Don't make me repeat myself. Go convince
Harimoto, Mizutani and Hirano Sayaka.
Even they don't give much weight to medals won against WYD. Miwa has a World Cup bronze by going through WYD, so?
No zeio.. that's
your interpretation of what they said. When you actually look at what they said, it's clear they do think highly of Hayata's win over WYD. These are from your links:
Harimoto: Even among the women, it's amazing that Hayata-san (Hina Hayata/Nippon Life Insurance Company) defeated Wang Yidi (China), but there is Sun Yingsha (China), and after that, Chen Meng (China) is waiting
Sayaka Hirano:
--The women's team final at the World Championships saw Japan corner China right up to the final match, raising expectations that Japan might finally change history.
"That's true. But it wasn't that surprising to me. I watched the Asian Games held in September and October last year at the venue and felt that the distance between Japan and China was changing a little. At that time, Hayata Hina won the women's singles semi-finals in an individual match against Wang Yidi in a full game, and in the doubles quarter-finals, the pair of Harimoto Miwa and Kihara Miyu won against former world champion pair Sun Yingsha and Wang Manyu with a game count of 3-1.
Mizutani (critical but also praises Hayata):
It felt like Hayata had "reached the bare minimum" when she beat Wang Yidi, who was ranked third in the world (then/now) and was China's fourth-ranked player, in the quarterfinals of the women's singles. --Hayata won the full game, and the final game was 21 to 19, an impossible score in the 11-point table tennis system. Mizutani: You've really gotten strong in the last year or two. You've been consistently performing well since the first qualifying tournament in March last year, and this was your first time beating a Chinese player on the big stage of the World Championships. I think Hayata is the most stable and powerful Japanese woman right now. --She is also leading the women's Paris Olympic qualifying points, with a huge lead of 185.5 points over runner-up Hirano Miu. What do you think is the biggest improvement in her play? Mizutani: Her backhand . In her match against Wang Yidi, there weren't many scenes where she scored points with her forehand, and she scored a lot with her backhand. But there are parts where I think she could have won more easily if she had used her strong forehand. Hayata's forehand is so powerful that even male players can't get it.
So Harimoto says it was
amazing Hayata beat WYD. Sayaka Hirano says she wasn't surprised at Japan's success against China at the 2024 WTTTC (where Hayata beat CM btw) because at the Asian Games she witnessed Hayata beat WYD. And even though Mizutani says it's the bare minimum, he goes on to praise Hayata for how
stable and
powerful she has become as Japan TT Women's leader.
