China Smash 2025

[zeio]

Well no Japanese player in the 21st century has a better international track record in singles.
Mizutani still hold 10 national champs while Harimoto is stuck at 2, Mizutani is an olympic champ but only at mixed doubles. Harimoto won ITTF Grand finals, a WTT champions event, many other WTT events, including 2 Japan opens where he defeated the 2 best Chinese players, the first one he wasnt even 15 and he beated the 2 grand slam winners ZJK had already completed it, Ma Long still on his way..., he beated 2 chinese players in a world champ final... Many finals and semifinals. its difficult to believe he's been on the circuit almost a decade but he's still only 22 and has still a lot of time ahead if no injuries.

his performance is not consistent between different tournaments but he's not a one-match wonder. he proved many times he can be on fire for a whole tournament and beat everyone. and not small events but the biggest ones.

The way Harimoto threw a tantrum over T.League players' sole purpose being all about beating him ahead of WTT CS Yokohama 2025 already highlights the lack of solidarity within the team. That is in stark contrast to the one who defended his teammates (namely Togami and Shinozuka) when Mizutani criticized JNT for the poor results at Paris 2024. Togami's internal struggle during WTTC 2025 didn't convince Mizutani. There must be a reason.

They really need to fix the club culture where different teams don't train together, but I don't see the possibility of that with the current or even future JTTA. Hayata especially is one who stresses チームひな at every chance she gets.

 

[TensorBackhand]

The way Harimoto threw a tantrum over T.League players' sole purpose being all about beating him ahead of WTT CS Yokohama 2025 already highlights the lack of solidarity within the team. That is in stark contrast to the one who defended his teammates (namely Togami and Shinozuka) when Mizutani criticized JNT for the poor results at Paris 2024. Togami's internal struggle during WTTC 2025 didn't convince Mizutani. There must be a reason.

They really need to fix the club culture where different teams don't train together, but I don't see the possibility of that with the current or even future JTTA. Hayata especially is one who stresses チームひな at every chance she gets.

Harimoto comes across as very angsty...like he whines and complains about everything when he should be training his forehand.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

The power of SK7 with T05H:

 

[dingyibvs]

Just watched the QTY vs. CY match. I haven't watched Qian play in a while, but I think she's changed her FH style right? She seems to do a lot more flat hits now, which doesn't appear to be very effective at least as of yet. It'd be interesting to see how she develops with that style.

 

[BlopChock]

View attachment 38281
The power of SK7 with T05H:
View attachment 38283

Really?! A man declaring war on his own citizens is what you decided to go with, eh?

 

[NextLevel]

Really?! A man declaring war on his own citizens is what you decided to go with, eh?

Come on, people use Hitler in joke memes all the time, let's remember all those Downfall overwrites - let's not take this too seriously please.

 

[FIXPOINT]

Scheduled Matches
All times are local time.
Live streaming https://www.youtube.com/wttglobal

Wed, 1st Oct 2025
11:00 T1 WD R16 HAYATA(JPN)/JOO(KOR) - HARIMOTO(JPN)/ODO(JPN)
11:00 T2 XD QF KARLSSON(SWE)/KALLBERG(SWE) - YUAN(CHN)/WANG(CHN)
11:00 T3 MD R16 ALLEGRO(BEL)/RASSENFOSSE(BEL) - SHAH(IND)/THAKKAR(IND)
11:35 T1 MS R32 LIN Gaoyuan(CHN) - LIANG Jingkun(CHN)
11:35 T2 MS R32 OH Junsung(KOR) - Kazuki HAMADA(JPN)
11:35 T4 MD R16 ABDELAZIZ(EGY)/ELBEIALI(EGY) - MATSUSHIMA(JPN)/TOGAMI(JPN)
12:10 T1 WS R32 Anna HURSEY(WAL) - KUAI Man(CHN)
12:10 T2 WS R32 SHIN Yubin(KOR) - Sofia POLCANOVA(AUT)
12:10 T3 WD R16 WINTER(GER)/WAN(GER) - SAWETTABUT(THA)/PARANANG(THA)
12:45 T1 MS R32 WANG Chuqin(CHN) - Milosz REDZIMSKI(POL)
12:45 T2 MS R32 Jonathan GROTH(DEN) - Eduard IONESCU(ROU)
12:45 T4 WD R16 PAVADE(FRA)/DIAZ(PUR) - SAMARA(ROU)/SZOCS(ROU)
13:20 T1 WS R32 Manika BATRA(IND) - WANG Manyu(CHN)
13:20 T2 WS R32 Mima ITO(JPN) - JOO Cheonhui(KOR)
13:20 T3 MD R16 LEBRUN(FRA)/LEBRUN(FRA) - ZELINKA(SVK)/PISTEJ(SVK)
13:55 T1 XD QF HUANG(CHN)/CHEN(CHN) - MATSUSHIMA(JPN)/HARIMOTO(JPN)
13:55 T2 WD R16 MATELOVA(CZE)/VARADY(SVK) - KAUFMANN(GER)/LIU(AUS)
13:55 T4 MD R16 AN(KOR)/LIM(KOR) - ZHOU(CHN)/CHEN(CHN)
18:00 T1 MD R16 FALCK(SWE)/KARLSSON(SWE) - LIN(CHN)/WANG(CHN)
18:00 T2 XD QF ROBLES(ESP)/XIAO(ESP) - CALDERANO(BRA)/TAKAHASHI(BRA)
18:00 T3 WD R16 KUAI(CHN)/WANG(CHN) - DOO(HKG)/ZHU(HKG)
18:35 T1 WS R32 CHEN Szu-Yu(TPE) - SHI Xunyao(CHN)
18:35 T2 MS R32 Patrick FRANZISKA(GER) - Sora MATSUSHIMA(JPN)
18:35 T4 WD R16 ZONG(CHN)/QIN(CHN) - NAGASAKI(JPN)/SHIN(KOR)
19:10 T1 MS R32 Felix LEBRUN(FRA) - CHEN Yuanyu(CHN)
19:10 T2 WS R32 Prithika PAVADE(FRA) - Satsuki ODO(JPN)
19:10 T3 MD R16 HUANG(CHN)/WEN(CHN) - CHAN(HKG)/WONG(HKG)
19:45 T1 WS R32 Miwa HARIMOTO(JPN) - Sabine WINTER(GER)
19:45 T2 MS R32 Manav THAKKAR(IND) - AN Jaehyun(KOR)
19:45 T4 WD R16 WANG(CHN)/XU(CHN) - KIM(KOR)/RYU(KOR)
20:20 T1 MS R32 Thibault PORET(FRA) - CHEN Junsong(CHN)
20:20 T2 WS R32 Hina HAYATA(JPN) - YEH Yi-Tian(TPE)
20:20 T3 WD R16 CHEN(CHN)/QIAN(CHN) - WANG(CHN)/ZHANG(USA)
20:55 T1 XD QF CHEN(CHN)/KUAI(CHN) - WANG(CHN)/SUN(CHN)
20:55 T2 MD R16 QUEK(SGP)/PANG(SGP) - XUE(CHN)/XIANG(CHN)
20:55 T4 MD R16 LIN(TPE)/KAO(TPE) - YUAN(CHN)/XU(CHN)

