Watanabe also gave his reasoning on that. Hayata is the trump card, Hirano is the fail-safe in case Harimoto stumbles. It's safe to assume he is letting Harimoto get as much experience as possible ahead of Paris 2024.
TAKAGI Mina asked Watanabe on putting Hirano in the 3rd singles spot. Watanabe says he was worried about Hirano's condition after the selection race and he needed to give Harimoto as much exposure as possible ahead of Paris 2024.
パリ五輪シングルス代表の平野美宇はなぜ1点起用だったのか？女子代表監督が理由を明かす【世界卓球】
https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/tabletennis/news/2024/02/033011.html
なぜ女子日本の2番手である平野が1点起用なのか？ 平野ではなく張本が2点起用されたのはなぜなのか？
その理由を渡辺監督に聞いた。
「平野には3番で確実に点を取ってほしいというのがあった。安心して3番に置ける選手ですし、1試合に集中できた方がいいのではないかと。あとはやっぱりオリンピックで張本にもバンバン試合に出てもらわなきゃいけないので、この世界選手権でたくさん経験を積ませたかった。それで張本を2点使いました」
さらに渡辺監督は1月の全日本選手権まで、厳しいパリオリンピック代表選考レースを戦い抜いてすぐのタイミングで世界卓球を迎えた平野のコンディションを気にかけていたという。
「全日本まですごいハードで過酷な代表レースをして、すぐにTリーグがあって、事前合宿があって、世界選手権でかわいそうだなと思っていた。果たして気持ち的に上げていけるのか。それを一番心配していました。でも、その心配をよそに平野は木下グループのメンバーと必ず午前、午後の2部練習をしていた。疲れて1回だけ休んだことがありましたけど、本当にしっかりルーティンを作って練習をして、だんだん調子が良くなっていったんです」
それだけ心身をすり減らしていた平野。
そこへ来て今大会は予選グループリーグで、バック粒（ラケットのバック面に粒高ラバーを貼っている）のアシュタリ（イラン）や隻腕の左利きでパラリンピックメダリストのアレシャンドレ（ブラジル）ら、普段はほとんど対戦機会のない選手との試合が相次ぎリズムを掴むのが難しそうだった。
平野本人も初戦が最もきつく「正直、全日本がし烈すぎて、ちょっと切り替えられていない部分もあった」と言い、特色あるプレースタイルの選手との対戦で「自分が何をしているのか。つなぐのか、コントロールするのか、狙うのかがあまり定まらない試合だった」と振り返る。
しかし、王芸迪に勝った中国との決勝では「客観的に見ても自分が何をしたいのかが分かる試合ができた」と語っている。
ちなみに平野と王芸迪の対戦はこれが6回目。
直近では2023年WTTシンガポールスマッシュで平野がフルゲーム勝利、世界卓球2023南アフリカではストレートで王芸迪が勝っており、今回平野が勝ったことで平野の2勝4敗となった。
今回の勝因だが、互いに得意なバックハンドの攻略だったという。
「私もバックは得意で相手もバックが得意。右対右（右利き同士）なので、どういうペースに持っていくかを考えていた。相手は早い展開が上手いので、自分は緩急を入れたりして戦った。そこでほぼ負けなかったし、かなり相手に圧力をかけられたと思います」
パリオリンピック本番では1番にダブルスが入ってくる。そのため今後平野はオリンピックのシードに影響する自身の世界ランクを上げることを第一に、ダブルスの強化にも取り組むこととなる。
来月はポイントの高いWTTシンガポールスマッシュ（3月7～17日）とWTTチャンピオンズ仁川（27～31日）に出場し、4月スタート予定のパリオリンピック代表合宿に参加する見通しだ。
Why is Hirano, the 2nd player on the JNT, used for 1 point? Why was Harimoto used for 2 points instead of Hirano?
I asked coach Watanabe about the reason.
"I wanted Hirano to make sure that she scored in 3rd singles, and I thought it would be better for her to be able to concentrate on one match at a time because she is a player who can be placed in the 3rd singles spot with confidence. Also, I will have to get Harimoto to play in many matches at the Olympics, so I wanted to give her a lot of experience at this WTTC. That's why I used Harimoto for 2 points."
In addition, Watanabe said that he was concerned about Hirano's condition at the WTTC just after she had competed in the tough selection race for the Paris Olympics until the Zennihon Takkyu in January.
"She had a very hard and grueling competition until the Zennihon Takkyu, and then there was the T.League, then there was a training camp, and then the WTTC, which I felt for her. Is it really possible to get it going emotionally? That was what I was most worried about. However, despite these concerns, Hirano always practiced with the members of the Kinoshita Group in 2 sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. She had to take 1 break due to fatigue, but she really made a routine and practiced well, and started to feel better."
Hirano was wearing out her mind and body that much.
In the group stage of the qualifying round, it seemed difficult to find a rhythm in the match against players who usually had few opportunities to play against each other, such as Ashtari (Iran), who has long pips on backhand, and Alexandre (Brazil), a left-handed player who is a Paralympic medalist.
Hirano herself said that the first match was the toughest, "To be honest, the Zennihon Takkyu was too intense, and there were some parts where I couldn't transition much," and she recalled that "it was a match where I wasn't really sure what I was doing, whether I was connecting, controlling or aiming."
However, in the final against China, where she defeated Wang Yidi, she said, "I was able to play a match where I could see what I wanted to do objectively."
By the way, this is the 6th match between Hirano and Wang Yidi.
Most recently, Hirano won a 5-gamer at the Singapore Smash 2023, and Wang Yidi won in straight games at the WTTC 2023 Durban, and Hirano's win this time brought Hirano's H2H to 2-4.
The reason for this victory was that both players were good at backhand attacks.
"I'm good at backhand and my opponent is also good at backhand. And it's righty-versus-righty, so I was thinking about how to go about it. My opponent is good at playing fast, so I tried to play by varying the pace. I almost didn't lose there, and I think that put a lot of pressure on my opponent."
At the Paris Olympics, the first match will be the doubles. As a result, Hirano will focus on improving her world ranking, which will affect her Olympic seeding, as well as strengthening her doubles skills.
Next month, she will compete in the Singapore Smash (3/7-17) and WTT Champions Incheon (3/27-31), and is expected to participate in the Paris Olympics training camp scheduled to start in April.
