2022 All Japan Table Tennis Championship

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Harimoto's entire career seems to be in a tailspin. How is he supposed to be elite player to take on the Chinese team if he can't even beat Yoshimura and cant win his home national tournament.

It seems like he has been getting bad advice.

Harimoto won both junior and mens competition in 2017 and everyone including me thought he is the next dominator in Japan the following years. Surprisingly he never won the all Japan after 2017. For whatever reason his development didn't go in the right direction since then. At the moment he is too slow and becomes slower year after year. With such slow footwork he never can be a threat against the best chinese from further behind the table. Maybe table tennis wasn't the top priority for him (or his parents) I don't know. I still hope he can recover from this, it requires a radical change I guess.

 
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Harimoto won both junior and mens competition in 2017 and everyone including me thought he is the next dominator in Japan the following years. Surprisingly he never won the all Japan after 2017. For whatever reason his development didn't go in the right direction since then. At the moment he is too slow and becomes slower year after year. With such slow footwork he never can be a threat against the best chinese from further behind the table. Maybe table tennis wasn't the top priority for him (or his parents) I don't know. I still hope he can recover from this, it requires a radical change I guess.

I want to see him go into training under the Chinese program. Help him model his game after ZJK and ML. Improve his forehand, and add more spin to his game. Maybe needs to change his racket as well. He grew up playing with a very JP racket which is easy to play, but not conducive to developing strong strokes. He only has a few years to develop, and time is wasting on his career.Honestly thought it was a very stupid decision to give his entire future to such an unproven coach. Have his Japanese coaches offered any comment on his lack of improvement?

 
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his body changed a lot, he can't do anything about it; he's much taller than what he used to be. so that changes a lot of things to him

also, yes, he is not 100% focused on TT, he's quite brilliant at studying, and its an important thing for his parents. Thats less training time for him compared to a lot of players.

He is young still and still can make come a better and more mature player. But it will take time. Probably not ready for Paris Olympics but maybe he will age well, like Samsonov or Boll, and have extraordinary results again. Miu Hirano is in the same category.
 
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mrk

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It's not all body related though. He needs more variation in his service, over the years no change.

 
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Amazing comeback from down 0-3 by Miyuu Kihara over Hitomi Sato. Miyuu has always had problems with both Sato and Hashimoto. This is a rite of passage for her getting to that next level. From Game 4 on she did a beautiful job of attacking the middle. And then when Sato started attacking more she had some initial difficulty but was eventually able to counter. I hope WTT reconsiders the best of 5 format for quarterfinals. Going the 7 game distance in this match was definitely worth it.
 
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I want to see him go into training under the Chinese program. Help him model his game after ZJK and ML. Improve his forehand, and add more spin to his game. Maybe needs to change his racket as well. He grew up playing with a very JP racket which is easy to play, but not conducive to developing strong strokes. He only has a few years to develop, and time is wasting on his career.Honestly thought it was a very stupid decision to give his entire future to such an unproven coach. Have his Japanese coaches offered any comment on his lack of improvement?

I'm a big fan of Harimoto but it seems quite strange or maybe it's not strange but special? idk too, the way he hold the racket his grip when he serve that's very unique. But that could also be a disadvantage ? not being able to make much variations during the serve due to that grip.
I also have to admit that his body is getting bigger. He's in a bigger frame by now compared to previous years of time.
It's really hard to explain cuz now he lost to yoshimura but in the previous WTT singapore, he beated players like hugo calderano and mattias falck. I just hope him to be able to adjust himself with his playing style. I guess he should try to exaggerate his style of play. His playing style used to be compact and is still I think more or less. Aiming to go from backhand to backhand.
But he played really well back in 2019 ittf world tour grand finals against Xu Xin though he lost him. A tight match indeed.

And does it concern with his racket? I mean his racket is still one of the fast ones also still offering him alot of control.

 
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Men's QF

YOSHIYAMA - MATSUDAIRA Kenta 1-4

YOSHIMURA Maharu - MATSUSHITA 4-1

YOSHIDA Maki - NIWA 0-4

UEDA - TOGAMI 0-4

Men's Semis (tomorrow)

MATSUDAIRA Kenta - YOSHIMURA Maharu

NIWA - TOGAMI

Women's QF

KATO - ODO 4-2

NAGASAKI - HAYATA 1-4

KIHARA - SATO 4-3 (remontada from 0-3 !)

SHIBATA - ITO 0-4

Women's Semis (tomorrow)

KATO - HAYATA

KIHARA - ITO

Men's Doubles final

HARIMOTO/MORIZONO - UDA/TOGAMI 2-3

Womens Doubles final

ITO/HAYATA - SU/NARUMOTO 3-1

Boys final

YOSHIYAMA - MATSUSHIMA Sora 3-2

Girls final

HARIMOTO Miwa - KIHARA 0-3

 
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Men's QF

YOSHIYAMA - MATSUDAIRA Kenta 1-4

YOSHIMURA Maharu - MATSUSHITA 4-1

YOSHIDA Maki - NIWA 4-0

UEDA - TOGAMI 0-4

Men's Semis (tomorrow)

MATSUDAIRA Kenta - YOSHIMURA Maharu

NIWA - TOGAMI

Thanks for the info Takkyu.
Just wondering is the score for Yoshida vs Niwa meant to be 0-4 instead of 4-0 if Niwa is through to semis?

