Harimoto defeats Fan Zhendong | Asian Cup 2018

[tropical]

I could but it'll cost you $25, I accept PayPal.

Did I ask you, troll?

 

[WorkerBee]

Do you know we do not care much about Chinese league's ranking as this is an international forum?

Then you need to be ready to not care much about the Japanese T-League that is on the way which is planned to be the top level of the whole Japanese table tennis system.

 

[tropical]

Then you need to be ready to not care much about the Japanese T-League that is on the way which is planned to be the top level of the whole Japanese table tennis system.

Are we talking about the official ITTF world ranking or you have a language problem?

 

[NextLevel]

FZD lost last year to Koki Niwa in this tournament I believe. And just as interestingly, both LGY and FZD lost one of their first round matches, again ensuring they can only meet in the finals if they meet again. Take away nothing from Harimoto, but these CNT Asian Cup losses in consecutive years is more than a little fishy.


Of course, it could just be pure coincidence and I am just stirring up conspiracy theories...

 

[desibsoton]

I'm going to warn you in advance. It's going to be a long post.

How do I know? Well, I've been involved with U12 scene in Japan for 10 years due to my daughter's involvement as a competitive junior player. There are lots of people who know better but I think I know more than the most.

First of all, I don't believe in practicing long hours. Training hard with good coaches and partners is necessary and you'd choose quality over quantity if you had to make a choice. Having said that, putting certain numbers of practice hours is a must for top players as coaches in this forum would agree.

Before I get into Harimoto's practice routine, let me explain the current U12 scene in Japan.

In Japan, the National tournament is held every year for U12/U10/U8 categories. Top players in U12 are then recruited by private school and Elite Academy. 99% of current top players have performed well in these tournaments (notable exception is Oshima). The importance of practicing long hard hours from very young age have been recognized ever since Ai Fukuhara's practice with her mum was televised 25 years ago. According to the survey conducted at U12 national tournament a few years ago, more than half of the participants practice more than 20 hours per week, 20% have put in 30+ hours and few have even clocked 40+. And that's with either your parents or hired coach from China (eg. Matsudaira, Hirano, Ito).

My daughter's club didn't have that luxury, just like most other junior clubs in Japan. Sure she practiced 4 hours in a week day and 6 hours in the weekend but she was always beaten by kids that were privately coached or had parents who owned junior club themselves.

So when Harimoto won U8 tournament aged 7 (back then he was Zhang with Chinese nationality), we were like "Right, another kid with Chinese parents who devoted their life to their kids". But the fact was quite different as we got to know about them more and more by talking to them occasionally or hearing about them when we see them at the tournaments.

It turns out, he was closer to "us" than "them" in terms of environment. His parents were hired by Sendai junior club as a full time coach so they didn't have time to teach Harimoto privately except for their off days when they spend about an hour with him. We didn't believe them at first. How could a boy so exceptionally good and absolutely dominates his age group only practice 2 hours a day and even that's with other members of his club so he has to pick the balls and share the table just like everyone else. Well, they weren't lying and by the time he won the national tournament 6 years in a row in 2015(beating a boy from my club on the way), no one was sure of how far he would go when he starts devoting all his time to table tennis. That year, he was already beating U18 national champion as well as some top senior player in Japan.

That almost happened in 2016 when he had to make a choice after graduating primary school. In the end he chose the Elite Academy which was and still is funded by JOC and other governing bodies. Because it's state funded, minimum academic standard must be met and you need to attend unrelated course and seminar such as media presentation organized by the Elite Academy. It means that typical week day only allows 2-3 hours of practice. This is a stark contrast from top private schools in Japan where scouted players finish school on 2pm and practice 6 to 8 hours per day. It was no surprise that until Harimoto and Hirano, there were hardly any top players produced by the Elite Academy. Players like Hirano and Miu Kato probably made a right choice by leaving the Academy before the age limit of 18.

So, back to my original statement. I'm looking forward to the day he graduates Elite Academy and devotes all his time playing table tennis. He has already achieved more than most players on this planet even if he retires today. I somehow feel there's lot more to come.

Thanks a lot and I fully support your views here. I am glad we have people like you on this forum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[watcher]

FZD lost last year to Koki Niwa in this tournament I believe. And just as interestingly, both LGY and FZD lost one of their first round matches, again ensuring they can only meet in the finals if they meet again. Take away nothing from Harimoto, but these CNT Asian Cup losses in consecutive years is more than a little fishy.


Of course, it could just be pure coincidence and I am just stirring up conspiracy theories...

In other sports, some teams/players throw the match so the other team cannot make specific adjustments for when they meet in the playoffs. Would this be a factor in TT?

 

[tropical]

It is quite possible and happened some times in WC soccer. Even I love to see someone can beat the Chinese, I find it hard to believe FZD lost to Harimoto.

