Meant to write this after Japan Top 12 but got held up by other things. There're also some misconceptions around the selection criteria. So here goes.
As with other tournaments, the
selection criteria for WTTC 2019 had been released a year ahead of time on the official JTTA website, 2018/3/10 to be precise.
For 2019, the criteria are as follows:
1. Selection method of 5 men and women singles representatives
(1) Top-ranked Japanese player within WR20 announced in January 2019: (1 person)
(2) Top-ranked Japanese player within WR100 announced in January 2019: (1 person) ※ Other than the highest-ranked Japanese player within WR 20 from (1)
(3) Winner of internal trial (1 person)
(4) All-Japan Table Tennis Championships men's and women's singles winners (1 person)
(5) 1 person from among those who win 2 times or more in singles in international competitions(Asian Games, World Cup, Asian Cup, 6 World Tour Platinum tournaments, World Tour Japan Open, World Tour Grand Finals) from January 1 2018 to December 31, 2018. (1 person) ※ In case of duplication, selection to be made by the development headquarter
(6) If the number of candidate selected in the above (1) to (5) is less than 5 due to the same player being selected repeatedly, etc., the development headquarter will select with consideration of the following two points.
・ Evaluation of the results and contents of major international competitions from January 2018
・ Evaluation of players considered to have high potential for improving international competitiveness
Note the ones underlined. The process of selecting Hirano and Sato is transparent because the JTTA has already stated the
scope of evaluation would be the results during 2018. Below is the JTTA's official position behind their selections.
Also, JTTA has a tradition of announcing the lineup including the wildcards b/w late Jan to early Feb.
WTTC 2019 -
2019/01/29
WTTC 2017 -
2017/01/23
WTTC 2015 -
2015/01/19
WTTC 2013 -
2013/02/04
WTTC 2011 -
2011/02/01
WTTC 2009 -
2009/01/23
Therefore, Hayata had already missed the window by the time she won the Portugal Open in mid Feb. This is why I wrote the following right after, before the Japan Top 12.
Now, one major difference this year is the final trial, which is composed of 2 stages and is part of the Japan Top 12. In the past, round-robin trials were typically held in Dec of the prior year. This time, stage 1 was still held in the same format in Dec, with the added stage 2 in single elimination.
FYI,
Ishikawa, Ito, and Hirano have never won in past trials.
Many argue they should've waited after the trial before announcing the lineup. While I don't know the reason behind the change, but if we go by the same position as the JTTA, it most likely wouldn't make a difference. Even if we count the Portugal Open, Hayata simply didn't beat enough top 30 players and her ranking was much lower.
The situation is rather similar to how ZJK snatched the London Olympics spot from ML after winning the WTTC 2011 and ML went on to achieve a 51-match winning streak. Same rule for everyone who is made known well ahead of time, and ML failed to deliver.