Tomokazu Harimoto’s Journey in the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals at the 19th Asian Games: Analysis, Highlights, and Match Results
2023-09-30 11:24:19
Tomokazu Harimoto PHOTO: Itaru Chiba
19th Asian Games
On September 30th, in the men’s singles quarterfinals, Tomokazu Harimoto (20 = Tomokazu Kikaku / No. 4 in the world ranking) lost to Jang Woo-jin (28 = South Korea / No. 13 in the world) by a game count of 3-4.
Harimoto has 4 wins and 2 losses in the past against the Korean ace who won 2 singles matches at the WTT international tournament last year. Harimoto, the last remaining Japanese male, will be the only male to win a medal at this tournament.
Harimoto took the lead by hitting the foreground first in the rally, and in the final stages he sent the ball all the way to the backside to prevent Chan from going around and take the lead at 11-8. Next, from 10-10, Harimoto made it 12-10 with two counters and won the game in a row.
Harimoto attacks from wide angles at an early stage and prevents Chan from hitting hard. In the third game, they were trailing from 7-1 to 7-6, but Chiquita scored and took the lead to 11-8. However, in the fourth game they were attacked and lost 9-11.
At the beginning of the 5th game, Harimoto scored consecutive points from blocks to take the lead, but in the final stages, he was tied by Chan who made a series of strong hits from the forehand, making it 10-10. Furthermore, Harimoto took a medical timeout at 15-15 and returned to the game, but lost the close game at 17-19.
Harimoto kept bending and stretching after that, worrying about his legs, and lost the sixth game 4-11.
Still, in the seventh and final game, they continued to play, keeping their feet as still as possible and fighting mainly with blocks and Tsutsuki. At one point, he led 5-3, but Chan hit him off the course and the score fell to 8-11, resulting in the loss.
In the final stages of the race, Harimoto was unable to move his legs and missed out on his first medal in the same event since Jun Mizutani at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.
Tomokazu Harimoto 3-4 Jang Woo-jin (Korea) 11-8/12-10/11-8/9-11/17-19/4-11/8-11