Japan Women's Race to Tokyo 2020 Singles

[Vlad Celler]

Thank !

[zeio]

@Zeio

ISHIKAWA has got a crush on MA Long , maybe that's why she studied Mandarin so hard, but is it reciprocal ?

A picture speaks a thousand words...

[Tempest/Comet]

Ishikawa might be able to play in the first T2 Diamond event....
IF CNT withdraws 2(or more) of it's qualified players. Ishikawa was hung up with a group, but the tie-breaker is WR, which she's on top.
First T2 event is July18-21 in Malaysia.
The China National TT Championship (全国乒乓球锦标赛) runs July25-Aug2 in Tianjin China, only 3 days later.
The T2 points are meaningless to the Chinese, the placing in the National Championship is critical on many fronts. The old and the feeble might just take a breather to prepare for the BIG deal.

[Vlad Celler]

Curious...

[Jacky Kwok]

I don’t think the China National TT Championship (全国乒乓球锦标赛) is crucial to the major players. Last year, a lot of the big names like ML, FZD, XX, LSW did not join.

[CoolPug7]

I don’t think the China National TT Championship (全国乒乓球锦标赛) is crucial to the major players. Last year, a lot of the big names like ML, FZD, XX, LSW did not join.

I agree, I think it is just a way for the CNT to recruit new promising players.

[Tempest/Comet]

For the second T2 Diamond event.
After Japan Op, Ishikawa has 141WT ranking points, at number #16, just below Sato’s 166 pts at #15 the cutoff. Ito is at #5 with 450, Hirano at #7 with 363. Ahead of Ishikawa are WMY, CM, LSW, SYS, Ito, WYD, Hirano, DN, ZYL, CXT, CIC, GYT, HZJ, SATO. All have more pts than her, with only Korea & Australia left before the next cutoff on July15.
She can get 31 pts more if she reaches QF in Korea, and another 100 pts if she gets into QF in Australia.
Immediate threat is Doo, 17 pts behind, and Polcanova 27 pts.

[apacible]

Standings after the Japan Open:


My breakdown of the race after the Japan Open:

Hirano got a good draw in Japan, and it’s a huge break for her to reach the SF of Platinum event. It’s as if the table tennis Gods really do not want Ishikawa to play the singles event in Tokyo. If the trend continues till the end of the year, it seems that Hirano and Ito are taking the singles slots. That leaves the 3^rd team spot up for grabs, with Hayata and Ishikawa being the most likely candidates due to them being left-handed. Hayata shined in the mixed doubles event and gave Chen Meng a good fight in singles, and thus, improving her chances to be selected for Tokyo.

Traditionally, one of the methods used by JTTA in selecting players to represent Japan in a major competition is look at one’s performance in the past year and see how many Top 30 players in the WR one has beaten. This is one of the criteria JTTA considered in choosing Hirano and Sato over players like Hayata for the 2019 WTTC. As for 2019, here are the stats:

Hayata 6 Wins: Liu Shiwen, Shibata, Szocs, Hashimoto, Cheng I-Ching, Hirano
Ishikawa 5 Wins: Feng Tianwei, Suh Hyowon, Doo Hoi Kem, Chen Szu-Yu, Zhang Mo
Ito 5 Wins: Doo Hoi Kem, Feng Tianwei, Ding Ning, Polconova, Hirano
Hirano 5 Wins: Sawettabut, Chen Szu-Yu, Jeon Jihee, Feng Tianwei, Sato

This, along with the 3^rd player’s doubles synergy with other Japanese Olympians, will be the main factor in determining her slot. I was a bit surprised to see Japan declare the Hirano/Shibata doubles pairing for the Korean and Australian Open. I would think the JTTA would want to give Hayata/Hirano a test or to give Hirano/Ishikawa time to work things out, as these seem to be more plausible doubles combinations for the team event.

The performance of Japan’s mixed doubles pairings for the next two tournaments is also worth monitoring since the potential success of the Ishikawa/Yoshimura or Ito/Mizutani pairings could pose some threat to Hayata’s Olympic chances.

[apacible]

Ishikawa might be able to play in the first T2 Diamond event....
IF CNT withdraws 2(or more) of it's qualified players. Ishikawa was hung up with a group, but the tie-breaker is WR, which she's on top.
First T2 event is July18-21 in Malaysia.
The China National TT Championship (全国乒乓球锦标赛) runs July25-Aug2 in Tianjin China, only 3 days later.
The T2 points are meaningless to the Chinese, the placing in the National Championship is critical on many fronts. The old and the feeble might just take a breather to prepare for the BIG deal.

