How do you know this? Sometimes these things happen off camera, or they have logical reasons, yet for some reasons people look at the camera to make an issue of things like this...
I have spoken to coaches about these things and since Sreeja is the player by ranking, there must have been a good reason not to field her. While amateurs like to talk about rolling the dice etc., professional coaches know that internal team management must be seen as a meritocracy of sorts to command the respect and buy-in of the players and that any strategic deviations need strong justification to avoid alienating another player, especially when the deviation fails. The players themselves tend to know who their best options are based on results and internal practice. When a professional coach deviates from this, he had better have a good reason based in significant data to avoid accusations of bias and favoritism.
My apologies - I suspect something happened during the match, I watched some of it but not all of it.
The whole Indian team (including Batra) shook Tan's hand right after her match, no need to do so again 20 seconds later.
An even simpler explanation lol. Awkward... I find handshaking after the match an interesting thing... but I guess it is our way of trying to say "it is just competition, let bygones be bygones".
This will be an interesting question to answer. Sreeja should have definitely played but I think the result would have remained the same. I hope she is not injured.
WTTC 2014 is a particularly memorable year as Murakami said it was the runner-up finish that they have been able to protect their 2nd place since. So how? By fielding Ishigaki Yuka the chopper, after Fukuhara suffered a stress fracture in her toe right before the event. Ishigaki is still the last JNT chopper to have played in the final of WTTC in recent memories.
From Table Tennis Japan on 2020/11/07:
Before WTTC 2014 Tokyo, the burden was to NOT LOSE before the final.
In 2nd place behind China, it was because of this tournament that we were always able to protect it
For future reference.
Hayata has a history of under-performing in tropical climates, which she admitted ahead of SGP GS 2025. More severe if losses in subtropical climate is included.
These statements are borne of the frustration of not winning vs any hard data that different team formations would have given very different results. China has been pretty much unbeatable for decades sometimes almost regardless of whoever played for China. Same with Japan, often doing well except like everyone else, when it faces China.
Japan's record of questionable lineups/selections is there for all to see. Losing is ok, hurting your chances with a losing lineup or trying the same lineup over and over again expecting things to change is weird. As Zeio mentioned before, we're not the ones who are sad, it's Japan who should be sad for self-sabotaging. Even Chinese commentators couldn't figure out why Ishikawa was chosen over Hayata for 2019 World Team Cup when Japan kept claiming to want gold.
Again, have you spoken to coaches about the impact of subjective strategic choices on team selection? The players have worked hard all year to build a pecking order in a various ways. The coach's selection should reflect that order unless there are strong and obvious reasons to go away from it, because if the decision doesn't pay off, the damage to team cohesion can be significant. I have spoken to three different national coaches about this and gotten pretty much the same answer - if you play around with the choices, the players will often think you are playing favorites. The players tend to know who deserves to play based on their selection process results and health status. Deviating without winning is a recipe for accusations from unhappy players.
