Original title: Japanese media praised Yoshimura Maharu: The greatest victory of his career, as strong as Ma Long is difficult to beat the years
On January 10, Beijing time, the 2023 Durban World Table Tennis Championships Asian qualifiers broke out the biggest upset since the start of the competition. Two-time Olympic men's singles champion Ma Long lost seven sets to Japan's Maharu Yoshimura and unexpectedly stopped in the second round. After the match, Japanese media praised Maharu Yoshimura's victory.
For the result of Yoshimura's victory over Mallon, Japanese media called it the biggest victory of his career so far. The following excerpt is an excerpt for translation: "Prior to this tournament, Yoshimura players had never beaten China's Malone players in an official match, and had not even won a match. The Yoshimura player, who was hardly favored before the match, showed amazing tenacity. After trailing 3-2, Jedi fought back and reversed to win. It can be seen that Yoshimura players and coaching staff made very effective technical and tactical preparations for Malone players before the game, and the counterspin serve and the return ball with excellent landing points became the key magic weapon for him to defeat the enemy. With this victory, Yoshimura added a very heavy weight to the battle for a spot in Japan at the Paris Olympics. ”
For Ma Long's unexpected defeat, the Japanese media also briefly analyzed the reasons. The following excerpt is translated: "As a two-time Olympic table tennis men's singles champion, a player as powerful as Ma Long cannot beat the invasion of time. Previously, in the men's doubles match, he reversed with his teammates after falling behind 3-1, exhausting Malone in two consecutive games and seven games. It can be seen that in the final stage of the match against Maharu Yoshimura, Malone's footsteps have become clearly weak, resulting in a reversal of the result. ”
In fact, while Japanese media and fans see China as their biggest rival to break through, Malone has always been popular in Japan. It can also be seen from the reports of the Japanese media that they are full of respect for the veteran who is still struggling. Previously, when participating in the Japan Table Tennis Open, there was a scene where the audience "defected" to cheer for Ma Long's wonderful shot.