(by Steve Hopkins)
Japan came to Tunisia in force, with Tomokazu Harimoto (World No. 11) the top seed in Men’s Singles, and little sister Miwa Harimoto (World No. 7) the top seed in Women’s Singles. Japan was not the top seed in all of the events, but that did not keep them from sweeping all of the available titles. Tomokazu did win Men’s Singles, Miwa did win Women’s Singles, Tomokazu and Sora Matsushima teamed to win Men’s Doubles, Yokoi and Odo won Women’s Doubles, and Tomokazu teamed with Hina Hayata to win Mixed Doubles.
Tomokazu Harimoto had a pair of dangerous early opponents that he handled with ease – a 3-0 win over Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson and a 3-0 win over Quek Izaac of Singapore. The road was much tougher from there, however, as Harmioto trailed early in the Quarters against Mizuki Oikawa before coming back to secure a 3-2 win, and while never trailing, Harimoto needed a 12-10 final game to win 3-2 in his Semis match against Sora Matsushima. The biggest test came in the Final against an inconsistent Yukiya Uda who led twice, but could not close out the match – a hard-fought 4-3 win for Tomokazu Harimoto. A disappointing showing for the Swedes with Karlsson losing 0-3 in his first round matchup, and second seeded Truls Moregard didn’t do much better – losing 1-3 to Hiroto Shinozuka in their first round match. But the burst by Yukiya Uda may be the biggest story – the surprise Japanese champion in 2020 had fallen all the way to No. 164 in the World Rankings. He had to fight through the qualifiers just to reach the draw. Once in the draw, he went through Poret 3-0, Gauzy 3-1, Puca 3-0, and Shinozuka 3-2 before blowing two leads in the Final (and his ultimate second place finish).
Miwa Harimoto had a much easier tournament in Women’s Singles. She started with a pair of 3-0 wins, logged a 3-1 win over Christina Kallberg in the Quarters, won her Semis match over Joo Cheonhui 3-0, and then dominated the Final with a 4-0 win over Satsuki Odo. The Indian team who have had so much recent success were present, but Batra and company were unable to get past the Round of 16. Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz made it one more round, winning twice before falling to Miyu Nagasaki in the Quarters.
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