WTT Contender Doha 2024

[TensorBackhand]

Bravo, Timo Bol! You surprised me, again and again, simply incredible!
I expected more from Harimoto. I think that he will gradually fall down the rankings...

Nah, according to TTD experts Harimoto is maximizing his "100 year talent".

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

From 6-9 in G6, Timo went Hyper-bollic

 

[zeio]

It seems to me Harimoto tried something different after G5, opposite to what he did last week at WTT SCT Doha. Need to watch again later to verify.

 

[Egon]

Nah, according to TTD experts Harimoto is maximizing his "100 year talent".

I would actually be happy if Tomokazu did better than he does now. It would be better for everyone. For both spectators and players. I have very ambivalent feelings right now. On the one hand, I am pleasantly surprised by Timo’s game and capabilities, on the other hand, I am very upset about Tomokazu’s play. He is a very hardworking and diligent guy and he really showed a lot of promise.

 

[NextLevel]

LMAO.

Harimoto "Best non-Chinese" "maximized his potential" manages to lose to 42 year old player on his way out. All the while being up 3-2 and easily could've closed it out. All the while not facing Chinese opponent.

Again YOU are the one ignoring facts and the actual results. This is not the performance of a man coming into his physical prime and maximizing on his talent and early success.

A 42 year old player who beat Jang Woojin 3‐0, Lee Sang Sun 3‐1 and Lin Yun Ju 3‐2. See where this is going?

Again, anyone who can't see that Harimoto is working on his game after watching that match is just blind. Whether the results are perfect is a completely separate story.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I would actually be happy if Tomokazu did better than he does now. It would be better for everyone. For both spectators and players. I have very ambivalent feelings right now. On the one hand, I am pleasantly surprised by Timo’s game and capabilities, on the other hand, I am very upset about Tomokazu’s play. He is a very hardworking and diligent guy and he really showed a lot of promise.

Yeah I had high expectations for him. Im only hard on him because he has already shown the ability to beat top Chinese players, even while he was a junior.

But he has not improved for 5 years and is essentially taking steps backwards.

 

[NextLevel]

Bravo, Timo Bol! You surprised me, again and again, simply incredible!
I expected more from Harimoto. I think that he will gradually fall down the rankings...

Nah, I expect the opposite from Harimoto, even in this match he was 2 points from winning. And Boll played excellent table tennis throughout the tournament. he can't sustain this level for age related reasons but the level itself made many top 30 players look like amateurs. We are all pretending that Lin Yun Ju didnt also lose to Boll.

 

[TensorBackhand]

A 42 year old player who beat Jang Woojin 3‐0, Lee Sang Sun 3‐1 and Lin Yun Ju 3‐2. See where this is going?

Again, anyone who can't see that Harimoto is working on his game after watching that match is just blind. Whether the results are perfect is a completely separate story.

Stop making excuses. Every time you make an excuse. He was injured. Opponent was on fire. He was nervous. Thats part of being an elite athlete. No way Harimoto should lose to 42 Timo even on his best performance.

He can and should work on his game. If he starts performing better and winning, then the results will speak for themselves. Then it will be time to say he maximized his talent. Until then, he is a disappointment and failed to meet his early high standard.

 

[NextLevel]

Yeah I had high expectations for him. Im only hard on him because he has already shown the ability to beat top Chinese players, even while he was a junior.

But he has not improved for 5 years and is essentially taking steps backwards.

You don't realize that even whe Harimoto was doing well, his foundation was sometimes so creaky on forehand that even the top Chinese coaches really were not afraid of of his game. He is going to suffer a lot to fix it. You will be making these posts for a long time.

Stop making excuses. Every time you make an excuse. He was injured. Opponent was on fire. He was nervous. Thats part of being an elite athlete. No way Harimoto should lose to 42 Timo even on his best performance.

He can and should work on his game. If he starts performing better and winning, then the results will speak for themselves. Then it will be time to say he maximized his talent. Until then, he is a disappointment and failed to meet his early high standard.

No these are not excuses, these are the words of a man who knows what it is like to struggle to improve and compete. Only losers speak about maximizing talent that no one can reliably measure in the first place. You just have to continue to work and wait for the results. Harimoto's success was built on doing certain things well as a child and whether that translates to his play as an adult is the question. You want to pretend that it translates without any issues wland that therefore you can say that his not beating everyone 4‐0 as an adult is because he is lazy or something stupid like that.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

You don't realize that even whe Harimoto was doing well, his foundation was sometimes so creaky on forehand that even the top Chinese coaches really were not afraid of of his game. He is going to suffer a lot to fix it. You will be making these posts for a long time.

No these are not excuses, these are the words of a man who knows what it is like to struggle to improve and compete. Only losers speak about maximizing talent that no one can reliably measure in the first place. You just have to continue to work and wait for the results. Harimoto's success was built on doing certain things well as a child and whether that translates to his play as an adult is the question. You want to pretend that it translates without any issues wland that therefore you can say that his not beating everyone 4‐0 as an adult is because he is lazy or something stupid like that.

He is just a troll . Putting him in the ignore list

 

[TensorBackhand]

You don't realize that even whe Harimoto was doing well, his foundation was sometimes so creaky on forehand that even the top Chinese coaches really were not afraid of of his game. He is going to suffer a lot to fix it. You will be making these posts for a long time.

No these are not excuses, these are the words of a man who knows what it is like to struggle to improve and compete. Only losers speak about maximizing talent that no one can reliably measure in the first place. You just have to continue to work and wait for the results. Harimoto's success was built on doing certain things well as a child and whether that translates to his play as an adult is the question. You want to pretend that it translates without any issues wland that therefore you can say that his not beating everyone 4‐0 as an adult is because he is lazy or something stupid like that.