Based on the video posted by T2 Diamond for the Top 16 Women Qualified for the first T2 Diamond tournament, it seems only one more withdrawal is needed for Ishikawa to play. https://twitter.com/t2_diamond/statu...58134501580800

The 16th placer based on the standings was Sofia Polconova, but it seems that Szocs, the 17th placer, got her spot. Therefore, only one more withdrawal is needed for 18th placer Ishikawa to play.

[zeio]

The JTTA don't usually count the JNT players for the Top 30 beaten so Ishikawa is in the lead and Hayata is dead last.

For the T2 Diamond, Polcanova is not playing?

[zeio]

Is it possible they're inviting Doo over Polcanova because of the 2nd bullet point? It could be interpreted such that only 1 of them could qualify.

https://t2apac.com/t2-content/upload...rmat_FINAL.pdf

The top-15 male and female players from the 2019 ITTF World Tour Standings, at the indicated qualification cut-off date, will qualify to compete in the relevant T2DIAMOND 2019 event.
• If a player qualifies but declines to compete in a T2DIAMOND2019 event; the player with the next-highest World Tour Standing Points will become eligible to compete.
• If two or more players have equal World Tour Standing Points, the player(s)with the higher ITTF World Ranking as at the qualification cut-off date will qualify in precedence to the other player(s). If two or more players have equal ITTF World Rankings, the player(s) with the higher ITTF World Ranking for the month immediately preceding that of the qualification cut-off date will qualify in precedence to the other player(s).

[apacible]

The JTTA don't usually count the JNT players for the Top 30 beaten so Ishikawa is in the lead and Hayata is dead last.

For the T2 Diamond, Polcanova is not playing?

Oh, my mistake then. Thank you, Zeio! I just google translated the criteria "世界ランキング30 位以内(日本人選手、同一選手含む)に勝利した回数" and it translated to "Number of wins in the top 30 world rankings (including Japanese players, same players)" so I thought wins against teammates in the Top 30 would count.

As for Polcanova, I'm not entirely sure why she's not in the video of qualifiers since her WT standing points after the China open is higher than Szocs, who was the 17th placer. I also can't think of a reason why Polcanova would withdraw given the bonus WR points offered by the event.

Even T2 Diamond's FB page advertised Szocs to be part of the event. https://www.facebook.com/T2Diamond/p...type=3&theater

"Season 1 women's champion Bernadette Szocs automatically qualifies for T2 Diamond Malaysia. Will she be able to defend her crown in Season 2?"

I do hope that Szocs qualified because Polcanova is unable to make it and wasn't given an automatic qualification over Polcanova just because she was the T2 champion in Season 1, since an automatic qualification for former champions was never mentioned in the guidelines, and this would be unfair to Polcanova, who earned her spot through her performance on the World Tour.

[apacible]

Is it possible they're inviting Doo over Polcanova because of the 2nd bullet point? It could be interpreted such that only 1 of them could qualify.

https://t2apac.com/t2-content/upload...rmat_FINAL.pdf

It's possible. If we're only counting the top 15, then yes, Polcanova wouldn't qualify as she's at 16th place because of the tiebreaker Doo Hoi Kem has over Polcanova. Technically, the extra slot should go to a player from the host country who must be inside the Top 50 WR. However, Malaysia doesn't have a Top 50 player. The question now is, does the 16th slot automatically go the the player next in ranking, which is Polcanova, or does T2 have the discretion to select any player as a "wild card" to fill that slot?

There's a gray area here because for the Men, all top 16 players from the WT standings made the cut-off since there's no host exemption applicable as Malaysia has no player in the top 50 of the Men's WR.

[Vlad Celler]

How long will the bonuses received in the T2 Diamond be valid?

[NextLevel]

How long will the bonuses received in the T2 Diamond be valid?

Probably a year thing. Ratings are usually valid for a year.

[zeio]

Oh, my mistake then. Thank you, Zeio! I just google translated the criteria "世界ランキング30 位以内(日本人選手、同一選手含む)に勝利した回数" and it translated to "Number of wins in the top 30 world rankings (including Japanese players, same players)" so I thought wins against teammates in the Top 30 would count.

