Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto has undoubtedly become one of the top competitors to the ever dominant Chinese. Harimoto is a key factor in Japan’s ability to steal a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Ma Long, touted “The Dragon’, arguably the greatest table tennis player of all time, will be an obstacle in Harimoto’s way next year. With the Olympic Games less than a year away, what exactly unfolded in the most recent match between these two?

A Completely Different Match for Tomokazu Harimoto

These two titans most recently competed in the 2018 ITTF Japan Open Semi-Finals. In this face off, Ma Long showed the world why he’s a three time World Champion and still one of the best in the world at 30 years of age. In short, he made Harimoto look like an amateur.

Ma Long’s performance in this match was a complete 180 from his immediate prior matchup with Harimoto at the 2018 Japan Open Semi-Finals. Ma Long looked ready here, with a sounder strategy, but even more important, with deadly execution.

Tomokazu Harimoto’s and Ma Long’s Tactics

Harimoto’s goal during the match hadn’t changed much from when they played in Japan one year prior. Harimoto looked to target Ma Long’s backhand side at all cost. When playing backhand to backhand, Harimoto is arguably stronger. Harimoto’s backhand is designed to win the point by inducing pressure and pace. Long’s backhand sets up for his forehand, leading it to be a weaker stroke instead of a full on attack.

Ma Long, realizing this after his Japan Open loss, knew that he had to attack with his forehand at all costs, and this is exactly what he did.

“The Dragon’s” perfect execution

The first major item to note is the service game from Ma Long. Instead of serving short to the forehand, he served half-long to the middle. These half-long serves made it difficult for Harimoto to begin the point with his backhand flick. This led to Harimoto pushing more service returns. By pushing the service instead of flipping it, Harimoto gave up the advantage of having the first attack. Ma Long would get the first forehand opening, making it difficult for Harimoto to establish the backhand rally he needed.

Ma Long was also able to shut down the service game of Harimoto. Harimoto serves are spun and angled in a way that the receiver would either push to the backhand or short to the forehand. However, Ma Long elected to do neither, and pushed half-long to the middle of Harimoto. Harimoto tried to respond to this by anticipating the push, taking a step back, and trying to find room for his backhand. This tactic, however, lead to a far weaker backhand shot than if Harimoto was closer to the table.

Possible areas of improvement for Tomokazu Harimoto

Ma Long played a tactically sound match and he left no opportunity for Harimoto to continuously play his strong backhand. Harimoto, however, could have done a few things in order to combat what Ma Long did. Harimoto could have used his reverse pendulum serve to Ma Long’s backhand. This serve could have resulted in Ma Long opening with his backhand into Harimoto’s backhand. In addition, Harimoto could have played his forehand down the parallel line rather than cross court, which would take Ma Long out of the forehand to forehand exchange.

In order for Harimoto to have a shot for a gold medal come Tokyo 2020, he will need to see a drastic improvement in his forehand, along with some sounder tactics for playing against someone that completely pins him to the middle. With the clock ticking, will Harimoto make the necessary improvements?