Why did Honoka and Hitomi break up their WD pair?

[Brs]

@zeio

They played smth like eight years together on tour and for Miki House. Any online word why they stopped partnering in WD?

They were fun to watch, sad not to see them any more

 

[tzifos]

I am also eager to know what happened. They played so good together. One with red-pips & black inverted the other with black pips and red inverted and both twiddling!

Very well synchronized, it was like watching ballet with those two on the same side of the table!

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Maybe just because they don’t play in the same Tleague team they can’t play doubles anymore.
Honoka wanted to play WTT but her former team wouldn’t allow her so she left with a broken heart

 

[zeio]

Mostly because Hashimoto is not even on the reserve JNT unlike Sato, and partly because they belong to different teams now (they don't practice together outside of national training camps).

Hashimoto's latest interview with Table Tennis Kingdom could also further strain the relationship, given Sato and Shibata are still indirectly connected to Miki House, as Sato confirmed in her latest interview with Table Tennis Kingdom.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Mostly because Hashimoto is not even on the reserve JNT unlike Sato, and partly because they belong to different teams now (they don't practice together outside of national training camps).

Hashimoto's latest interview with Table Tennis Kingdom could also further strain the relationship, given Sato and Shibata are still indirectly connected to Miki House, as Sato confirmed in her latest interview with Table Tennis Kingdom.

Quoting 5ch users (and their fake, made up animosity) is not the same as quoting the actual article. I read the actual article on plus.world-tt.com . Her decision to leave her T-League team was in consultation with her T-League coach Masamori Oshima who knows she wants a shot at the Olympics. One of the factors in her decision to leave is that T-League schedule often intersects with WTT's schedule making it difficult to improve her ranking. Her current corporate sponsor, Denso, is supportive of her efforts in playing WTT events and there are far fewer conflicts with JTTL. Honoka stated that she is very grateful to MIKIHOUSE for continuing to support her even after she changed affiliations.

For me, the travesty is that she is not on the National Team. I think they reevaluate every 6 months (?) so JTTA will look like fools if they do not put her on the National Team in a few months which would give her greater access to training and travel resources.

 

[zeio]

Quoting 5ch users (and their fake, made up animosity) is not the same as quoting the actual article. I read the actual article on plus.world-tt.com . Her decision to leave her T-League team was in consultation with her T-League coach Masamori Oshima who knows she wants a shot at the Olympics. One of the factors in her decision to leave is that T-League schedule often intersects with WTT's schedule making it difficult to improve her ranking. Her current corporate sponsor, Denso, is supportive of her efforts in playing WTT events and there are far fewer conflicts with JTTL. Honoka stated that she is very grateful to MIKIHOUSE for continuing to support her even after she changed affiliations.

For me, the travesty is that she is not on the National Team. I think they reevaluate every 6 months (?) so JTTA will look like fools if they do not put her on the National Team in a few months which would give her greater access to training and travel resources.

Please stop wasting my time for blatantly ignoring what the players even had to say.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Please stop wasting my time.

your go to message when someone gives you facts you either can accept or dodge, of course, you choose the latter

 

[zeio]

your go to message when someone gives you facts you either can accept or dodge, of course, you choose the latter

Please do your quest first.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Quoting 5ch users (and their fake, made up animosity) is not the same as quoting the actual article. I read the actual article on plus.world-tt.com . Her decision to leave her T-League team was in consultation with her T-League coach Masamori Oshima who knows she wants a shot at the Olympics. One of the factors in her decision to leave is that T-League schedule often intersects with WTT's schedule making it difficult to improve her ranking. Her current corporate sponsor, Denso, is supportive of her efforts in playing WTT events and there are far fewer conflicts with JTTL. Honoka stated that she is very grateful to MIKIHOUSE for continuing to support her even after she changed affiliations.

For me, the travesty is that she is not on the National Team. I think they reevaluate every 6 months (?) so JTTA will look like fools if they do not put her on the National Team in a few months which would give her greater access to training and travel resources.

he thinks because it is on the internet, it must be true
he also thinks when media interviews the player, the whole truth is then out there
the kid still has a lot to learn about media narratives.

 

[NextLevel]

Quoting 5ch users (and their fake, made up animosity) is not the same as quoting the actual article. I read the actual article on plus.world-tt.com . Her decision to leave her T-League team was in consultation with her T-League coach Masamori Oshima who knows she wants a shot at the Olympics. One of the factors in her decision to leave is that T-League schedule often intersects with WTT's schedule making it difficult to improve her ranking. Her current corporate sponsor, Denso, is supportive of her efforts in playing WTT events and there are far fewer conflicts with JTTL. Honoka stated that she is very grateful to MIKIHOUSE for continuing to support her even after she changed affiliations.

For me, the travesty is that she is not on the National Team. I think they reevaluate every 6 months (?) so JTTA will look like fools if they do not put her on the National Team in a few months which would give her greater access to training and travel resources.

The T-league schedule intersects with WTT but her teammates Odo and Yokoi were able to play internationally and she didn't. There might be a straightforward explanation but doesn't that give you some pause?

