The Table Tennis Federation is allowed to participate! Japan announces mixed team World Cup Whether Ito Hayada can come to Chengdu is still a mystery
On November 12, Beijing time, according to the latest report from the Japanese media "Sports News", the Japan Table Tennis Association announced on November 11 that it would participate in the first mixed team World Cup held in Chengdu from December 4 to 10. On November 11, the Japan Table Tennis Association was confirmed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to allow them to register for the competition. Mika Baba, head of the Japan Association Reinforcement Headquarters, told the Sports Newspaper Bulletin, "I want to absolutely avoid things that are unfavorable to the athletes. It's great to be able to participate this time. The Japan Table Tennis Association did not announce the list of participants at the first time, and Mika Baba said that she will continue to fully respect the wishes of female players.
On August 26 this year, the International Table Tennis Federation suddenly announced the creation of a new type of world competition, the Mixed Team World Cup, the first competition was held in Chengdu on December 4 and 10 this year, and Chengdu won the right to host the first five editions of the event. According to the introduction of Japanese media, the International Table Tennis Federation announced the schedule and related details of this event on October 9, and issued invitation letters to 16 world teams on October 17.
It's fair to say that the sudden appearance of this new international event, less than two months after the start of the competition, was a bit of a surprise. And at the beginning, the ITTF said that there were no international points in this event, so many teams were not so interested. The German team mostly signed up as substitutes, and the Japanese team announced before the registration deadline on October 25 that many female players were unwilling to participate, and refused to participate on the grounds that the women could only make up two players and therefore could not form a team. On October 26, Wang Hao and Ma Lin, the head coaches of the men's and women's teams of the Chinese table tennis team, called the current players of the national table tennis who played in the T-League to return to China for training.
Without international points, it has nothing to do with the Olympic concept, which is the core of the problem. "Sports News" broke the news that the Japan Table Tennis Association received a notice from the International Table Tennis Federation on October 29, saying that this event will count international points, and the time for the International Table Tennis Federation to announce this information to the outside world is November 6. Japanese media said that the Japan Table Tennis Association has been communicating with the International Table Tennis Federation since October 30, asking about the new registration deadline, and asking the Table Tennis Federation about the possibility of regaining qualification without determining the list of participating players. Later, the 14 active national table tennis players who played in the T-League returned to Japan one after another to continue to compete, and the mutual boycott between the Chinese and Japanese Table Tennis Associations was quickly resolved.
After receiving the news of permission to participate in the tournament yesterday, the Japan Table Tennis Association officially announced its participation in the event. Mika Baba said, "On the basis of respecting the wishes of the players, since you want to participate, you have to do your best. Although the competition method is a bit formal, there is also a sense of tension in it, and it is also a good stage to learn and gain experience in the competition. Hopefully, the two coaches (men's and women) will link this event to the Paris Olympics and prepare and compete in a good direction. ”
On Saturday, November 25 and Sunday, November 26, 2023, the very important 2023 ZEN-NOH CUP OSAKA tournament will be held in Japan, and all first-team players will participate. From November 26th to December 3rd, there will be the World Youth Championships in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, and Japanese players such as Matsushima Terukoru, Noodle Rin, and Koshio Haruna will participate. From November 27th to December 1st, there will be a WTT Düsseldorf feeder tournament, and the Japanese women's team is not on the registration list for this event.
From the perspective of time, it is timely for the Japanese team to participate in the Chengdu Mixed Team World Cup, but the cost of temporary booking of air tickets will be higher than usual. Japan's professional table tennis media "Zhuoqiu Kingdom" predicts that the Japanese team will send the strongest team to Chengdu to compete, and it remains to wait for further news whether Hina Hayata, Misei Ito, and Miu Hirano can appear collectively at the Sichuan Provincial Gymnasium in Chengdu early next month.