Is Harimoto's screams disrespectful to the opponent?

[Arkady]

Recently I had a debate with a co-player from my club concerning the "screams" of Harimoto.
He claims that Harimoto shouts to hype himself, while I believe he shouts to intimidate and irritate the opponent in an unsportsmanlike fashion.

The question in short is:

"Do you believe that the constant "cho-leing" of Harimoto during the matches, is disrespectful to the opponent and to the sport"?

My personal view is yes that it is. Let me give you my reasoning.

1. Most players shout "cho-le" after they've won a good rally, after they've won a critical point, after they've done a good serve that the opponent misread etc. So basically, there are only certain moments that plyers shout "cho-le".

Harimoto on the other hand, shouts IN EVERY SINGLE POINT right from the first point,regardless if he won the point or it was an opponent's unforced error.
That completely refutes the argument that "Harimoto shouts in order to hype himself". A player needs hyping in certain moments of tension, not all the time. If you do it all the time, it completely loses its meaning. It's like drinking Red Bull all day long instead of water, all day long... At some point it will have no effect....

2. Some people claim that Harimoto "is just a 16-17 year old kid" that goes up against "giants" and we should go easy on him.
I disagree. Harimoto is not just a kid and does not have the life of the average 17 year old kid. He is a professional athlete of the highest level, that has been trained from a very early age. he should respect the sport and his fellow athletes.

3. I've heard the argument that "Since it is allowed by the rules, even if it is irritating for his opponents, why shouldn't he do it if it helps him"?
Well I'll tell you what: There are things that are allowed, but we don't do them out of respect for the others and for ourselves.
let me give you an extreme example: Farting is allowed in public, but you don't see anyone that farts in the presence of other people, do you?

I'd like to hear the opinion of other forum members on the matter.

[Martijn Heemskerk]

I agree on this. When i was playing as a younger player my coach always taught me to be polite to the opponent. This meant to say sorry for edge or net balls and not cheer for every ball and especially not for points that were not due to my strengths but due to a stupid error of the opponent. Sure i can understand that he does it to hype himself up, but you can hype yourself up with a more quiet cho-le aswell. In my opinion his coach has failed in teaching him sportsmanship, which in my opinion is one of the most important parts of any sport.
Sure he is a young player, but that doesnt allow him to play like this in my opinion. To be honest there are very few people i feel like deserve a prize less than harimoto, just because he feels so toxic during play.

[Atas Newton]

One of the most polite players on the entire tour. Quit complaining and getting offended on someone else's behalf.

[IB66]

Farting in public!!!! Hahaha, all the time !!!

As for the shouting, Harimoto is excessive and annoying, but there’s a lot of others that shout out, Maybe the coaches ( mental performance coaches etc) have told them to do it ??

Personally I think it’s excessive and needs toning down.
like many others I was taught to be respectful to your opponent.

One thing that I find poor, is cheering for a mistake by your opponent!! Even if it’s one hell of a rally and your opponent makes a mistake under pressure, slightly missing the table, fist pump and a low volume ‘come on’ to yourself, that sort of thing is fine!! No shouting though!!

Shouting for exceptional play, where you play the ball through your opponent, one where they have have no chance of getting their bat to ball, Ace serve etc, now that deserves a shout out!!

lines and where you draw them!!!

[passifid]

It's just like Maria Sharipova all over again. An amazing talent almost overshadowed by their lack of respect for both the sport and it's watchers.

Can't wait until one of the players hopefully just starts coughing and waving the air at his opponent because that's not against the rules explicitly either. Just say one second before the serve and have a coughing fit wave it over the table and then go 'okay thank you'. If you're not I'll it's no issue he is just making sure he can breathe as well as possible it's not about the opponant

And especially if he is very respectful outside the table then atlas and his fellow simps will ignore the behaviour because he was quite nice after acting a total ass when it was more important

[Atas Newton]

atlas and his fellow simps

very classy. Maybe you should teach Harimoto some manners, you seem to know everything about it

[Richie]

Adam Barbrow and others have said that Harimoto is a very respectful and a shy kid outside of the court.
He is apologizes for nets and edges. He has never cho'd into someones face and as far as I know, never showed any other signs of intimidating or irritating his opponent.