Obviously she will meet the ranking demands. But being limited to having to do it through internal tournaments hurt her for sure, people were used to her internally which wasn't fair obviously when considering her style on the world stage. In fact something similar clearly applied to Ito...

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The T-league schedule intersects with WTT but her teammates Odo and Yokoi were able to play internationally and she didn't. There might be a straightforward explanation but doesn't that give you some pause?

having now been dealing with a couple of T-league players,
it all got to do with the contract the player has with the T-league club.

and if you are a JNT member, that also provides priority for internationals.

 

[zeio]

Continuing from WTT SCT Chennai 2025 (with the transfer announced right after that on 4/1), Odo, Yokoi and Sato still have had double the opportunities of Hashimoto.

Since their restart in mid-2024, Odo is now approaching 3 times and Yokoi is 2 times the WS events of Hashimoto. Even Sato is pulling away.

Hashimoto has every reason to be mad here, all this "punishment" just for crashing out in R32 at Zennihon Takkyu 2025.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/wtt-star-contender-chennai-2025.36921/post-516281

As far as participation goes, Sato and Hashimoto have so far gotten roughly half the opportunities compared to Odo and Yokoi.

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai)
WR8 Odo - 19 (13/6), 17 (12/5)
WR30 Hashimoto - 7 (6/1)
WR34 Yokoi - 13 (10/3)
WR74 Sato - 7 (6/1)
WR as of 2025 WK13, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025_13_SEN_WS.html

From the table below, they split into 2 teams and started playing WTT events around the second half of 2024.

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai/after that and up until WTT SCT Foz do Iguaçu)
WR9 Odo - 29 (13/16), 25 (12/5/8)
WR14 Hashimoto - 11 (6/1/4)
WR31 Yokoi - 22 (10/3/9)
WR39 Sato - 16 (6/1/9)
WR as of 2025 WK31, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_31_SEN_WS.html

Event	Name	Assoc	Category	Gender	MS	WS	MD	WD	XD	Singles Matches
WTT Contender Buenos Aires 2025	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		Champion	Round Of 16	3
United States Smash 2025	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16			Round Of 16	3
WTT Contender Zagreb 2025	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		Champion		5
WTT Star Contender Ljubljana 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		Champion		3
WTT Contender Skopje 2025	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		Finalist		3
WTT Contender Tunis 2025 Presented By Tunisie Telecom	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		SemiFinal		Finalist		4
WTT Champions Incheon 2025	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				3
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 Presented by IndianOil	ODO Satsuki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16		SemiFinal	Finalist	2
WTT Contender Buenos Aires 2025	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		Finalist		3
WTT Contender Zagreb 2025	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 32		Finalist		1
WTT Star Contender Ljubljana 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round of 64		SemiFinal		1
WTT Contender Skopje 2025	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16		Finalist		2
WTT Feeder Prishtina 2025	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		SemiFinal		Champion		4
WTT Contender Tunis 2025 Presented By Tunisie Telecom	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		SemiFinal		Finalist		4
WTT Contender Taiyuan 2025	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				3
WTT Feeder Otocec II 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 32				1
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 Presented by IndianOil	YOKOI Sakura	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16		SemiFinal		2
WTT Contender Buenos Aires 2025	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		Finalist		3
WTT Contender Zagreb 2025	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16		Finalist		2
WTT Star Contender Ljubljana 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 32		SemiFinal		2
WTT Contender Skopje 2025	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16				2
WTT Feeder Prishtina 2025	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		Champion		5
WTT Contender Tunis 2025 Presented By Tunisie Telecom	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 16				2
WTT Feeder Havirov 2025	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		Champion	QuarterFinal	5
WTT Feeder Otocec II 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SATO Hitomi	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		QuarterFinal		5
WTT Contender Lagos 2025	HASHIMOTO Honoka	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion				5
United States Smash 2025	HASHIMOTO Honoka	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				4
WTT Contender Taiyuan 2025	HASHIMOTO Honoka	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion				5
WTT Star Contender Chennai 2025 Presented by IndianOil	HASHIMOTO Honoka	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Finalist				5

 

[zeio]

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/ittf-wttc-finals-doha-2025-5-17-25.36703/post-524382

For JTTA, Miki House, where Shibata/Sato/Hashimoto were formerly under and Odo/Yokoi are now the leading figures, is to blame for the current selection system. They filed a complaint (last link below) against the JTTA over the WTTC 2015 WD selection, where Fukuhara/Wakamiya (who didn't enter that year's All-Japan TTC because of the rule that both must have the same affiliation) and Ito/Hirano were selected over Ishikawa (used to be under Miki House before switching to Zennoh)/Hirano Sayaka. Their rationale was that Ishikawa/Hirano Sayaka were the reigning and back-to-back All-Japan WD Champions and so called for the selection system to be reformed with more transparency. Ever since then, JTTA could only form doubles pairs based on the eligible singles players (4 ineligible players in total allowed across MD/WD/XD events for WTTC 2025). For WTTC 2025, the ATTC 2024 selection trial determined 1 singles spot, and the WR 2 weeks ahead of the entry deadline determined another singles spot. In both cases, Hashimoto and Sato lost to Odo and Ito, respectively. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/wtt-contender-taiyuan-2025.36976/post-518769

Nope, the full lineups were announced last month, but it was a done deal way before then when Hashimoto and Sato missed the ATTC 2024 after both of them failed to beat Odo in the selection trial and their rankings were below that of Ito. If Sato beat Odo in F (Hashimoto lost to Odo in SF) and got the WS spot, then Hashimoto would've been selected for WD, just like Yokoi got selected for WD because Odo got the WS spot.

