Japanese women are not defeated by China, and silver medals are positive for the Tokyo Olympics. Yoshimasa Ito "I want to come back to this place with the power to win" [JA Zennotsu ITTF Table Tennis World Cup Team Finals]
JA Zenno ITTF Table Tennis World Cup Team Battle 2019 TOKYO (November 6-10 / Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium) will have a women's final on the 10th, Japan (2nd in the world) will be 0- in China (1st) I lost 3 and finished the silver medal. This completes the entire tournament schedule. Blocked by the overwhelming strength of both men and women, it was not possible to produce the best drama in the Japanese table tennis world by holding it in their own country. However, in the interviews after the match, each player was already looking forward at the Tokyo Olympics, and it was impressive that he had a more fulfilling expression than regret. The appearance of such girls looked very reliable in my eyes.
Principal Sato
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2019/11/17
The five-day tournament is finally climax. The moment when the world's best table tennis girl's country is decided has arrived.
The match cards are Japan, which is aiming for the first victory, and China, which is aiming for the ninth straight victory in the tournament. Japan has run up to this point with the goal of "winning at the lowest and winning at the highest".
The battle that I have been drawing in that dream is realized on the best stage of the final. At the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which is the same venue as the Tokyo Olympics, the battle of the highest peak in the table tennis world has begun by the top two teams in the world ranking.
In the doubles of the first game, Miu Hirano & Kasumi Ishikawa, who have been appointed in all games so far in Japan, and Chen Meng, who is ranked first in the world from China, and Liu Shiwen, who is second in the world ranking. A pair of (Ryu Shiwen) has appeared.
The first ball of interest starts from Ishikawa's serve. Hirano hit back the opponent Tsuttsuki with a drive, and the Japanese pair scored the first goal of the day. From the beginning, both Hirano and Ishikawa had a clear fore bang, and the first half was turned back with a 5-3 and 2-point lead. However, it is China that does not run a goal as it is. Japan also sticks, but allowed a reversal at a stretch in the middle stage, and could not win the rally match in the final stage and dropped the first game at 7-11.
The "Kasumi" pair wants to recover before putting the opponent on the wave, but in the second game, Chen's skillful serve and intense drive can not be dealt with, and it is pushed out from the beginning to 0-3. Although he caught up with the tie of 3-3 with 3 consecutive points, such as defeating Liu with a surprise receive from Hirano, he could not score a goal in the rally match and widened the lead to 4-7.
During the time-out on the Japanese side, the audience sent ale to Hirano and Ishikawa. The "Kasumi" pair wants to rewind from here, but due to unlucky net-ins and mistakes in tabletop play, the pair is further separated from 4-9. He showed tenacity from here and cornered the Chinese pair with 9-10, but the plain could not be decided one step further and the game was robbed in a row.
In the third game, the Japanese pair, who wants to show their will, won the tabletop battle in the early stages and led 3-1. Even in a fierce rally battle, he won two consecutive points and pulled away from 5-1 to expand his chances of winning the game. The “Kasumi” pair, who kept the lead as it was, reached the game point with 10-8, although the point difference was narrowed. However, when Ishikawa's drive did not meet the racket well and lost one point, Hirano could not decide the drive and even deuce was involved. In the end, he was overwhelmed by the Chinese pair and lost the game 10-12, losing straight 0-3.
Although he made an advantage in the third game against the world's top two Chinese pair, it was a match that felt "one more point" far away. Ishikawa said about the third game, "It's a shame that I couldn't get (the third game) because it was getting better little by little. My serve floated from 10-8, and then the counter was decided. It wasn't a tough ball, so if I hit it back and took the third game, the flow might have changed. That was just a little more, "he said.
Hirano also said, "Overall, there were many good plays and few bad points. However, if you make one mistake, Chinese players will not miss the chance. You can definitely get the points you can get. I want to be a player, "he said, feeling the strength of China again.
Japan, who lost the first match, will send Mima Ito, an absolute ace who has not lost this tournament in the second match, while China will send Sun Yingsha, who is the same 19 years old as Ito and ranked third in the world ranking.
In the semi-finals on the 9th, drive mistakes were conspicuous in both games, and Ito had lost the first game, but on this day the bangs were stable in both the fore and back, leading a big lead from the beginning with 5-1. My grandson immediately took 4 points in a row and rewound, tying 5-5. After that, Ito, who was 2 points behind 8-6, hit a strong fore smash and scored 10-6. At the end, he invited the opponent to make a drive mistake and took the game in advance with 11-8. As he said after the game the day before, "I want to switch quickly in the first game," I succeeded in getting the usual play from the beginning.
Ito keeps the momentum and takes the initiative with 5-3 in the second game with an early rally development. He continued to dominate the game and widened the gap to 9-5, but Ito's own mistakes echoed and he was one point behind 9-8. After the time-out, Ito made a good serve with a calm expression, but it was also empty to take a break to wear a bad flow, and he was caught up with the tie of 9-9 by his grandson. Still, the Japanese women's "new ace" does not miss a chance here. After putting one point on the double-digit score, he finally scored a strong backhand from the rally of angry waves and won the game with a game count of 2-0. I pushed the fist up to the ceiling.
