuming she stays within the top 4

If you had told me at the beginning of the year that Hashimoto would be in her current position, I would have said that it's highly unlikely. In an alternative realization of the world, Hashimoto is still playing for the Mallets and not participating in enough international tournaments. Hence, I am delighted that she entered the current path. In my opinion, she must be a hard worker and good at deliberate practice based on her improvements in play. Hopefully, she will continue to take it one step at a time and enjoy the process. If she doesn't make it to the Olympics, at least she can tell herself that she has no regrets and didn't leave any stones unturned. As a fan, I am happy to come along for the journey.

 

[Catenaccio]

But even with a higher seeding position, her style simply makes her more susceptible to 'landmines' as pointed out in this thread.

I disagree with this statement. More specifically, she is probably as susceptible as other players to 'landmines,' but not more susceptible than others due to her style imo. After all, matchup is important for every player except maybe SYS. Looking at the tournaments Hashimoto participated in this year, she either outperformed relative to her seeding or in line with her seeding. In fact, she only lost to SYS, WMY, Miwa, and Ito at WTT level this year. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Europe Smash => QF lost to WMY (R16)
Champions Yokohama => R16 lost to SYS (R16)
Star Contender Foz do Iguazu => SF lost to Miwa (SF)
Contender Lagos => W (F)
US Smash => QF lost to Ito (R16)
Contender Taiyuan => W (SF)
Star Contender Chennai => F lost to Miwa (R16)

 

[zeio]

Shi Xunyao has replaced Hashimoto as WR11. Chen Yi also leapfrogs Odo and Ito to become the new WR8. Not that this makes a difference to Hashimoto's effective seeding, but its almost symbolic how SXY and CY have risen up after I doubted the long term dominance of China outside of SYS and WMY just a few weeks ago.

With 6 CNT, ZYL, and Miwa in the top 8, Hashimoto needs to be ranked within WR8 for better draws in Smashes. She won't be drawn against WYD every single time lol. But even with a higher seeding position, her style simply makes her more susceptible to 'landmines' as pointed out in this thread.

Perhaps there's a reason why JNT doesn't trust choppers after all Of course, this is all theoretical. How Hashimoto performs in this tournament and subsequently when she meets likes of CY and CXT will prove whether she can truly 'beat everyone but SYS and WMY'.

Miyazaki already made it clear in his book from 2018. We saw that "philosophy" at work for the ATTC 2024 selection trial where Sato and Hashimoto lost to Odo and Yokoi ultimately got selected for the WD event.

That's probably what Sato was talking about by "running away from facing reality". Therefore, both Hashimoto and Sato (yet belonging to different teams) need to be successful to even have a decent shot (even more so now that Olympic WD is back). They are beneficial to the so-called team (JNT) yet get eaten alive by their teammates that are not quite real teammates. Not much different from China (who comes clean about the reality), but Japan has the gall to throw the term "fairness" around and many ignorant fans in Japan bash China for that, yet aren't even aware of their own double standards.

 

[NextLevel]

Miyazaki already made it clear in his book from 2018. We saw that "philosophy" at work for the ATTC 2024 selection trial where Sato and Hashimoto lost to Odo and Yokoi ultimately got selected for the WD event.

That's probably what Sato was talking about by "running away from facing reality". Therefore, both Hashimoto and Sato (yet belonging to different teams) need to be successful to even have a decent shot (even more so now that Olympic WD is back). They are beneficial to the so-called team (JNT) yet get eaten alive by their teammates that are not quite real teammates. Not much different from China (who comes clean about the reality), but Japan has the gall to throw the term "fairness" around and many ignorant fans in Japan bash China for that, yet aren't even aware of their own double standards.

Fraser Riley said during a commentary (and maybe this came from the recent Hashimoto interviews or some other source I should be citing) that Hashimoto doesn't train with women, that she trains almost exclusively with men, Maybe that helps her keep her edge and is an attempt to avoid giving away her improvement to her teammates in this cycle?

 

[NextLevel]

Shi Xunyao has replaced Hashimoto as WR11. Chen Yi also leapfrogs Odo and Ito to become the new WR8. Not that this makes a difference to Hashimoto's effective seeding, but its almost symbolic how SXY and CY have risen up after I doubted the long term dominance of China outside of SYS and WMY just a few weeks ago.

With 6 CNT, ZYL, and Miwa in the top 8, Hashimoto needs to be ranked within WR8 for better draws in Smashes. She won't be drawn against WYD every single time lol. But even with a higher seeding position, her style simply makes her more susceptible to 'landmines' as pointed out in this thread.

Perhaps there's a reason why JNT doesn't trust choppers after all Of course, this is all theoretical. How Hashimoto performs in this tournament and subsequently when she meets likes of CY and CXT will prove whether she can truly 'beat everyone but SYS and WMY'.

Smashes seed 1-16, Champions seed 1-8. But not everyone in the top 8 is equally good against choppers, in fact as @Catenaccio pointed out, the only somewhat sure bankers are Sun Yingsha, Mima Ito and to a lesser degree Wang Manyu, Odo and Miwa. All the others still have something to prove. The CNT players will get the training though.