 

[Free bird]

FZD lost last year to Koki Niwa in this tournament I believe. And just as interestingly, both LGY and FZD lost one of their first round matches, again ensuring they can only meet in the finals if they meet again. Take away nothing from Harimoto, but these CNT Asian Cup losses in consecutive years is more than a little fishy.


Of course, it could just be pure coincidence and I am just stirring up conspiracy theories...

i doubt it’s just a coincidence. You’ll see what happens in the termination rounds. I’m rooting for Harimoto to beat LGY so the final will be more fun to watch

 

[rainneverever]

Last Asian Cup, LGY lost to JM in the group. FZD lost to CCA in the group and LGY in the final. It was after China National Games. And fatigue could be an excuse.

FZD said in post match interview that Tomo was sharp and strong in the match. His BH is a threat.
LGY seemed to have some issues with his racket but the umpire declined his request of change.
FZD and LGY didn't play German Open and had almost 3week closed training. It doesn't make much sense that they lost so easily.

 

[zeio]

why people think that if you can play great at 14 you wont stop improving? tomo is defeating all this players because his style is not common nowadays by the time most topplayers are used to his style he will be less dangerous

Well, because he is ethnic Chinese. From the past matches he lost against DO and XX, he lost miserably the 1st time but by the 2nd time he had already come up with a clear game plan. It could be his dad, it could be his support team(yup, the Japan has a dedicated team of people doing analytics just like China), it could be even himself, and it could be the collective effort of the JNT.

From the clips, the game plan is pretty simple. He makes use of his backhand and plays to FZD's backhand in the 1st game. When that didn't work out in the 2nd game, he played to FZD's forehand in the 3rd game. Yup, just that simple. He knew his forehand was his weakness and so he tried to lure FZD into playing his BH game. He actually took a page from Calderano and used the backhand straights on 3rd ball to great effect. His response in the post-match interview also backs that up. Simple-minded as he is, FZD said fuq yea! I'm gonna bust you up!

 

[WorkerBee]

...
From the clips, the game plan is pretty simple. He makes use of his backhand and plays to FZD's backhand in the 1st game. When that didn't work out in the 2nd game, he played to FZD's forehand in the 3rd game. Yup, just that simple. He knew his forehand was his weakness and so he tried to lure FZD into playing his BH game. He actually took a page from Calderano and used the backhand straights on 3rd ball to great effect. His response in the post-match interview also backs that up. Simple-minded as he is, FZD said fuq yea! I'm gonna bust you up!

Where did you find the actual match?

 

[zeio]

I'm not telling.

Propaganda, Japanese style

The big ass header reads "Harimoto Tomokazu beat World-Ranked Number 1 FZD!" The gist of the passage sums up the game, that Harimoto used his backhand to open up the angles and steered the game to his advantage.

 

[ping fun]

I'm not telling.

Propaganda, Japanese style

The big ass header reads "Harimoto Tomokazu beat World-Ranked Number 1 FZD!" The gist of the passage sums up the game, that Harimoto used his backhand to open up the angles and steered the game to his advantage.

so .... this victory had a wide reflection in japan .

 

[Free bird]

So Harimoto lost to JEONG Sangeun, didn’t event get to semi-finals, what a disappointment .
People just made too much of his victory over fzd at this first stage. Keep in mind after LGY’s unexpected quick loss to LEE (-8,-5,-5), fzd needed a loss to better avoid meeting LGY in semi-final. I believe fzd was still playing the third game after 1-1 when LGY lost

 

[TTHopeful]

Has this victory hit main stream news and tv news in Japan?

 

[zeio]

Oh, you bet. It's all over the news. It made to the top page on Yahoo.

 

[bobpuls]

and here we are ... he can beat no1 but what about this big loses to other palyers like Calderano (what a beating) or now JEONG Sangeun

what can i see it`s this... he can prepare for one player but still lack the experience to beat all the rest ?
let the scream fades with his name . ... i really do not like him only for the scream . When he becomes real no1 player i will no watch him play only for that. ! when he stops be a "jerk" i will watch.

 

[ping fun]

and here we are ... he can beat no1 but what about this big loses to other palyers like Calderano (what a beating) or now JEONG Sangeun
what can i see it`s this... he can prepare for one player but still lack the experience to beat all the rest ?
let the scream fades with his name . ... i really do not like him only for the scream . When he becomes real no1 player i will no watch him play only for that. ! when he stops be a "jerk" i will watch.

To be honest he's got a long way but actually this winning vs FZD was a good booty . Now more important thing is the final . I hope we see a good fight from LGY . He must prove himself some where

 

[langel]

what can i see it`s this... he can prepare for one player but still lack the experience to beat all the rest ?
let the scream fades with his name . ... i really do not like him only for the scream . When he becomes real no1 player i will no watch him play only for that. ! when he stops be a "jerk" i will watch.

Well, what I see is this - in everyday life he is just a shy little boy with a narrow social life and experience. The scream is giving him just a little portion of the confidence he needs. I like him and want to believe that he will go stronger.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Common Hari !!!