This Olympic cycle, many fans have also found that the height of Japanese table tennis players is completely different from the previous Olympic cycle. At present, among the main players of Japanese table tennis, Miyu Kihara, Miyu Nagasaki, Miwa Zhangmoto, and Hina Hayata, the height of these four is more than 1.65 meters, and the average height of the main Japanese table tennis team has exceeded the main force of national table tennis. Is this an accidental phenomenon? It is not an accidental phenomenon, it is a fact that the results of Japanese table tennis are getting better and better.
In fact, when the national table tennis women's team was at its most brilliant, the height of the players generally had an advantage. Zhang Yining, Guo Yan, Li Xiaoxia, Ding Ning, Wu Yang, these players are generally more than 170cm tall, the period when these players dominated the table tennis world can be said to be the heyday, and the height of the women's team in the heyday does have an advantage in the world table tennis world.
And now the Japanese table tennis results are getting better and better, and the impact on the national table tennis is getting stronger and stronger, so the height advantage of the Japanese table tennis women's team is reflected. In the last Olympic cycle, Misei Ito, Miu Hirano, and Kasumi Ishikawa did not have an advantage in height, so they were directly swept 3-0 by the national table tennis women's team in the Olympic women's team finals.
In this Olympic cycle, Sun Yingsha is becoming more and more difficult against Hina Hayata, Miwa Zhang. Although fans don't think that the height of these two men plays a decisive role, these two men are far more threatening than Ito is currently more threatening than Ito to Sun Yingsha. and Miyu Kihara also defeated Wang Yidi in a row, and this competitor is becoming more and more difficult to beat.
Is this all an accident? Miyu Kihara and Misei Ito are both fast attacks with backhand bounces, but Miyu Kihara has a better area of the guard. So now these Japanese table tennis players have really reached the offensive link, and the gap with the national table tennis players has narrowed significantly. And now the foreign players all know to attack Sun Yingsha's forehand position, and they know that once Sun Yingsha's position is transferred, her side of the insufficient area of the platform will be revealed.
Now Hina Hayata, Miwa Zhangmoto, and Miyu Kihara can all play against the national table tennis, and the non-main players of the national table tennis are obviously at a disadvantage in the face of these three. It's just that the stability of the game of Hina Hayada and others is not high, and if their game stability is improved, the threat to the main players of national table tennis will be stronger.
Miyu Kihara and Hina Hayada have all defeated Wang Yidi in a row this year, but the current Wang Yidi is not the three main forces of national table tennis, even if it is broken through, in the eyes of fans, it can be won back in the future. But these Japanese table tennis players are relatively young, Wang Yidi is much older than them in age, and now they have all broken through, and it is really difficult to get it back in the future.
Because time is always on the side of young players, the growth rate of young players will get faster and faster as time goes by, and they will eventually mature. The height advantage of these Japanese table tennis players is getting bigger and bigger, which means that the quality of single cricket is getting higher and higher, and they can hold on to the national table tennis. So we see that in 2023, whether Sun Yingsha is against Miwa Zhang or Hina Hayata, the process of the game is quite passive.
Especially in the finals, Sun Yingsha played against Zhang Benmeihe, if it was a small score, Zhang Benmeihe won 51-48. Sun Yingsha has encountered unprecedented challenges, and now against Hina Hayata, Sun Yingsha is also prone to falling behind and chasing points, because the opponent is targeting Sun Yingsha's limited protection area and actively attacking her forehand position.
In fact, Sun Yingsha still plays close to the platform, but the opponent took the initiative to move the position in the first three boards, and the pace of the connection speed is slow, so it is easy to force the middle and far platform. Nowadays, Japanese table tennis players hit the ball fast, and they attack the rising period of the incoming ball, which has both speed and strength. Therefore, many national table tennis players can only retreat from the stage to fight back, which is a great test of the players' ability to pull in COSCO.
Chen Meng and Wang Manyu's protection area is very large, and they will not be at a disadvantage when they retreat from the platform. However, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi's advantage of retreating to COSCO has become smaller, so the height conditions of the players are more important. Now fans feel that Sun Yingsha has no problem dealing with Japanese table tennis players, but it will be different in two years.
As she grew older, Sun Yingsha's speed slowed down after gaining weight, and she couldn't adjust her pace to fight against Japanese table tennis players. Especially for players with close strength, the final competition between the two sides is comprehensive ability. Once the tall players fight the whole Taiwan, they still have an advantage in the end.
In the era of Liu Shiwen, Ding Ning, and Li Xiaoxia, Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia all achieved Grand Slams in height and arm length, and their psychological quality was very high. The reason why the psychological quality is high is because of the comprehensive playing style and self-confidence. At this point, in the usual games, fans can't see that it's different when it comes to the big game.
Liu Shiwen usually plays very sharply in the game, but in the competition, in the face of Singapore's Feng Tianwei, her ability to resist pressure is indeed weaker. In fact, in the final analysis, the contestants are still competing for comprehensive ability, and the tall players do have a great advantage in the attack. Especially in the white-hot stage of the game, after the two sides are familiar with each other's tactics, what they compete for is absolute strength.
This is why Zhang Yining, Ding Ning, and Li Xiaoxia can achieve the Grand Slam, and some fans may think that Deng Yaping and Wang Nan are not tall, so they still achieve the Grand Slam? When Deng Yaping and Wang Nan achieved the Grand Slam, they still belonged to the typical small-ball era. Since Zhang Yining's generation, the strength requirements for female players are very high, so it is easier for tall players to achieve Grand Slams.
Looking at Ito Misei today, as long as he is transferred to COSCO, there is no threat. Therefore, now the Japanese table tennis is also moving closer to the former national table tennis in terms of material selection, and it has become more changeable in the selection of materials.