Hirano couldn't handle the pressure. Lily Zhang played fantastic, really quick on her feet, covering the whole table and she beated Hirano at her own game, she got the upper hand in the BH rallies. Her solid FH flick got her the extra points to make the difference, while in the few lobbing rallies Hirano showed her blatant lack of FH power, Lily won all of them.
OTOH Hirano seemed as usual not to have a plan B or C and she totally collapsed mentally... 5-11 in the 6th and 7th. G7 was 1-5 -> 4-5 -> 4-11 ... a total disaster
looks like Ishikawa will take the spot, i think with this match its a done deal. Given how Hirano's level (far from her 2017 form), despite her track record against the Chinese, I think its the best chance for Japan, perhaps not for Gold, but for Bronze if she has a good draw.