Well to be fair LZJ was much better today except for two points i think at 7-11 and 17-15 in 3rd game. But overall much better behaviour.
True. Kento's physicality is obviously still not there yet, as he looked extremely slow in g1 and made a lot of unforced errors. There were some positives as well: even though I didn't like his tactics in game 3 at all, it is encouraging that tried to score points and got rewarded in the end. His distribution was also better (clear length) and, as @kurako mentioned, his net play looked improved. Let's hope they don't have to play Malaysia again, this matchup has really run its course.
Momota seems to be gravitating between 3 players, LZJ, Heo Kwanghee and SYQ lol At least this will be it for Quarter and Semi - Final we will see if it is VA or again LZJ xD Depending if JPN even gets to Semi -_____________________________________-
If Momota has any stamina left after yesterday's match, he should win. Tsuneyama and Nishimoto are of more concern, ... as is MD1.
Does anyone know about that chicken ??? I saw it at 3,4 times, from Ayaka Takahashi generation to now. Anytime Japan played a team event, I saw it.
@terrynguyen121988 It is just a cheering equipment and to bring some fun. @kurako I know. But what I liked from yesterday is that I saw how he kept pushing and gave everything he had. I hope I see him doing that today too. I hate when after losing a point he just get dejected and look as if there is nothing that can be done and start giving up. Yesterday he did everything he could. That's how he should always play. Full gas till the end. I'm sure this will kickstart his engine.
Be cold Momota - be very cold. Revenge is best served cold. He eliminated you from OG in your country. Hmmm - destroy him?
I noticed Momota's reaction to blocking smashes and seeing which side the smash is going is significantly delayed. Sometimes it looks like he couldn't even see it until it passed him and he just stands there frozen. Is there a possibility that his eyesight was never recovered completely? If that were the case, I can understand if they kept quiet about it as it'd expose a big weakness.
This is the first time I have ever seen Heo play for an entire match. He is such a patient player; totally unruffled, and there are very few inaccuracies. Momota really needed to inject pace, but failed to do so.
There are two ways Momota could have injected pace: 1 - by upping his footwork speed - which he doesn't have right now (meaning he doesn't have that additional gear to surpass the speed of his opponents) 2 - by unleashing a poisonous smash (smashes similar to what Heo was doing) Unfortunately, Momota does not have any of those for now. Alternatively, he could have made this a stamina match. He would need two things for this to happen: 1 - absolute defense where he returns all smashes 2 - better stamina than the opponent Unfortunately, he did not have the first one therefore it doesn't matter if he had the second. Even if he did, it wouldn't be by much because the rivals have caught the gap. Another way would be to use super quality shots like he was in 2019 but he doesn't have that either - so many unforced errors.
