United States (US) Smash 2026, Los Angeles, California, USA 26 Jun - 5 Jul 2026

[zeio]

Sato should have won game 5

Alexis should have won G3 at WTTC 2026.
Harimoto should have won G5 at WTTC 2026.

As table tennis philosopher Harimoto famously enlightened a reporter after 3-0 -> 4-2 Alamian in MS R16 of Hangzhou 2022, there is no "should" in table tennis.

https://www.threads.com/@cloud509_/post/C-FpSPsPNwb

若☁️ (@cloud509_) on Threads

圖片支援：

www.threads.com

张本智和用中文回怼记者：乒乓球没有应该！球迷惊：乒坛哲学家
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IaOnXFAbk8

https://weibo.com/6380163514/QfwaokGMj
仲夏微醺_
25-11-25 21:42
发布于 上海
来自 大金牌多多iPhone客户端
已编辑
经典重温：《乒乓球没有应该》
这个采访最后的那句话我也好喜欢：“今天就是今天，昨天就是昨天，明天就是明天，一天一天从零开始。”盒儿在福冈决赛后的采访也说过类似的话：“冠军和一轮游都能活，都有明天。”
After all, tomorrow is another day. [http://t.cn/AXLNxxgE] 仲夏微醺_的微博视频

https://weibo.com/3847642518/OrCkM3r3g
麦子哥哥QaQ
24-8-10 13:59
发布于 山东
来自 微博视频号
原来乒坛哲学家张本智和知道自己的名言：乒乓球没有应该。说完全回到自己身上了，我输的时候被人这样说。哈哈哈哈哈哈！
#全民聊奥运# [http://t.cn/A683AArh] 麦子哥哥QaQ的微博视频

 

[kindof99]

Alexis should have won G3 at WTTC 2026.
Harimoto should have won G5 at WTTC 2026.

As table tennis philosopher Harimoto famously enlightened a reporter after 3-0 -> 3-4 JWJ in MS QF of Hangzhou 2022, there is no "should" in table tennis.

https://www.threads.com/@cloud509_/post/C-FpSPsPNwb

若☁️ (@cloud509_) on Threads

圖片支援：

www.threads.com

张本智和用中文回怼记者：乒乓球没有应该！球迷惊：乒坛哲学家
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IaOnXFAbk8

https://weibo.com/6380163514/QfwaokGMj
仲夏微醺_
25-11-25 21:42
发布于 上海
来自 大金牌多多iPhone客户端
已编辑
经典重温：《乒乓球没有应该》
这个采访最后的那句话我也好喜欢：“今天就是今天，昨天就是昨天，明天就是明天，一天一天从零开始。”盒儿在福冈决赛后的采访也说过类似的话：“冠军和一轮游都能活，都有明天。”
After all, tomorrow is another day. [http://t.cn/AXLNxxgE] 仲夏微醺_的微博视频

https://weibo.com/3847642518/OrCkM3r3g
麦子哥哥QaQ
24-8-10 13:59
发布于 山东
来自 微博视频号
原来乒坛哲学家张本智和知道自己的名言：乒乓球没有应该。说完全回到自己身上了，我输的时候被人这样说。哈哈哈哈哈哈！
#全民聊奥运# [http://t.cn/A683AArh] 麦子哥哥QaQ的微博视频

Well, I said "should", because I felt bad for Sato. Really want to see her play much more. That was a great match. Credit to KM for the come back, and the hard work. From the first game, I thought KM had no chance.

 

[NextLevel]

I was talking about his mental game. He blew a 10-6 lead in game 2, made a string of unforced errors and finally, pay attention to the body language and facial expressions when things aren't going his way. This part is pretty self-explanatory.

Also, Vlad was taking advantage of his inability to pivot to his forehand properly.

Every player on earth has blown a 10-6 lead. No exceptions. Zhang Jike blew a 10-4 game 7 lead against Yan An. And in addition to Vlad's power overwhelming Harimoto's defenses, he got more than his fair share of breaks. Yes Harimoto struggles more when playing players who outperform their official rankings but Sidorenko played well. Watching the points, you can see pretty clearly that Harimoto is not as incomplete technically as he used to be. As for his mental game, everyone has to lose for a reason and I think we too often ascribe blown leads to a weak mental game - body language is also a personal thing. Do you think Duda has a weak mental game? He lost an 8-2 lead to Sidorenko or something like that in game 2. Why isn't it simply that Harimoto went on a streak to get the lead and Sidorenko went on one to regain it? One can always second guess yourself when you dont get the results you want but Harimoto is perfectly fine and reasonable.

 

[NextLevel]

Alexis should have won G3 at WTTC 2026.
Harimoto should have won G5 at WTTC 2026.