To me, (and maybe Adam's who seems relatively close to TM) there is no evidence that suggests Harimoto shouts to irritate and intimidate his opponent. It seems that he does it to control his own emotions and perhaps it has become a habit and therefore difficult for him to stop. There have been a few matches where he plays opponents at a much lower level where he doesn't cho.

When the opponent make what seems like an easy mistake and Harimoto shouts, I don't think he even considers whether the mistake was easy/hard or if he won the point by playing well. He just automatically cho's, except if he won a lucky point.

Despite sticking up for Harimoto here, I'm not saying it's a good thing. I hate to play against players who cho and I never cho myself. Knowing what Harimoto is actually like and why he does it would make it much easier to accept than if it were from a player known for being intimidating and play dirty etc. Harimoto is not known for that.

I would much rather play against Harimoto's choing than Dimas moaning. In either of those cases I wouldn't be too bothered as I don't believe they do it to put me off my game, they're doing it because it somehow enhances their game.

I think most of us are in agreement that the choing is unnecessary and that we'd prefer if he toned it down. I'm somewhat conflicted, since I'd hate to face it as a player. As a spectator I enjoy Harimoto's fighting spirit and passion for the sport, I guess I've gotten used to his choing. Everyone is different. We then have Lin Jun Yu who shows his passion in a different way and it would be out of character for him to cho loudly.

So, unless I'm shown that I've misjudged Harimoto's character I'll keep enjoying his matches despite the choing, which I completely understand can be annoying.

[Atas Newton]

Harimoto:

• Apologises for literally everything. He could hit a winner 10 meters clear of the opponent - never a chance he could get to it - and catch the slightest edge, won't scream, will apologise.
• Actually looks like he's sorry every time he apologises. Can not say the same about a lot of players no one complains about on the forums.
• Good solid handshakes after every game, regardless of the importance of the match and the opponent's behavior.
• Never screams into the opponent's face. Never even makes eye contact, just turns away and screams his head off.
• Is a teenager competing on par with some of the best players ever, has every right to be as hyped as possible.

Meanwhile, Harimoto haters:

• Very often clueless about the manners themselves, rude, ignorant, classless. Will happily complain about Harimoto's supposed lack of respect and call him names in the same sentence. Absolutely unaware of the irony of the said situation.
• Very sure that the etiquette they've been taught by some older bloke at a local club is universal and has anything to do at all with professional game. Spoiler: it's not.
• Never reached 5% the success of Harimoto when they were teenagers nor ever after. Something tells me this explains a lot of the hate he gets, regular jealousy. People are annoyed that someone can be that good at 14, 15, 17 years of age while they can't land a forehand at 35.

In the end? Harimoto 11:0 Silly Haters

[yogi_bear]

His screaming is annoying but it is not disrepectful. If his opponents do not complain about his screaming why would other people complain that it is?

[Hysteresis]

I voted not disrespectful, although I do find it obnoxious.

I liken it to a baby screaming/crying in public. Yes it's very loud and obnoxious. But is it disrespectful to you?
It's not like the baby is trying specifically to annoy you. It's just a baby being a baby, the baby doesn't yet have a good idea of the appropriate level of response to stimulus, or how inappropriate that level of noise/fuss is in a public place. It's not targetted at you, or at society or anything, it's just a general lack of volume control/sense of social propriety.

The same way, I don't think Harimoto is screaming to upset his opponent or to show show disrespect to the event/sport. He's just a kid who still has trouble containing his excitement, and keeping his outbursts within the realms of propriety.

Do I wish he would tone it down? Yes, and I think as he ages/matures, he will.
But do I take it as a sign of personal disrespect? No, I don't think his opponents should either, nor should the audience.

[IB66]

Harimoto:

• Apologises for literally everything. He could hit a winner 10 meters clear of the opponent - never a chance he could get to it - and catch the slightest edge, won't scream, will apologise.
• Actually looks like he's sorry every time he apologises. Can not say the same about a lot of players no one complains about on the forums.
• Good solid handshakes after every game, regardless of the importance of the match and the opponent's behavior.
• Never screams into the opponent's face. Never even makes eye contact, just turns away and screams his head off.
• Is a teenager competing on par with some of the best players ever, has every right to be as hyped as possible.