ミキハウスが平野・石川組の代表落選で抗議文を提出予定
https://world-tt.com/ps_info/ps_report_detail.php?bn=000001&pg=HEAD&page=BACK&rpcdno=1691#1691

For completeness sake, here is Shibata Saki who finished in 8th place at Zennihon Takkyu 2025 (right above Yokoi) and is in 3rd place on the Reserve JNT. However, she failed to advance out of group after losing to Yokoi in the ATTC 2024 selection trial. She last played in April and her next tournaments won't be until the WTT FEE Spokane 2025 and WTT FEE Spokane II 2025 in August. She has had it worse than Hashimoto. Favoritism and rigidity at their finest.

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai)
WR8 Odo - 19 (13/6), 17 (12/5)
WR30 Hashimoto - 7 (6/1)
WR34 Yokoi - 13 (10/3)
WR74 Sato - 7 (6/1)
WR119 Shibata - 6 (5/1)
WR as of 2025 WK13, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025_13_SEN_WS.html

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai/after that and up until WTT SCT Foz do Iguaçu)
WR9 Odo - 29 (13/16), 25 (12/5/8)
WR14 Hashimoto - 11 (6/1/4)
WR31 Yokoi - 22 (10/3/9)
WR39 Sato - 16 (6/1/9)
WR81 Shibata - 8 (5/1/2)
WR as of 2025 WK31, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_31_SEN_WS.html

Event	Name	Assoc	Category	Gender	MS	WS	MD	WD	XD	Singles Matches
WTT Feeder Havirov 2025	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Finalist		Champion		5
WTT Feeder Otocec II 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		QuarterFinal		3
WTT Feeder Otocec 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		Champion		5
WTT Feeder Doha 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		SemiFinal				4
WTT Feeder Olomouc 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				3
WTT Star Contender Bangkok 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 32				4
WTT Feeder Dusseldorf 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				7
WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				7

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

finance should also be factored into Japanese players, since not all of them have full funding / unlimited funding.

 

[driversbeat]

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/ittf-wttc-finals-doha-2025-5-17-25.36703/post-524382


For completeness sake, Shibata Saki who finished in 8th place at Zennihon Takkyu 2025 (right above Yokoi) and is in 3rd place on the Reserve JNT. However, she failed to advance out of group after loing to Yokoi in the ATTC 2024 selection trial. She last played in April and her next tournament won't be until the WTT FEE Spokane 2025 and WTT FEE Spokane II 2025 in August. She has had it worse than Hashimoto. Favoritism and rigidity at its finest.

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai)
WR8 Odo - 19 (13/6), 17 (12/5)
WR30 Hashimoto - 7 (6/1)
WR34 Yokoi - 13 (10/3)
WR74 Sato - 7 (6/1)
WR119 Shibata - 6 (5/1)
WR as of 2025 WK13, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025_13_SEN_WS.html

WS events - Total (2024/2025), WTT Only (2024/2025 up until WTT SCT Chennai/after that and up until WTT SCT Foz do Iguaçu)
WR9 Odo - 29 (13/16), 25 (12/5/8)
WR14 Hashimoto - 11 (6/1/4)
WR31 Yokoi - 22 (10/3/9)
WR39 Sato - 16 (6/1/9)
WR81 Shibata - 8 (5/1/2)
WR as of 2025 WK31, https://www.ittf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025_31_SEN_WS.html

Event	Name	Assoc	Category	Gender	MS	WS	MD	WD	XD	Singles Matches
WTT Feeder Havirov 2025	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Finalist		Champion		5
WTT Feeder Otocec II 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal		QuarterFinal		3
WTT Feeder Otocec 2025 Presented by I Feel Slovenia	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Champion		Champion		5
WTT Feeder Doha 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		SemiFinal				4
WTT Feeder Olomouc 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				3
WTT Star Contender Bangkok 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		Round Of 32				4
WTT Feeder Dusseldorf 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				7
WTT Feeder Varazdin 2024	SHIBATA Saki	JAPAN	SEN	Female		QuarterFinal				7

how did Shibata place 8th at all Japan. Are there unbroadcasted playoffs for 5th-8th place?

 

[zeio]

how did Shibata place 8th at all Japan. Are there unbroadcasted playoffs for 5th-8th place?

As determined by the 大会ランキング決定会議/Tournament Ranking Decision Meeting.

大会ランキング決定基準 (Tournament Ranking Decision Criteria)
https://jtta.s3.ap-northeast-1.amaz...loads/2021/06/11213600/20190911_kitei06_1.pdf
https://jtta.or.jp/regulations