Misei Ito is lost! The consecutive losses are getting farther and farther away from the Olympic singles, and Tomokazu Zhang has lost 8 pounds
On November 25, the 2023 Japan Sonno Cup Osaka Conference and the sixth domestic selection of the Japanese table tennis team started, the men's and women's singles semifinals were produced, and the two direct competitors for the women's singles quota at the Paris Olympics Miu Hirano and Misei Ito missed the semifinals, in the 5-8 qualifying rounds, Misei Ito lost 0-4 to Miu Hirano, the gap between the two widened, and Misei Ito was getting farther and farther away from the women's singles of the Paris Olympics.
According to the selection method of the Japan Table Tennis Association for the Paris Olympics, after a series of Paris Olympic trials, the top two players with the highest points will be qualified for the singles competition of the Paris Olympic Games. At present, in the women's singles standings, Hina Hayada is far ahead with 700.5 points, and has basically locked a singles spot at the Paris Olympics. Miu Hirano is second with 436 points and Mimato Ito is third with 411.5 points, with a difference of just 24.5 points between the two, and the 2023 Japan Monopoly Cup Osaka and the 2024 All Japan Championships in January next year will determine the Olympic singles quotas. The winner of the Zenno Cup Osaka won 100 points, and the runner-up to the 8th place won 90 points, 80 points, 70 points, 60 points, 50 points, 40 points, and 30 points, respectively, and Miu Hirano and Misei Ito are expected to have a direct dialogue in the semi-finals of this tournament.
In the first round of women's singles, Misei Ito played seven games and narrowly defeated Misora Izumo 4-3, while Miu Hirano defeated Yuka Minagawa 4-0. In the quarterfinals, Miu Hirano lost four games in a row 7-11, 8-11, 11-13, 9-11, and lost to Miyu Nagasaki 0-4, while Misei Ito lost 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 6-11, and Miwa Haramoto 2-4, both of whom missed the semifinals. In the 5-8 qualifying round, Miu Hirano and Misei Ito played directly, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8, Miu Hirano won four games in a row, and defeated Misei Ito 4-0, which will produce a 5-6 qualifying battle, and Misei Ito can only participate in the 7-8 qualifying battle, and the difference between the two widens again. After Ito Misei lost to Miwa Zhangmoto and Miu Hirano in a row, the Japanese media also bluntly said that her battle for an Olympic quota is already on the edge of the cliff, and the All Japan Championships in January next year will be the last chance, with 120 points for the championship in this game.
In addition to Miyu Nagasaki and Miwa Zhangmoto, Hina Hayada and Miyu Kihara also made it to the semifinals, and Hina Hayada continued to consolidate her lead. In the semifinals, Hina Hayada faced Miyu Kihara, and Miwa Zhang played against Miyu Nagasaki. The men's singles semi-finals have also been released, with Tomokazu Haramoto against Shinozuka Daito, Hayasuke Togami vs. Yunobu Daiyu, and Tomokazu and Hayasuke Togami currently ranked in the top two in the men's Olympic standings. Tomokazu has not performed well on the international stage this season, and has fallen out of the top 10 in the world rankings. After seeing Chinese Taipei's Lin Yunru win at the WTT Frankfurt Championships, he said he would lose weight to increase his speed. According to Japanese media reports, Tomokazu Haramoto has managed to lose eight pounds after returning to Japan in early November, and he is getting closer to his goal step by step, and he is also looking forward to starting again from his current world rankings.