What do you think of Yuna Ojio's style?

[TensorBackhand]

This girl just popped up on my YT feed. I was really surprised to see her. I saw her years ago as a little kid playing against Miwa Harimoto with her crazy grip. I never thought she would make it this far. I thought that eventually at the higher levels her strange grip would catch up to her. But here she is, at the finals of the youth championships. Although it is true that Harimoto did surpass her.

 

[blahness]

I never really understood the benefits of her grip, it is not as flexible as penhold but yet is not solid for imparting hard power.... the only benefit is that it looks weird visually and the opponents are not used to it?

 

[TensorBackhand]

I never really understood the benefits of her grip, it is not as flexible as penhold but yet is not solid for imparting hard power.... the only benefit is that it looks weird visually and the opponents are not used to it?

Is she also using pips on one or both wings?

 

[blahness]

Is she also using pips on one or both wings?

Looks like SP of some sort on the FH imo.

 

[Loop Lob Smash]

Quite enjoyable to watch; I like her attacking spirit and also how she wears her heart on her sleeve when she misses.

 

[TensorBackhand]

This is the video of Harimoto vs Ojio from when they were in Bambi tournament.

 

[zeio]

After roughly 2 years of observation, I'd say she has more potential than Mende.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G4BpSaFxNI (Full match)

 

[Loop Lob Smash]

After roughly 2 years of observation, I'd say she has more potential than Mende.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G4BpSaFxNI (Full match)

10-8 behind in deciding game against Hirano and attacks the serve like that! ファイティングスピリット

 

[John_]

No benefits, it's just how she got used to playing.

 

[Metaxa]

I cannot think of any advantage to this kind of grip. It occurs to me that she would actually be better switching to handshake instead to pen grip but neither will happen. In any case, I don't see any big leaps forward in the near future for her.

 

[quanghuysk]

you guys haven't played enough with the grip to get any benefit

 

[zeio]

She actually falls back on the shakehand grip and chops when she gets pushed back from the table or when things don't go her way.

Unlike the men's side which has a greater power difference between juniors and seniors, she will have an easier time with this grip as time goes by. The fact there are way more defensive players and combination players on the women's side shows there is still room for her style.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Quite enjoyable to watch; I like her attacking spirit and also how she wears her heart on her sleeve when she misses.

Yes, she is fun to watch. I love to see unique styles like hers.

Her combination of great footwork, short pips fh, reading of serve, and perhaps her grip provides the stability to do this:

And her opponent's opening loops better be spinny enough or they crushed like this:

She beat her sister Haruna at one of the domestic tournaments and took Hirano to the 7th before losing 11-9 at Japan's Paris 2024 trial #4.

 

[zeio]

In terms of athleticism, Yuna is arguably the best on the junior team now. Miwa is the most physically gifted but even she pales in lunging. Yuna used to play boxing and held the national title for the under 27.5kg weight class (Bambi Champion).

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/494989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWXjpkdw08

 

[TensorBackhand]

In terms of athleticism, Yuna is arguably the best on the junior team now. Miwa is the most physically gifted but even she pales in lunging. Yuna used to play boxing and held the national title for the under 27.5kg weight class (Bambi Champion).

https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/494989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWXjpkdw08

What a unique character in the TT world. I hope she does well on her team.

 

[turbozed]

Big fan of both Ojio sisters. Haruna has one of the most aesthetically pleasing chopping styles I've seen. Hopefully she can find some more consistency with her attacking since it's a big weakness in her ability to compete at higher levels.

Yuna I first encountered when I was just getting interested in TT watching Adam Bobrows channel so I have a soft spot for all the athletes he interacted with on his channel, especially the kids that are now becoming pros.

 

[dingyibvs]

With the ease of shaping wood these days there really should be more TT grips. I'm thinking of something like a brass knuckle, with a blade face of course instead of knuckles. Middle, ring, and little fingers go in the rings, thumb and index finger on either side of the blade face. That could give really good stability and feel

 

[blahness]

With the ease of shaping wood these days there really should be more TT grips. I'm thinking of something like a brass knuckle, with a blade face of course instead of knuckles. Middle, ring, and little fingers go in the rings, thumb and index finger on either side of the blade face. That could give really good stability and feel

I think I saw something like that before in TT shops. But I never actually seen someone play with it before...

 

[TensorBackhand]

I also noticed this match between Harimoto and Ojio. Particularly, a lot of the Japanese fans seem to take particular interest in a moment at 3:20.

Ojio makes weird face and noise...
I kinda like it. She seems like she is very expressive and might be a good actress

 

[allencorn]

Yuna's style actually reminds me a bit of Falck's. She crushes forehand with her pips, and spins well with her backhand. The backhand might allow her to produce some wicked spins that would be very effective and set up her forehand. It'll be fun to see her progress, and see if her grip catches on.