"(My grandson today) wasn't very personal and I was probably very nervous," Ito said. Mika Baba, the coach of the women's team, was also nervous about her grandson's play. However, as Baba says, "I'm out of my mind and (grandson) has taken the plunge," the flow of the game will change completely from the next third game.
In the third game, the offensive and defensive movements continued from the beginning, and both sides did not give up to 5-5. Among them, the grandson who made a strong drive as if showing the intention of the third place in the world and broke the balance of the game as Director Baba said. Every time I get 1 point, I make a loud voice and drag it into my flow. Ito, who was drunk by the momentum, was robbed of the game at once with 6-11.
Perhaps he got used to the fourth game, his grandson bounced off all of Ito's bangs and regained his usual play. Ito, who allowed a large lead of 1-7, narrowed down to 3 points behind 7-10 in the final stage, but failed to hit back his grandson's fore drive and dropped the game, tying the score to 2-2. The voice of the Chinese cheering party "Jayou" who rushed to the venue gradually became louder.
Then, in the fifth game to decide the victory or defeat, Ito defeated the opponent with a skillful serve technique and grabbed the lead with 4-2 in the early stage. As it was the final race, the audience called "Nippon!" And the voltage inside the venue was at its peak. Ito got on this cheer and made a series of intense drives. After winning the angry rally from 7-6 and scoring 2 points in a row, the most screaming of the day echoed in the venue.
However, in the match point scene that was reached at 10-9, the grandson hit back the serve in front of the fore that Ito released with a strong flick and scored. At the last minute, he showed a marvelous attack, and the match went to deuce 10-10. Ito also wanted to show Ace's will, but in the end he was defeated by his grandson for two consecutive points and lost from the lead with a game count of 2-0. The white star that I was about to grab spilled, and Ito stood stunned.
Regarding his game, Ito said, "At the last minute, the scene where I won 10-7, the opponent rushed to attack where the basics came. As a result, Son was able to hit the next ball with all one's might. It was a match that I could have won at all if I could decide the ball that was a little sweeter without rushing and calmly. When I changed the match that I had to win 3-0 to 2-2. And ... "
Japan was driven in and Miu Hirano was introduced in the third game. China, who are close to winning one more victory, will decide the match with Liu Shiwen, who boasts an absolute sense of stability.
Hirano wants to play table tennis in his own way from the first game in a bad flow, but he is at the mercy of Liu's veteran's skillful serve and course taking, and he easily drops the game 3-11.
Even so, Hirano will recover from the second game that continues and win the rally that will be developed at a tremendous speed. Voices gradually began to appear, regaining the momentum of the semi-final match against Korea Rep. Jeon Ji-hee, and gradually widening the gap to 6-4. However, Liu also started to match the tempo of Hirano's attack, defeated with backhand offense and defense, and reversed to 6-7. Even after that, Hirano couldn't cope with the opponent's slow and fast, long and short drives, and the game was taken at 8-11 and he was checked for the championship.
Hirano wants to show his tenacity until the end, but he completely surrenders the flow to the opponent and runs four consecutive goals from the beginning. Fans who did not give up the victory cheered from the venue, saying "Do your best!" And "One!", But at the end, Hirano over-missed the back drive at 5-10 and took a rest. "Overthrowing China," which was the goal of winning more than the championship, did not come true.
After the match, Hirano recalled, "It wasn't bad, but I couldn't take even one set, and I felt a slight difference in ability. It's important how much the distance can be shortened by next year."
Looking only at the results, it was a complete defeat with 0-3, but all three games are not negative. It should be felt first by the players who actually fought. Ishikawa, who has been leading the team as a captain, said, "I finished (plains and doubles) at a rapid pitch in about two months, but I was able to improve the level very much compared to the beginning. I lost the semifinals and finals in this tournament, I'm confident in the content, and there is still room for growth. " Hirano, who has been fighting as a pair together, said, "Recently (I've learned about doubles) and it's been a lot of fun (laughs). Growing up in doubles has a positive effect on singles, and different thoughts spring up. It seems that he is getting a sufficient response from the defeat.
Ishikawa, who has participated in the Olympics twice, said, "It's my feeling, but I think the most important thing when playing in the Olympics is the" heart ". If you don't train your mind before and then stand on the court, you'll be really nervous when you play. I want to prepare and train myself so that I can play the strongest if I can participate in the Tokyo Olympics. "
Ito, who is expected to work as an ace, is still reliable, saying, "I really feel that my ability has improved in this short period of time. I want to run even harder so that any player, including China, can win." The team competition in Japan, which was the first time for this tournament, was "I was impressed. There was a place where I was fighting while thinking" It's amazing "with a lot of cheers. I was really happy. I could feel that it was there. " At the end, he was enthusiastic about the Tokyo Olympics, with an expression that made him decide to return to this place by giving his greatest performance and gaining the ability to win even in competing situations. Said.
There are 8 months left until the "festival" once every 4 years. I would like to expect the "three strongest Japanese table tennis girls" who reign in the top 10 in the world, wearing the Hinomaru flag in the middle of the podium of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and singing the national anthem.
Interview / text / photo / Masayoshi Sato
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