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Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

Tears have become the words most associated with Ito Mimato in the past year.

Now Mimato Ito is crying again. On May 6, 2023 Japan Table Tennis All-Nong Cup Round of 32, Ito Mimai lost in the second round of women's singles, losing 2-4 to Miyu Nagasaki, born in 2002, and missing the quarterfinals.

After the match, Ito said with tears in her eyes: "I am depressed because my body is not 100% in shape. But a lot of competitions, even if I'm injured, I have to play. Her frustration, in addition to her back injury affecting her competitive status, is also worried about her ranking in the Japanese table tennis team.

The Allen Cup is Japan's fourth Olympic trials, after Ito, who scored 135.5 points, ranked fourth in the country. In this tournament, where the points were doubled, Mimato Ito, who was in urgent need of points, lost again, and she gradually distanced herself from the Paris Olympic Day table tennis women's singles qualification.

Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

Mimato Ito covered her face and wept.

Mimato Ito cried again

In the last ball against Miyu Nagasaki, Ito chose to take the initiative, and the second board after serving was forced to pull back, and the result was released.

Compared with the smile on Miyu Nagasaki's face, Mimato Ito, who was expressionless and packed her bags, looked a little lonely.

10-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 5-11, Mimato Ito experienced a process of defeat to catch-up and then to fiasco in six games. Tenacious should have been the label on Ito Mimako, but now she has a weak heart.

"My upper hip has been sore since the All Japan Championships in January and peaked at the WTT Macau Championship in April." After the match, Ito said with tears in her eyes, "I couldn't use 100% of my strength, I was only 30%-40% of my normal state. ”

According to Japan's "Table Tennis Kingdom", Mimato Ito revealed that she was in a "collapsed state" from her hips to her neck this competition.

Since the Tokyo Olympics, Ito has not been magical. In the face of the main force of national table tennis, Ito Mimai has almost no parrying power. Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Sun Yingsha, Wang Yidi, Qian Tianyi and other national table tennis players have all defeated Misei Ito, and even often have sweeping scores.

If the national table tennis team loses, it can be explained by the reason that "the special playing style is thoroughly studied", then Ito Mimai has repeatedly lost in the Japanese team, which can only indicate the decline of his competitive status.

Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

In the Lion King Cup Top 32 round of last March, Ito lost 2-4 to Miyu Nagasaki in 2002 and missed the quarterfinals; In the Japanese Table Tennis Asian Games Trials in April last year, Mimato Ito lost 2-4 to Miyu Kihara, who was born in 2004, and did not qualify for the Asian Games singles;

In the Round of Top 32 of the All-Farmers Cup last November, Mimato Ito lost 1-4 to Mikazu Changmoto, who was only 14 years old; At the National Championships in January this year, Mimato Ito lost 1-4 to Saki Yokoi, who was born in 2004, and missed the women's singles quarterfinals of the Japan Table Tennis National Championships for the first time since 2017...

In this competition, Ito Mimai fell outside the quarterfinals again, and it was Miyu Nagasaki who won her in 2002. These repeated defeats may not necessarily mean the end of the "Ito Mimako" era of Japanese table tennis, but at least from Ito's tears, people can feel her helplessness and hesitation.

Missing the Paris Olympics women's singles?

For athletes, early intervention and early treatment of injuries is the best way, but Ito Mimai went all the way from the January National Championships to the All-Farmers Cup in May.

The reason is simple, Ito Mimai is afraid to rest, according to her: "There are many competitions, even if I am injured, I have to participate. ”

Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

The reason why she did not dare to rest was not only because of the upcoming Durban World Table Tennis Championships, but also because of the Olympic selection process set by the Japan Table Tennis Association, so that she had to hold on.

In order to select the lineup for the Paris Olympic Games, the Japan Table Tennis Association will hold Olympic trials from 2022 and will last until the All Japan Championships in January 2024, with a total of 14 competitions. The competition includes the World Championships, WTT events, T-League, Lion King Cup, All Farmers Cup, Asian Games and National Championships.

Since the Lion King Cup in March last year, Japanese Table Tennis Association players have participated in 6 games with points. After a crushing defeat, Mimato Ito scored 135.5 points before this tournament, ranking fourth in the women's singles. The top three were Hina Hayata with 232 points, Miyu Kihara with 162 points, and Miu Hirano with 147 points.

For Mimato Ito, if you want to qualify for the only women's singles qualification at the Paris Olympics, you must fight for every point. But in the moment when Ito needed to seize the opportunity the most, injury once again became her "roadblock" to Paris.

Although the number of points in this tournament doubled, Mimato Ito, who only won a place in the round of 16, can only score 20 points, which is further and further away from the top two in the women's singles.

For Mimato Ito, the only good news may be that Miyu Kihara also stopped in the quarterfinals, so that the difference between the two did not widen too much.

But if Mimato Ito fails to regain his form in time, the most valued competitor of National Table Tennis in recent years may really miss the women's singles competition at the Paris Olympics.

Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

Japanese table tennis is fighting physical strength?

In fact, the selection system of the Japan Table Tennis Association is quite similar to that of National Table Tennis, which reduces the uncertainty of a single event by increasing the frequency of competitions.

However, the national table tennis adopts a direct competition mode, that is, if you win the championship of a competition, you can win the qualification for the competition, and then pass the screening of the competition.

Since its inception in 2006, the direct competition has witnessed the transformation of national table tennis team members one after another. Li Feng, the head coach of the national team, sighed after watching the "Direct to Durban" World Table Tennis Championships Trials in February: "The reason why the table tennis team has won for many years is to constantly overcome various difficulties. Every time you overcome such difficulties, you are one step closer to the final championship. ”

The rolled up Japanese table tennis also hopes to select the top athletes to face Paris through the competition. However, the mode of accumulating points makes athletes dare not be sloppy in every race. Coming and going, the Japanese table tennis players also rolled up.

This selection method did not offend the players of Japanese ping, and the famous Japanese famous Mizutani Favala once angrily criticized that this selection of Japanese table tennis is only to select the "civil war king".

Bursting into tears again, Mimato Ito really wants to lose the Paris Olympic singles?

Yoshijun Ishikawa, who has just retired, complained: "I understand that the ideal state is that both old players and young athletes can fight fairly, but what is it about fighting hard to win or lose?" Now there are obviously many strong players, but they are exhausted by the cutthroat competition, who will protect the athletes? ”

Mimato Ito's situation hits the biggest problem with this package – once an athlete misses a game injured, it is difficult to make a difference in points.

In fact, injuries did not stop at Ito. On the first day of the tournament, male athlete Daiten Shinozuka, who finished second in the Paris Olympic standings, also announced his withdrawal from the competition due to a back injury.

At the moment when Japanese table tennis has also entered the "inner roll", a group of good hands have fought hard under the pressure of the rules, and for Mimato Ito and other players with physical problems, there may be only helplessness.

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