As for Polcanova, I'm not entirely sure why she's not in the video of qualifiers since her WT standing points after the China open is higher than Szocs, who was the 17th placer. I also can't think of a reason why Polcanova would withdraw given the bonus WR points offered by the event.

Even T2 Diamond's FB page advertised Szocs to be part of the event. https://www.facebook.com/T2Diamond/p...type=3&theater

"Season 1 women's champion Bernadette Szocs automatically qualifies for T2 Diamond Malaysia. Will she be able to defend her crown in Season 2?"

I do hope that Szocs qualified because Polcanova is unable to make it and wasn't given an automatic qualification over Polcanova just because she was the T2 champion in Season 1, since an automatic qualification for former champions was never mentioned in the guidelines, and this would be unfair to Polcanova, who earned her spot through her performance on the World Tour.

Oh, that criterion is for the 2 singles spots, for the case where 3 or more players have the same ranking points for the 1st spot or 2 or more players qualify for the 2nd spot, in which case they'd consider, in descending order, the WTTC, WC, WTGF, World Tour Platinum won in 2019, the number of wins over top 30 players(JNT players and same player included), and playoffs among the said players.

For the 3rd spot, there is only 1 criterion - 1 player that's good in singles and doubles.

Exactly, the T2 is like free points and free prize money for Polcanova. Even more, she's been fantastic recently.

[apacible]

Oh, that criterion is for the 2 singles spots, for the case where 3 or more players have the same ranking points for the 1st spot or 2 or more players qualify for the 2nd spot, in which case they'd consider, in descending order, the WTTC, WC, WTGF, World Tour Platinum won in 2019, the number of wins over top 30 players(JNT players and same player included), and playoffs among the said players.

For the 3rd spot, there is only 1 criterion - 1 player that's good in singles and doubles.

Exactly, the T2 is like free points and free prize money for Polcanova. Even more, she's been fantastic recently.

Thanks again, Zeio, for the correction! If the only criterion is that the player be good in both singles and doubles, it should bode better for Hayata. She's unlikely to be able to face and beat many Top 30 players if she starts from the qualifications in the World Tour. Also, Hayata's results in the past 2 years as a doubles partner of Ito or Hirano has been better than that of Ishikawa when she was paired with Ito or Hirano.

[zeio]

It's possible. If we're only counting the top 15, then yes, Polcanova wouldn't qualify as she's at 16th place because of the tiebreaker Doo Hoi Kem has over Polcanova. Technically, the extra slot should go to a player from the host country who must be inside the Top 50 WR. However, Malaysia doesn't have a Top 50 player. The question now is, does the 16th slot automatically go the the player next in ranking, which is Polcanova, or does T2 have the discretion to select any player as a "wild card" to fill that slot?

There's a gray area here because for the Men, all top 16 players from the WT standings made the cut-off since there's no host exemption applicable as Malaysia has no player in the top 50 of the Men's WR.

Hmm, I never expected an ass pull for table tennis. Automatic qualification for the defending T2 Champion is so Trumpish.

[zeio]

Thanks again, Zeio, for the correction! If the only criterion is that the player be good in both singles and doubles, it should bode better for Hayata. She's unlikely to be able to face and beat many Top 30 players if she starts from the qualifications in the World Tour. Also, Hayata's results in the past 2 years as a doubles partner of Ito or Hirano has been better than that of Ishikawa when she was paired with Ito or Hirano.

Yea, Hayata is comparable to XX. A master key for doubles, yet vulnerable for singles. I feel bad for Ishikawa.

[Tempest/Comet]

>top-15 players from the relevant 2019 ITTF World Tour Standings; and
>one Host Exemption selected by the relevant Host City Partner.

Host Exemption:
• Each Host City Partner will select one (1) male and one (1) female player to participate in the relevant T2DIAMOND 2019 event as Host Exemptions.
• Each Host Exemption must be ranked in the top-50 of the ITTF World Rankings at the time of selection, and must not have qualified to compete in the relevant T2DIAMOND 2019 event from the World Tour Standings.

1) it’s still only top 15 players,
2) Makes no mention that this selected ‘Host Exemption’ needs to be from the Host City(a Malaysian in this case), just that they have the privilege to select one, from the top 50 who hasn’t qualified. Read ‘Host Exemption’ as wild card. Szocs was the 2018 champion from the host city, but didn't qualify, so they picked her.

At least that’s how I read into the document.
(Or as Tempest says ‘Host Exemption selected’ explicitly exempts the selected from being OF the host.)