As table tennis philosopher Harimoto famously enlightened a reporter after 3-0 -> 3-4 JWJ in MS QF of Hangzhou 2022, there is no "should" in table tennis.

https://www.threads.com/@cloud509_/post/C-FpSPsPNwb

若☁️ (@cloud509_) on Threads

圖片支援：

www.threads.com

张本智和用中文回怼记者：乒乓球没有应该！球迷惊：乒坛哲学家
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IaOnXFAbk8

https://weibo.com/6380163514/QfwaokGMj
仲夏微醺_
25-11-25 21:42
发布于 上海
来自 大金牌多多iPhone客户端
已编辑
经典重温：《乒乓球没有应该》
这个采访最后的那句话我也好喜欢：“今天就是今天，昨天就是昨天，明天就是明天，一天一天从零开始。”盒儿在福冈决赛后的采访也说过类似的话：“冠军和一轮游都能活，都有明天。”
After all, tomorrow is another day. [http://t.cn/AXLNxxgE] 仲夏微醺_的微博视频

https://weibo.com/3847642518/OrCkM3r3g
麦子哥哥QaQ
24-8-10 13:59
发布于 山东
来自 微博视频号
原来乒坛哲学家张本智和知道自己的名言：乒乓球没有应该。说完全回到自己身上了，我输的时候被人这样说。哈哈哈哈哈哈！
#全民聊奥运# [http://t.cn/A683AArh] 麦子哥哥QaQ的微博视频

I dont entirely agree but I understand the main point and think it is an important perspective.

 

[kindof99]

Did the expedite play help KM a lot? I did not watch the last two games, but felt that it did not help KM much at the beginning of the expedite play.

 

[M51]

Every player on earth has blown a 10-6 lead. No exceptions. Zhang Jike blew a 10-4 game 7 lead against Yan An.

It happens to everyone, sure. In most cases, it's a deviation, whereas with Harimoto, it's a pattern.

body language is also a personal thing.

Very much the opposite.

Body language is extremely indicative of a person's mental state, and the patterns are pretty universal.

 

[kindof99]

Harimoto seemed to have many matches that was ahead, but lost at the end. I feel it is too simple to say he is a choker.

Harimoto's game does not have much variety. His serve and return usually do not have much variation like some other players. That is why he felt he did not know how to win a point against FZD at the end of their match in the Olympics. In other words, he does not have really enough weapons in his arsenal. Maybe he is too scared to go out of his comfort zone to try and learn new stuff.

 

[shaibu]

They did *much* more than that as juniors. And they have played in Champions league this year.

I mean they were doubles partners, isn't that a bit "more" than just meeting as opponents?

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

SUN Yingsha(CHN) - WANG Yidi(CHN)
Miwa HARIMOTO(JPN) - KUAI Man(CHN)
Sora MATSUSHIMA(JPN) - Felix LEBRUN(FRA)
Truls MOREGARD(SWE) - Vladimir SIDORENKO(AIN)
WS Final - SYS
MS Final - Sora

 

[kindof99]

SUN Yingsha(CHN) - WANG Yidi(CHN)
Miwa HARIMOTO(JPN) - KUAI Man(CHN)
Sora MATSUSHIMA(JPN) - Felix LEBRUN(FRA)
Truls MOREGARD(SWE) - Vladimir SIDORENKO(AIN)
WS Final - SYS
MS Final - Sora

Hard to predict except the first match

 

[piligrim]

Sora vs Truls

 

[NextLevel]

Felix vs Truls
Winner: Everyone
(okay, Truls)

Sun vs Miwa
Winner: Miwa
(Yeah, too much alcohol)

 

[Sali]

Is war finished?

No, but in many sports russian players compete with neutral flag. At the begining they were totaly banned.

 

[zeio]

Sato posted an Instagram story asking for help. SMH at WTT for the stupid rule.

https://weibo.com/6040160273/R7gJ964aj
(Sato Hitomi: Thank you very much.
I accept the defeat wholeheartedly.)

---

Full match of KM vs Sato, courtesy of Miguvideo and GFW. Thumbs down to WTT for still not uploading a backup copy.

https://weibo.com/7881519375/R7i2F8uEQ
yyy_ynot
26-7-5 17:47
发布于 广东
来自 微博视频号
#WTT美国大满贯2026#
【清流完整版】260705｜女单1/4决赛
蒯曼🇨🇳4-3佐藤瞳🇯🇵【5-11，11-5，9-11，7-11，12-10，11-3，18-16】 [http://t.cn/AXoCgnXx] yyy_ynot的微博视频

 

[zeio]

Well, I said "should", because I felt bad for Sato. Really want to see her play much more. That was a great match. Credit to KM for the come back, and the hard work. From the first game, I thought KM had no chance.

KM held a lead of 5:1 and 3:0 in G3 and G4 but got equalized by Sato and yet KM didn't give up and calmed herself down like she told in the mixed-zone interview, so it can't be ruled out that Sato missed that FH smash because KM's determination instilled fear in Sato and she wanted to finish it ASAP. If I were Shibata, I'd have told Sato to prepare for the incoming expedite rule after G5 and help her regroup.

Sato and Hashimoto really have to work on that after this in preparation for next time which will definitely happen again. No use crying over spilled milk like for Togami.

 

[kindof99]

Sato seems to be more flexible and play with variety than Honoka. Interesting to see her play more WTT events in the future.
KM was quite well prepared for their match. Amazing how she returned most of Sato's attacks well.