Japanese League - T.League 2019/2020

Originally Posted by mrk

Harimoto is losing quite a lot of games in T League this season, he played much better in the previous season. It reflects somehow his mediocre world tour results recently and his struggle against Uda and Togami. Not looking good for Olympics.

Harimoto very hot and cold. I remember watching a video on how he lost match so easy at Japan open against Sun Wen, breakdown on how to beat him.

His got soo much upside and still young, coaches really need to help him switch gears, as you said his team mates usually the ones beating him as the have the insights training with him to figure him out.

Japanese team shouldnt of announced their squad so early, now opposition teams know who to prepare for 6 months out. A target now been put on their back.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the T-League 2019-2020 Season Playoff Final for both the Men's and Women's Division has been cancelled. It's a shame as all the regular season matches were already completed and there were literally just 2 more playoff matches left to play in order to determine the champions. However, it seems like this was a necessary decision for safety reasons. Because of this, T.League has decided to crown the top regular season teams of both the Men's and Women's division as the championships. Both Kinoshita Meister Tokyo and Nippon Life Red Elf defend their titles, which makes both teams back-to-back champions.

Aside from this, a press conference was held a while ago with a mini-award ceremony for this season's best performers. The videos can be viewed here while the news article can be read here https://tleague.jp/news/article/4061/



Summary of Awards for T.League Season 2:
Men's Division
Champion: Kinoshita Meister Tokyo (2nd Straight Championship)
First Half MVP: Hou Yingchao (10W-6L from August to December for Kinoshita Meister Tokyo)
Second Half MVP: Takuya Jin (7W-2L in Singles and 3W-1L in Doubles from January to February for TT Saitama)
Best Pair: Yukiya Uda and Kenta Tazoe (6W-2L in Doubles for Kinoshita Meister Tokyo)
Season MVP: Hou Yingchao (2nd Most Wins in T.League this Season helping Tokyo clinch the Championship)

Women's Division
Champion: Nippon Life Red Elf (2nd Straight Championship)
First Half MVP: Suthasini Sawettabut (9W-2L for Nippon Paint Mallets, which is the Highest Win Rate among players in the 1st Half of the Season)
Second Half MVP: Sakura Mori (8W-1L for Nippon Life Red Elf in the Second Half of the Season)
Best Pair: Yang Haeun and Rika Suzuki (6W-3L in Doubles for Top Nagoya)
Season MVP: Sakura Mori (Most Wins in T.League this Season helping Nissay clinch the Championship)

Best Manager/Coach among both Men's and Women's Teams: Yazakazu Murakami (Current Nippon Life Red Elf Coach and Former Japan Women's National Team Head Coach)

T.League Season 3 Update:
The plan is to start the season in November instead of September, as originally planned. However, the start date could be pushed back even further if the COVID-19 situation does not improve. Alternatives such as having games without fans is also under consideration. Looking forward to the next T.League season whenever it may be and hoping that T.League goes back to uploading full matches like in Season 1, so those outside Japan can also enjoy the matches.

Originally Posted by zyu81

Is Takuya Jin something of a late bloomer? It seems he is on the older side and his results both domestically and internationally were not too impressive until the last year or two.

What makes you think they are impressive now? I am fairly sure he has been a strong player for a while now.

Originally Posted by zyu81

Is Takuya Jin something of a late bloomer? It seems he is on the older side and his results both domestically and internationally were not too impressive until the last year or two.

Yes and no. Takuya Jin didn't turn pro until 1/2019. He had a regular job at Citizen Watch.

Similar story for Jin Ueda, Masaki Yoshida, and others.