 
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All Japan Table Tennis Championships-2022 - Japan National Table Tennis Championship 2022, which was held from January 24 to 30, 2022 in Osaka, Japan under the leadership of Japan Table Tennis Association in 7 events: men's and women's singles and doubles, mixed doubles, men's and women's singles among juniors. The Japanese Championships for cadets and juniors are held separately. This will be the 83rd All Japan National Championships (established in 1935 and had a hiatus during World War II).
 
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All Japan Table Tennis Championships-2022 - Japan National Table Tennis Championship 2022, which was held from January 24 to 30, 2022 in Osaka, Japan under the leadership of Japan Table Tennis Association in 7 events: men's and women's singles and doubles, mixed doubles, men's and women's singles among juniors. The Japanese Championships for cadets and juniors are held separately. This will be the 83rd All Japan National Championships (established in 1935 and had a hiatus during World War II).

This year, they are not held in Osaka but in Tokyo, at the Tokyo Gymnasium. I am 110% sure of it, I was in front of the stadium yesterday.

 
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so yesterday i went to the stadium, i had bought my tickets online.

I couldn't get in: I didn't realize i had to show the vaccine pass. I didn't even know such a thing existed, there is a smartphone app where one should register...

6,000 yens wasted and a lot of frustration. stupid rules in a country where there is absolutely no pandemic
 
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It was not Hayata's best game technically, but she showed character in finding a way to win. In the 4th game, I was wondering why she continuously allowed Kato to open against her serve and sometimes even a point winning opening. From game 5 on, she served from the wide forehand. I don't particularly like leaving your deep backhand so exposed, but the serve was giving Kato a lot of problems. I think she was banking on Kato not having practiced against it. But to HH's credit she also had to deal with Kato's injury timeout and another long delay caused by the reflection of a laminated sign in the seats.

On the men's side, Togami has a great shot at the championship after easily taking down Koki Niwa 4-0. It looks like it's time for the changing of the guard.
 
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Women's Semis

HAYATA - KATO 4-3 a hard fought game. HAYATA is the better player but KATO has some Kryptonite against Hayata or what ? She even had one matchpoint in Game 6 but HAYATA took incredible risks to save it (agressive chiquita + FH pivot down the line power drive)

ITO had a walkover against KIHARA. Seriously, can somebody be seriously sick and win a QF in a very high level competition ? KIHARA must have had 37.5 fever, a small cough and still test positive to Covid. This is so ridiculous

Men's Semis
TOGAMI - NIWA 0-4 One way street. TOGAMI is too strong too fast, a world apart between the 2 players...

YOSHIMURA Maharu - MATSUDAIRA Kenta 3-4. Until G7 a match with a lot of ups and downs from both players. G7 was totally for Kenta 11-3. YOSHIMURA was stunned at the end of the match and was obviously very disappointed after putting such a fight. He still has ambitions, voicing his will to compete for Paris Olympics, while MATSUDAIRA has officially retired from the national team.

predictions:

ITO didn't have any difficult match on her road to the final. Maybe the momentum is for HAYATA ?

difficult not to see TOGAMI triumph if he stays composed. His footwork is way above his opponents. He's got power, good serves. I don't think Kenta's tricks and experiences are enough to stop TOGAMI
 
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its over
ITO - HAYATA 4-1 a very one-sided final. HAYATA got only G4 when ITO relieved some pressure. ITO didn't even seem too happy after match point. It was a "normal" and very much expected victory for her.

TOGAMI - MATSUDAIRA 4-2
Kenta fought hardand tried to play cleverly but was under pressure all match because he could not to manage to find a serve which TOGAMI couldn't attack well with his chiquita.
It was obvious that TOGAMI had more power and much swifter footwork than MATSUDAIRA due to the age difference. MATSUDAIRA excelled in his blocking game and touch play but that wasn't enough. There was a match until 2-2 but Kenta couldn't sustain the rhythm.
 

mrk

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I'm impressed by Togami, what a player. I don't think this win is a fluke, I really think he is the best japanese player right now when he plays like this. In contrast to Harimoto his footwork and upper body movement is so much faster which helps him from behind the table and in defense. Great tournament from Matsudaira as well, I hope he is coming back.

 
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I'm impressed by Togami, what a player. I don't think this win is a fluke, I really think he is the best japanese player right now when he plays like this. In contrast to Harimoto his footwork and upper body movement is so much faster which helps him from behind the table and in defense. Great tournament from Matsudaira as well, I hope he is coming back.

i agree that TOGAMI is the best Japanese player at the moment. His footwork is really amazing. His FH is very powerful, he excels in the chiquita, and he's got very good serves too.

He was totally outclassed by WANG Chuqin in the WTTC, but who wouldn't ? i hope it will motivate him to get better.

 
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This was a bit of a strange tournament with Covid stopping the progress of both Miu Hirano and Miyuu Kihara. I hope they will be okay. Mima clearly was the fresher player without having to play a semi finals that was supposed to take place with Kihara. Hayata had to struggle through a 7 game match with Miyu Kato and not much time between that match and her match with Mima. On a positive note for her, she's now ranked 6th in the world: https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022_5_SEN_WS.html !
 
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