Meanwhile, Harimoto haters:

• Very often clueless about the manners themselves, rude, ignorant, classless. Will happily complain about Harimoto's supposed lack of respect and call him names in the same sentence. Absolutely unaware of the irony of the said situation.
• Very sure that the etiquette they've been taught by some older bloke at a local club is universal and has anything to do at all with professional game. Spoiler: it's not.
• Never reached 5% the success of Harimoto when they were teenagers nor ever after. Something tells me this explains a lot of the hate he gets, regular jealousy. People are annoyed that someone can be that good at 14, 15, 17 years of age while they can't land a forehand at 35.

In the end? Harimoto 11:0 Silly Haters

Haters is a very strong word.

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

I'm a Harimoto fan, and please don't stop chooing, Tomo ! we love it !
it would be so boring if he stopped choooing

I fully understand him, it keeps him pumped, during a match, so he can release his best shots and make the game exciting to watch for us.
He is a model for me, he's an extraordinary talented kid and I hope he will win a lot of major trophies.

I want to chooo more during my matches but I'm already quite loud. I just need to win more nice points to get more opportunities to do so ! I love so much choooing. And i love it even better when my opponent is choooing loud as well. It motivates me to give a good fight ! CHOREI !!!!

To people who criticize Hari, just relax and give it a try, choooo during your next match !! you'll see its good for your Adrenaline, and you'll play better...

and if silence is important for you when you play, then try playing Bridge, Darts or Snooker

[passifid]

I dont disagree he is a fantastic player and athlete, why everyone who hates his disdain for the etiquette means I hate him is silly. I even mentioned he was fantastic al la Sharipova (was number 2 for the longest time).
But I agree with takkyu he isnt wrong about his statement.
We just disagree weather this behaviour is unsportsmanlike.

Then there is atlas :') ignoring the fact there is a time and place for certain behaviour and then proving my point with a deranged rant about how if you think harimoto is fantastic but his screaming too much you are evil and hate him but I gues you can see my earlier assesment.

[Martijn Heemskerk]

I dont think anyone here is saying anything about what kind of a person he is. he can be the nicest person outside of the match for all i care. But for example if someone comes up to me during a match and punches me in the face thats bad, even if he is very humble after the match. So yes i do see his yelling as a negative. And simply the fact that the opponent isnt saying anything about it doesnt say anything. I know from myself if im irritated by something the opponent does and i say something about it im more focussed on that part instead of the match, therefore i dont say anything, doesnt mean i condone said action.

[Baal]

I don't think it is disrepectful and I think he was coached to do it as a young kid.

But I also think ITTF should put their foot down on this.

[IB66]

I don't think it is disrepectful and I think he was coached to do it as a young kid.

But I also think ITTF should put their foot down on this.

I totally agree,

I think that a lot of coaches advocate this as a positive behaviour, and a way of putting mental pressure on your opponent.
Sometimes, players shout / scream more for winning points than they do for winning the game or match !!! for me this shows it’s a mental tactic, a way of trying to stamp your authority on your opponent.
ITTF need to revisit this ‘celebration tactic’

[Archyan]

I don't think it is disrepectful and I think he was coached to do it as a young kid.

But I also think ITTF should put their foot down on this.

Why should they put their foot down?

[killiegradge]

More annoying for me was the clapping in particular from the Korean coach when his player won a point!It continued right up until a second or so before the next service. Especially irritating during the early stages when there was no crowd and hall was almost silent.

[Archyan]

People complain that tabletennis is a too soft sport, where you are not allowed to anything. The same people complain about Harimotos shout, that it is disrespectful and should not be allowed.

[IB66]

Pre lockdown, I went and watched a tournament, there was about 16 tables in use, that’s 32 people playing at one time. So if both players were ‘chooing’ at the top of their voice for every point won, let’s say one ‘choo’ every 10 to 15 seconds per table the shouts of Cho, etc would be continuous!!!

what the hell !!!!! Sod it , let’s go with shouting at the top of our voices every time we win or lose a point, Cho for winning Nooooooooo for loosing!!!!!!!
Perhaps the ITTF should make it a rule that you have to scream at the top of your voice win or lose a point, until you lose the ability to speak. Then you’d have to revert to the back up pre recorded ‘Cho’ that the ref could press for you!!!!!!