20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026, 9/19-10/4

[Janard]

Even with the loss of the JNT in men's singles, it is now becoming clearer that they are stepping up to the plate and trying to become more like the Japanese women. Whether they succeed will come down to a number of factors.

The Japanese teams are clearly not as blended - the Chinese teams clearly trained hard for this event. Both Japanese teams did well to get one game. Both matches should ultimately have been 4-0.

Harimoto/Shinozuka playing worse than Matsushima/Togami was surprising

 

[NextLevel]

Harimoto/Shinozuka playing worse than Matsushima/Togami was surprising

I don't know if they played worse so much as that Harimoto is not a traditional doubles player , he always uses his head and his backhand more than his forehand. and footwork. So he doesn't pressure the opponent in quite the same was as Togami and Sora or even dare I say it Shinozuka, who are all willing to pound the forehand to win the point.

 

[lightspin]

It is strange they wouldn't use TTR. I guess they did indeed pay the price by not paying the price for TTR.

 

[NextLevel]

That is amazing - I would have lost money betting they could win another game - it seems that the Japanese male players don't know how to play until they are down and have accept defeat then their Zen kicks in and they become monsters. That said, I still think they only delayed the inevitable.

 

[Janard]

I don't know if they played worse so much as that Harimoto is not a traditional doubles player , he always uses his head and his backhand more than his forehand. and footwork. So he doesn't pressure the opponent in quite the same was as Togami and Sora or even dare I say it Shinozuka, who are all willing to pound the forehand to win the point.

As with the natural rhythm of this forum, anything said too early seems to backfire hahaha

 

[NextLevel]

As with the natural rhythm of this forum, anything said too early seems to backfire hahaha

It is like playing the stock market - you place your trade, the market moves against you lol.

 

[NextLevel]

That has to be the biggest stock market move against me ever in TT...

 

[JackJohnson]

Harimoto/Shinozuka came back hard after being down to win the match 4-3.

Happy for Shinozuka after being sideline from the mens team event.

If they do well Togami will likely not be playing at the next Olympics if they can secure gold.

 

[zeio]

WTTC 2025
Harimoto/Matsushima -> No medal
Togami/Shinozuka -> Gold
JTTA: Let's try this to get more medals.

Asian Games 2026
Harimoto/Shinozuka -> Gold or silver
Matsushima/Togami -> Bronze
JTTA: Genius, right?

MD SF
WRB/XP 3-4 Harimoto/Shinozuka (9, 6, -9, 1, -10, -7, -4)
G4 50, 51 XP faulted for serving inside the endline?, 111
G5 01, 51, 52, 62, 63, 93, 95 TO for CHN, 910, 1010, 1012
The crucial nets saved the day.
G6 20, 23, 33, 34, 54, 55, 55 endline edge for Shinozuka, 56, 66, 67, 77, 711
G7 02, 32, 37 controversial sideline edge for JPN, 310, 410, 411
Inexperience for WRB is acceptable, but XP is good for nothing after so many years of failure despite continuous opportunities.

Harimoto is still the undisputed leading figure. Matsushima still has a long way to go.

 

[NextLevel]

WTTC 2025
Harimoto/Matsushima -> No medal
Togami/Shinozuka -> Gold medal
JTTA: Let's try this to get more medals.

Asian Games 2026
Harimoto/Shinozuka -> Gold or silver medal
Matsushima/Togami -> Bronze medal
JTTA: Genius, right?

MD SF
WRB/XP 3-4 Harimoto/Shinozuka (9, 6, -9, 1, -10, -7, -4)
G4 50, 51 XP faulted for serving inside the endline?, 111
G5 01, 51, 52, 62, 63, 93, 95 TO for CHN, 910, 1010, 1012
The crucial nets saved the day.
G6 20, 23, 33, 34, 54, 55, 55 endline edge for Shinozuka, 56, 66, 67, 77, 711
G7 02, 32, 37 controversial sideline edge for JPN, 310, 410, 411
Inexperience for WRB is acceptable, but XP is good for nothing after so many years of failure despite continuous opportunities.

Harimoto is still the undisputed leading figure. Matsushima still has a long way to go.

Remind us again, how old are Harimoto and Matsushima respectively?

 

[zeio]

Harimoto/Shinozuka came back hard after being down to win the match 4-3.

Happy for Shinozuka after being sideline from the mens team event.

If they do well Togami will likely not be playing at the next Olympics if they can secure gold.

Togami and Uda, both prone to injuries like Hayata but more severe for Uda, can be written off for Brisbane 2032 at this point. Shinozuka will compete with Kawakami for the 3rd spot at a minimum and Kawakami might even be capable of challenging Matsushima if the latter continues like this with his mental attitude.

 

[zeio]

Remind us again, how old are Harimoto and Matsushima respectively?

Remind me again. How old were Mizutani and Harimoto at Tokyo 2020, respectively?

 

[zeio]

That's all on Japan. Noshad is likely the best server in the world, they disrespected him by not saving on getting TTR and paid the price.

Other than budget issue, it could be political in nature. I was going to write about that earlier this month after some finding.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

todays matches are not live on Japanese TV - dont want to subscribe to Unext :-(

VPN doesnt work for me for asiangamestv or tv.cctv 😭

 

[NextLevel]

Remind me again. How old were Mizutani and Harimoto at Tokyo 2020, respectively?

So you really want to confuse a "washed up" Mizutani with bad eyesight (using your standards) in his 30s vs Harimoto at 17 with Sora at 19, who is going to be #1 before Harimoto, vs Harimoto at 22?

Let's have this discussion when Harimoto gets to #1.

 

[NextLevel]

todays matches are not live on Japanese TV - dont want to subscribe to Unext :-(

VPN doesnt work for me for asiangamestv or tv.cctv 😭

that's really sad - how do they block asian games tv?

 

[NextLevel]

Looks like they have found a Miwa decoder... this is not looking good at all...

 

[Janard]

Wow this WMY is peak play at the moment, that BH and even her FH also well-protected

 

[NextLevel]

Am I the only one who thinks Miwa should switch to a Viscaria? Her brother's blades are for players who want to absorb the ball most of the time lol...

 

[zeio]

So you really want to confuse a "washed up" Mizutani with bad eyesight (using your standards) in his 30s vs Harimoto at 17 with Sora at 19, who is going to be #1 before Harimoto, vs Harimoto at 22?

Let's have this discussion when Harimoto gets to #1.

Remind me again. How old are Harimoto and Hayata/Ito here?