T League - Japan's New TT league

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As many already knew, the T League is a new league coming this fall in Japan. It will supersede the current JTTL. A press conference was held last month.

Official website - http://tleague.jp/

The 3 visions for Japan table tennis
* To become the World No. 1 TT league
* To increase the business value of TT market
* To enrich lives through table tennis

Logo:
* The blade of a racket that symbolizes TT
* Representing the strength of weapons(tools)
* Indication of World No. 1 league in gold

T League pyramid structure:
T Premier
T1/2 - national
T3 - prefectural
Tx - municipal

The league will be established in 3 stages:
1st - T Premier in Oct 2018
2nd - T1/2 in 2021
3rd - T3/Tx in 2025.

T Premier is composed of 4 men's and 4 women's teams with 6 members and above for each. At least 1 top 10 world-ranked member for each team.

10/2018-2/2019, regular season, with 7 rounds, 21 matches in total.

3/2019, playoffs between the top 2 teams per gender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlJCmBA8s_Y

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Every league is destined to die unless all countries and players are equal participants. Each new league will have something new and interesting, but it will never be enough. The T league boasts many good features but it is the integration and merger with China that will set the future, same with ITTF. Here is their latest blurb:
World No. 2"
The young generation focuses on the throne
Table tennis Nippon. Beginning before such a new era
T.LEAGUE. Aiming is "the world's league".
World class players T.LEAGUE boasts.
The nominated players including the world ranked number one
We will gather in Japan. A hitting ball sound, a swing of a game,
Block of natures, cheers rising. For a moment
A game that can not be overlooked is about to begin.
So far no sports, the world stage
It was overseas. But table tennis, Japan
It is the stage of the world. Everyone enthusiastic about table tennis
To sports. T.LEAGUE is the world table tennis
I will lead the scene.
Japan will be the stage of the world.

( it'll be interesting who they mean by World Number One being in the T league. In Reality, Ma Long is number one and Fan Zendong is number two, but I don' think they mean either one.
 
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says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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JTTL will be superseded. For the time being, it will continue until 2020, as plans for the 2018 and 2019 seasons are in place, and people will be busy over the Tokyo Olymipcs in 2020. The folks will consider merging with the T League as early as 2021.

In all honesty, after 40 years(established in 1977), JTTL has been in constant decline in recent years. It is now down to 32 teams(17m/15w), from its peak of 50. Nippon Paint has pulled out and joined the T League. Jin Ueda has left his JTTL team(Kyowa Hakko Kirin) to become a full-time pro and join the T League.

Anyway, here is a table listing the requirements for joining the T League.

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Teams: 4 per gender
Team name: Principally region name, but enterprise name is ok
Player level: WR 10
Number of members: 6 and above. 1 manager and 1 coach.
Registration fee: 20 mil yens
Yearly membership fee: 15 mil yens
League format: Home and away team match
Venue: Must have a stadium with 2000 capacity
Training institution: Must have a table tennis school aimed at those 6 and below

The last requirement is interesting.
 
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Training institution: Must have a table tennis school aimed at those 6 and below

The last requirement is interesting.

In reality, it'll be U12 school as it'd only cater for Bambi and below and kids have to find another school if it only looks after you until 6. Kyowa (and many others) used to have junior school so they'd probably buy it back once they decided to join T League.
 
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It appears Matsushita is serious about the age. He didn't start until grade 2(7-8), which he said was too late, citing that Mizutani and Hirano started at 3. He said swimming and gymnastics can start at 0 years old. That's why he wants to kickstart TT schools for those 6 and below and then institutions for those 7 and up will emerge naturally, backed by calculations.

Some more info. Of the 21 matches in total, 9 will be home games, 9 will be away games, 3 will be played at a "central" venue. The "one WR 10 player per team" rule is in fact those who were within WR 10 within the last 2 years. The match format could be either WTTC(new Swaythling Cup) or Olympic format.
 
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It appears Matsushita is serious about the age. He didn't start until grade 2(7-8), which he said was too late, citing that Mizutani and Hirano started at 3. He said swimming and gymnastics can start at 0 years old. That's why he wants to kickstart TT schools for those 6 and below and then institutions for those 7 and up will emerge naturally, backed by calculations.

