That's how it's always been. Sparring partners from China used to beat the top players from other countries all the time.
This started roughly from the mid-2000s, when the generation of WLQ, MLin and WH became so strong(or rest of the world became so weak like I've always stressed) that you...
Try this - http://www.jtta.or.jp/Portals/0/images/player/nt_list/20190405_NTmember_W.pdf
Hayata was off the list in the April list.
Though not explicitly stated, being on the National Team gives the players a slew of benefits -...
Harimoto still has trouble receiving XX's serve. That puts so much pressure on Hayata.
XX/LSW are clearly going for his FH but Harimoto still waits on the BH.
Still, all Dima could do was pick up on Uda's mistake. Uda more or less gave up after losing G5 having serve at 9:9. He dropped G6 too fast, which gave Dima too much breathing room.