On February 5, the Japan Table Tennis Association announced the Paris Olympics lineup Miwa Zhangmoto and Shinozuka Daito shortlisted men's body list, and the Tokyo Olympics mixed doubles champion Misei Ito was defeated. An excerpt from the following is available:
Reporter: Just now, everyone said that they hoped that I would do well in the selection competition, but not choosing the third Ito player at that selection point gave people a negative view of the criteria for the selection competition.
Watanabe: After all, you can only choose a maximum of 2 places in the selection competition, so I don't say that the 3rd place is also chosen this way. Of course, while it can be said that he worked hard for two places, the third was chosen because he was the best player in Paris.
Reporter: Is the best player to win in Paris synonymous with the best player right now? Do you mean that now Zhang Ben can win more than Ito?
Watanabe: That's a tough question. That's it.
Reporter: Ito didn't compete with Hirano until the final stage, and if Zhang Ben's score is exceeded, the selection is acceptable.
Watanabe: Ito is a great player and a treasure of Japan. I would love to choose four people, but in the end, if there is only one person left, there is a goal to defeat China in order to win the gold medal at the Olympics, so the focus of the domestic selection is also very important, but there, yes, I believe in my belief and choose a player who can win overseas.
Reporter: To put it simply, Ito didn't play to his level, and Zhang Ben has more momentum, right?
Watanabe: I think everyone felt that Zhang Ben was very imposing. Of course, I'm not going to choose based on momentum alone.
Reporter: Did you explain to me the reason why you didn't choose?
Watanabe: I don't want to tell you that much. There is also a training camp for the World Championships, so I want to talk to myself there.
Reporter: Did you choose Ito as your P card?
Watanabe: The time limit is May or June, so it depends on the status of the contestants. It can be both Ito and other players.
Reporter: What did you do when you said that Ito was selected for the team event?
Watanabe: I didn't ask directly, and I only saw it in an online report, so it had nothing to do with the selection at all.
Reporter: Although it is said that it meets the selection criteria, the third player has always been ranked third in the world, and if it is this time, the player with the third best points will be selected. Before overthrowing it, what are the expectations for Zhang Ben's players? In the all-Japan finals, the loser was also regarded as a Hayata, but what about the potential?
Watanabe: I think everyone who is watching it feels that the potential is quite high. At the age of 15, I had so much technology, amazing technology that I had never seen before, and it was growing very fast. Last time (Tokyo Olympics), Hirano was also highly ranked, so he was selected (third place).
Ito is No. 10 (in the world rankings) and No. 16 in Zhangmoto, who is also ranked high enough in the world. If it's 100th or 80th [in the world rankings], I think there will be an objection. However, because of his achievements in international competitions, I judged that Zhang would win in Paris. Although I didn't win, I didn't have a lot of players who could compete with China, so I gave it a rating
Reporter: What will be the selection method in the future?
Watanabe: If there are various opinions in the future, as a table tennis association, I would like to establish selection criteria that pursue transparency, and I would like to seriously accept various opinions.
Reporter: In the doubles match of the All Japan Championships, Hirano and Zhang were both players. What are the prospects for the future?
Watanabe: Because Hayada is doing well now, the ideal is to strengthen the doubles match between Hirano and Zhangmoto. Other players, such as Hayata, are also doubles masters, so considering the future matchmaking of the warring countries, I think there are various combinations, including Hayata's doubles.
Reporter: Although I understand that the selection score is to determine the two players, I think that when I set the selection criteria, it is also based on the growth space of the players and the criteria based on international cooperation, even so, is there no contradiction in the selection of the players who are ranked lower?
Watanabe: The third one is a player who can compete internationally in doubles, so I don't think there is a contradiction.
Reporter: You just said that after a match, [Zhang Ben vs. Chinese players] did not win. The fighting attitude is the ambiguous part, so how about using it as a reason for selection?
Watanabe: In addition to the fighting attitude, the content is also important. I didn't win [against China], but there weren't many players who could compete with China, so I gave it a good review.
Reporter: Was this announcement communicated to your subordinate units in advance?
Watanabe: Yes, I told you about it at one time.
Reporter: You said that you saw the fighting state of Zhang Ben, does that mean that you also want to see the battle on WTT?
Watanabe: Yes, it's WTT and the Asian Games, the Asian Games, right? Since around February (last year), she has also appeared on (WTT).
Reporter: Will Busan fight centered on the three men in Paris?
Watanabe: That's still under consideration, so I can't say for sure.
Reporter: Do you think Ito is no better able to fight against China than Zhang Ben, can you give an example of which match?
Watanabe: There were a lot of matches between Zhang and the Chinese, but there were a lot of hard fights.
Reporter: One of the reasons why Ito's form, which played so high at the Tokyo Olympics, may be due to the fact that there is an overcrowded schedule depending on the selection method. Isn't that what we need to reflect on in the future?
Watanabe: There may be a part of verification and reflection in the future. I can't say that the 100% selection method is good, and I heard about the overcrowding in the first half. For the next step of Paris, I would like to reflect the opinion of the scene.