 

[TableTennisDaily]

Rally of the tournament 🔥🔥🔥

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

👀

 

[rpb23]

Really?! A man declaring war on his own citizens is what you decided to go with, eh?

Trump's overseas MAGA member. LOL.

 

[JackJohnson]

After the match ended LGY was wiping both sides of the table, I wonder if this was his last international match.

 

[NextLevel]

Why is Polcanova so helpless against Shin "only good for doubles" Yubin?

 

[rpb23]

Rally of the tournament 🔥🔥🔥

Togami had at least two occasions in solid control during the whole rally. One is at 19th shot, Togami took the chance to go really Lin's wide forehand, Lin had to recover with a high arc loop which lead to Togami redirected topspin to Lin's wide backhand a few shots later and forced Lin to lob.
Most people would assume Togami would win the rally at this time, and they usually would be right.
However, Lin executed two very difficult deep lobs and followed by a vicious signature backhand loop. This loop was so deep it jammed Togami a little bit so he couldn't launch another full swing counter, in stead, he did a slow soft loop which was a good decision as Lin was far away from the table and a short ball may cause him off balance.
Again, however, Lin did something very few pros can do as well as he can: he stepped forward, backhand ripped the ball with such a pace and spin that the ball dived after it bounced off the table leaving a pouncing Togami swinging the air and falling on the floor.

Some fans still criticize Togami attacking recklessly. Actually he has improved a lot and the fact he went to toe to toe with LSD in the last play showed just that. In order to beat top Chinese, you need Tomo's lightning speed or relentless attacking style. Togami has the latter. If he keeps improving, he is hopeful.

 

[zeio]

WD R16
Winter/WY 0-3 Sawettabut/Paranang (-14, -10, -8)
The score might not reflect it, but the Thai pair took the German pair apart, coming from behind in all 3 games. Both Sawettabut and Paranang ate anti for breakfast...

It was no fluke that they beat IND and PRK at Asian Games 2022 (well-deserved bronze) and FRA at Paris 2024. They know how to handle pips/anti...

 

[zeio]

Why is Polcanova so helpless against Shin "only good for doubles" Yubin?

Something is not right with Polcanova.

Year	EventName	Stage	Sub-Event	Round	Player A	Player B	Games	Result	Winner
2024	WTT Champions Incheon 2024	Main Draw	WS	R32	POLCANOVA Sofia (AUT)	SHIN Yubin (KOR)	8:11 12:14 11:7 11:7 11:5	3 - 2	POLCANOVA Sofia

WS R32
SYB (16) 3-0 Polcanova (4, 4, 12)

 

[rpb23]

Just watched the QTY vs. CY match. I haven't watched Qian play in a while, but I think she's changed her FH style right? She seems to do a lot more flat hits now, which doesn't appear to be very effective at least as of yet. It'd be interesting to see how she develops with that style.

QTY may be prettier, but she has reached her ceiling and on the way down while CY is still rising.
QTY is crafty but not explosive, lack of power and speed. Her ceiling is limited.

 

[tzifos]

Rally of the tournament 🔥🔥🔥

I think is time for Zyre03 to ... retire!

 

[zeio]

MS R32
Groth 0-3 E. Ionescu (-13, -3, -8)
Kanak will not like this, but Eduard proves he is the worthier winner at WTTC 2025.

A. Lebrun first and now Groth. F. Lebrun or CYY next?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I think is time for Zyre03 to ... retire!

Why? Seems like he hit some really good forehand loops

 

[zeio]

Before I forget...

MS R32
OJS 2-3 Hamada (Q) (9, -10, -8, 7, -4)
OJS collapsed in early G5. OTOH, 濵田一輝/HAMADA Kazuki has been in the back of my mind since Zennihon Takkyu 202X. A little less than 3 years until LA28, so still a long way down the road...