In the 4th round of the men's singles table tennis, Tomokazu Harimoto played against Slovenian Darco Jorzić, and after a close battle until the final 7th game, he lost with a game count of 3-4.
"The opponent was really strong"
Harimoto said, "I thought that the opponent was a player with the same strong backhand as me, and I thought that it was fifty-fifty, but the opponent's backhand was more powerful, I could not take the initiative there, and I was confident in the forehand. I couldn't hit it, "he recalled.
He added, "I had a lot of fun on the stage of my dreams, but I couldn't play as much as I wanted. But I don't have much regrets. I did it even though I couldn't finish it. The opponent was really strong."
He said, "I lost for the first time as a Japanese table tennis player, so I would like to return this loan as a group."
Expected 18 years old First Olympics
18-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto is ranked 4th in the world ranking in men's singles.
I was expected to win a medal at this tournament with the 3rd seed.
Since 2017, he has participated in the senior tournament in earnest, and with his high-speed backhand as a weapon, he has made great strides such as defeating top Chinese players in succession, and has rushed to the top class in the world.
However, since the world ranking has also entered the top five and I was in a position to be chased as a teenager, there was a time when I could not get the results I expected, such as being passive and missing the ranking last year. did.
In an interview last April, immediately after the decision to postpone the Olympics for one year, he said, "I'm going to be called the representative of the Tokyo Olympics for another year." He spoke words that were far from the bullish attitude he showed inside.
Even so, after receiving advice from Jun Mizutani, a teammate of a men's group who will participate in the Olympics for four consecutive tournaments and 14 years older, "Don't run away from the fight against yourself even if you have a hard time", 1 after the postponement was decided I have been facing my heart for years.
At the last international tournament before the Olympic Games held in March, while Chinese players were not able to participate, even the players with lower rankings won the championship through the original bullish attack, mentally. It was growing.
In this tournament, he said, "I think that all the players are Chinese players and I am doing it with that theme. No matter how good the ball is hit, I am not surprised and I take it for granted." Then I attacked myself even in difficult situations.
In the 4th round, Harimoto also showed an aggressive stance against the aggressively attacking opponent who ranked 28th in the world ranking, but lost at the end of the full game and the first Olympic singles lost the 4th round. have become.