Right. ZJK won WTTC 2011, at 23 on 1st try. FZD got his at WTTC 2021, without ML, 2nd final on 5th try at late 24, with his 1st final on 3rd try at mid 20. ML didn't even get his until 27, at WTTC 2015, 1st final on 5th try.
Would ZJK have won earlier if he didn't get sent back to the provincial team? Hard to tell, as that experience could actually have boosted his maturity instead (he beat WLQ, MLin and WH to win the national championship in 2008 but he said he was still behind WH at World Cup 2010). Would FZD have won earlier if ML were not there? Theoretically, yes, but how would he feel about it? Would ML have won earlier if WH were not there? Hard to tell, given World Cup 2014. Would WH have won earlier if WLQ and MLin were not there? Hard to tell, given Athens 2004 and WTTC 2005. Would Harimoto have won if ML, FZD, and WCQ were not there? See
what he has to say.
Back in early 2018,
LGL predicted Paris 2024 would be when Harimoto starts to peak, that is, when he will turn 21. After Tokyo 2020, Harimoto himself even said Paris 2024 wouldn't necessarily be his peak.
Before ATTC 2023 (if not for Tanaka), even LYJ had gone quiet after Tokyo 2020 and Tieba users were saying he had fallen behind.
WTTC
2017, R128 LYJ 1-3 -> 3-4 Steger
2019, R64 LYJ 3-1 -> 3-4 Gionis
2021, R32 LYJ 1-3 -> 3-4 LJH (best chance to reach the SF, Moregard next and then Aruna)
2023, R16 LYJ 1-0 -> 1-4 LGY
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/foru...e=wtt-star-contender-goa-2023-2-273-5#1138823
Same for LYJ after Tokyo 2020. Folks were saying how Harimoto had plateaued. Now? Tieba users are contemplating (yet again) that LYJ has fallen behind. I could understand them. How did he lose to the overrated WCT AGAIN at Asian Cup 2022?
In retrospect, after
Hyun Jing-hwa became the last non-CNT player in the 20th century to win the WTTC, at ~23.5 (
3 of the 4 Semifinalists were non-CNT players, with Chen Jing being a former-CNT player), what
Hirano accomplished 6, 7 years ago at World Cup 2016, ATTC 2017 and WTTC 2017 is the closest we have got in the 21st century, especially the ATTC 2017 which was truly spectacular. She was still a junior, at ~16.5, 17, and ~17.083, respectively. Ito may have won the Olympic gold in XD, but she's not gone all the way against the core CNT players in significant, singles events other than Japan Open 2018 and Swedish Open 2018, which Hirano has matched this year at WTT CT Zagreb 2023 (SYS was the only core CNT player but Hirano had never won). Even Harimoto thinks what Hayata has achieved, at age ~22.83 by the way, is not enough, despite being the first JNT player to beat a CNT player to get a WTTC bronze in 58 years.
https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...king-and-playing-diligently.31530/post-423541
Even Fan Zhendong has not been able to make that leap, and he is just taking advantage of the opportunity when his turn comes around. If Wang Chuqin also goes about his career normally, when Fan Zhendong gets a little older, he will be able to become the champion once. The goal is to prevent that. The next one won't be Wang Chuqin, nor will it be Lin Shidong.
Neither Boll nor Ovtcharov (both from Germany) were able to "get in the way" in the end. I may beat 1 Chinese player and finish top 4, but I haven't made it all the way to the end. Even among the women, it's amazing that Hayata-san (Hina Hayata/Nippon Life Insurance Company) defeated Wang Yidi (China), but there is Sun Yingsha (China), and after that, Chen Meng (China) is waiting, so there are 3 walls. So, I want to move forward one step at a time.
tieba.baidu.com
butterflyonline.com
Harimoto Tomokazu Innerforce ALC
Dignics 05
Dignics 09C
Tomokazu Harimoto Pro-Line Racket