Some more info. Of the 21 matches in total, 9 will be home games, 9 will be away games, 3 will be played at a "central" venue. The "one WR 10 player per team" rule is in fact those who were within WR 10 within the last 2 years. The match format could be either WTTC(new Swaythling Cup) or Olympic format.

He's probably meant to fill the gap as there are plenty of junior clubs which accept 7 to 12 years old. Lots of clubs already accept 6 and under but I guess it doesn't hurt to have more junior clubs especialy with the financial backing of T premier teams.
 
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Ticket price has been announced and the most expensive ticket is JPY100,000!
Although this would be the special price for first ever proffecional match in Japan, the common price for court side ticket for other dates is around 10,000 to 15,000 yen.

Not sure it'll sell well especialy with so many games scheduled this season but hoping for a good turn out nevertheless.
 
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Ticket price has been announced and the most expensive ticket is JPY100,000!
Although this would be the special price for first ever proffecional match in Japan, the common price for court side ticket for other dates is around 10,000 to 15,000 yen.

Not sure it'll sell well especialy with so many games scheduled this season but hoping for a good turn out nevertheless.

How much are those tickets in US dollars?
 
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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Through her affiliation STARTS, Ito Mima announced today that she will not participate in the inaugural season of T Leauge, citing that she wants to focus on strengthening in the limited time.

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2018/10/09/kiji/20181009s00026000196000c.html
「参戦に関してはとても悩みましたが、私は小学生からの夢『オリンピックで金メダル』を実現させるため、またこれまで私を育ててくださった卓球界へ恩返しするためにも、2020年の東京オリンピックで金メダルという結果を出すことが一番と考え、それまでの限られた時間を強化に専念することに決めました」とし、今後のTリーグ参戦については「近い将来、私もTリーグに参戦させてもらう機会がありましたら、皆様に私のプレーを見ていただきたいと思います」
"I've been very much torn over participating in the T League, but in order to realize the dream of "Olympic gold medal" ever since being an elementary school student, and to repay the table tennis circle that has brought me up to now by winning the gold medal at Tokyo 2020, I've decided to concentrate on strengthening in the limited time until then," "I will also participate in the T League in the near future when the chance comes, and I would like everyone to see my play."
 
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Team Rosters:

Men

T.T Saitama:
Wong Chun Ting, HKG
Jeoung Youngsik, KOR
Maharu Yoshimura
Tiago Apolonia, POR
Seiya Kishikawa
Yuki Hirano
Taku Takakiwa

Kinoshita Meister:
Jun Mizutani
Tomokazu Harimoto
Kenta Matsudaira
Yuya Oshima
Kenta Tazoe
Hibiki Tazoe

Okayama Rivets:
Lee Sangsu, KOR
Jin Ueda
Masaki Yoshida
Masataka Morizono
Kazuhiro Yoshimura
Takeru Kashiwa
Yuichi Yokoyama

Ryukyu Asteeda:
Koki Niwa
Chuang-Chih-Yuan, TPE
Kenji Matsudaira
Chen Chien-An, TPE
Yuto Muramatsu
Chiang Hung-Chieh, TPE
Yoshihiro Ozawa
Taimu Arinobu
Chan Kazuhiro


Women

Kinoshita Abyell Kanagawa:
Kasumi Ishikawa
Yui Hamamoto
Mizuki Morizono
Miyu Nagasaki
Yuan Xuejiao, CHN
Miyuu Kihara
Miwa Harimoto

Top Otome Pingpongs Nagoya:
Cheng I-Ching, TPE
Elizabeta Samara, ROU
Suh Hyowon, KOR
Minami Ando
Misaki Morizono
Ng Wing Nam, HKG

Nippon Life Red ELF:
Miu Hirano
Chen Szu-Yu, TPE
Hina Hayata
Yuka Ishigaki
Sakura Mori
Miyu Maeda
Chang Chenchen, CHN
Yuka Minegawa

Nippon Paint Mallets:
Feng Tianwei, SGP
Miyu Kato
Lee Ho Ching, HKG
Saki Tashiro
Shiho Matsudaira
Yu Uchinami

 
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