See how you keep moving the goal post? First you claimed he was "best non-chinese" and that was good enough.

Then you claim he is "best Japanese" and that is good enough.

Now you lower the bar once again, "you cant expect top juniors to be a good adult player". So the expectation now is that anything above 2000 usatt is considered a success for him?

 

[TensorBackhand]

He is just a troll . Putting him in the ignore list

Right...

If you search TTD, reddit, or any online TT community, I am the only person in the world who feels Harimoto has not played up to his talent.

I am the only person in the world who feels Harimoto has disappointed

 

[Manto76]

... he is a disappointment and failed to meet his early high standard.

Ouch! That's harsh, mate.

We're talking about someone who has stayed in and around the top handful in the world since his mid-teens, and has achieved that during an era in which the GOAT was at his prime, and several other CNT players have been on an 'out-of-this-world' level.

Has any other non-CNT player remained at such a consistently high level as Harimoto over the past 7 or 8 years? Maybe Ovtcharov (injury-enforced layoffs aside)? Arguably L Yun-Ju? Anyone else?

Harimoto has earned some respect.

How I wish I could be such a disappointing failure as he apparently is!

 

[NextLevel]

See how you keep moving the goal post? First you claimed he was "best non-chinese" and that was good enough.

Then you claim he is "best Japanese" and that is good enough.

Now you lower the bar once again, "you cant expect top juniors to be a good adult player". So the expectation now is that anything above 2000 usatt is considered a success for him?

He is still clearly the best non-Chinese in terms of WTTC results for the last 6 to 8 years. This is a statement of fact, not sure what you are trying to say. He is also the best Japanese player. And the kid is freaking 20. He isnt even 24 or 28 which are supposed to be your prime years.

 

[NextLevel]

Ouch! That's harsh, mate.

We're talking about someone who has stayed in and around the top handful in the world since his mid-teens, and has achieved that during an era in which the GOAT was at his prime, and several other CNT players have been on an 'out-of-this-world' level.

Has any other non-CNT player remained at such a consistently high level as Harimoto over the past 7 or 8 years? Maybe Ovtcharov (injury-enforced layoffs aside)? Arguably L Yun-Ju? Anyone else?

Harimoto has earned some respect.

How I wish I could be such a disappointing failure as he apparently is!

It's incredible how he acts as if everything you are saying isn't fairly obvious.

 

[Richie]

Stop making excuses. Every time you make an excuse. He was injured. Opponent was on fire. He was nervous. Thats part of being an elite athlete. No way Harimoto should lose to 42 Timo even on his best performance.

He can and should work on his game. If he starts performing better and winning, then the results will speak for themselves. Then it will be time to say he maximized his talent. Until then, he is a disappointment and failed to meet his early high standard.

I really hope you don't have kids lol.

 

[Dr Evil]

Boll is amazing. He really struggles to cover wide forehand now, but managed to stop Harimoto from exploiting that weakness just enough to win. So many subtle changes from point to point, especially his distance from the table, to throw off Harimoto's timing. Still I thought Harimoto was the stronger player and should have won the match. Disappointing, but he's making great progress. His forehand is a serious weapon now, and it's changing his game so much that it's no surprise that his results have been inconsistent. I think he's still on course to be a world champion one of these years.

 

[NextLevel]

Boll is amazing. He really struggles to cover wide forehand now, but managed to stop Harimoto from exploiting that weakness just enough to win. So many subtle changes from point to point, especially his distance from the table, to throw off Harimoto's timing. Still I thought Harimoto was the stronger player and should have won the match. Disappointing, but he's making great progress. His forehand is a serious weapon now, and it's changing his game so much that it's no surprise that his results have been inconsistent. I think he's still on course to be a world champion one of these years.

The Chinese are tough to beat. Do not underestimate the Chinese. Other than that, I agree with the thrust of your post. He is becoming a more complete mid distance player and he now has to catch up to the kids have been doing this for a few more years and stay ahead of Lin Shidong, Xiang Peng and possibly Ruibo Wen. Not an easy task.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I don't want to keep repeating myself because clearly some of you are not understanding simple concepts.

Harimoto is a VERY GOOD player. He has always been a very good player, and will be a good player for the next 10 years. He's not a disappointment as a player, or as a person.

However, he is clearly a disappointment relative to his early trajectory and his hype. He was the best 14 year old we have ever seen, and he had a good chance to be the best 20 year old we have ever seen. He DID NOT continue this trajectory. He did not separate himself from the pack by improving his play in the past 5 years. Is he the first to peak early and not translate early success into adult success? By no means! Michael Chang won the French Open at 17, and never won a major title ever again. But this is where we stand with Harimoto. Harimoto was called by the media the "100 year talent". The Lebron James of TT. And at age 14, he really did look like a unique talent. He was beating top CNT players as a junior. But he has not improved or continued on his early performance. ONLY in this regard, is he a disappointment.

Not to even mention that Harimoto himself openly stated that he was confident that he could meet his goal of winning Gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. Obviously he didn't live up to his own expectations.

Repeat: Disappointment as a player? No.
Disappointment as a 100 year unique talent? Yes.

 

[Egon]

Right...

If you search TTD, reddit, or any online TT community, I am the only person in the world who feels Harimoto has not played up to his talent.

I am the only person in the world who feels Harimoto has disappointed

You are not alone. I also believe that Harimoto, being a very promising player, has recently gone in the wrong direction. And by the way, I also wrote about this on this forum.
My questions for him about his increased muscle mass, which does not contribute to his signature speed game and predictable tactics. This also upsets me, but he is still young and can or rather even has to draw conclusions.