Honoka Hashimoto vs Wang Yidi | WS R16 | #USSMASH 2025

What a great point to illustrate the style that we're seeing from the Japanese player. Right, if you're not familiar with table tennis, a chopper, this shot right here when you're behind the table... Well, this he wants to watch because it's fire and ice. Defense against the attack, which was devastating there from Yidi. Comfortable, let's say. Lazy, just playing it up on the table. So she's not just standing, cutting under the ball. When she needs to, she can get up and flick it. Well, so this is a good backhand punch. Keeps a little topspin on it, but again, if those are long pips, it's going to be much tougher to do that. The twiddle! She turned the racket around 180 degrees in the hand for that extra bit of security. This is someone who feels that she can finish the point with this shot. She would beat everybody except her teammates. Clear the draw. Oh, after all those shots, incredible resilience, the ball floating back like a frisbee. She looks like she's starting a lawnmower over and over, the way she pulls under that 29 shots. The other thing that's noticeable straight away as well is if you are playing the defensive game and you're going to be back off the table a lot, And that tells you why that game plan works so well for Honoka Hashimoto. Brilliant, until Wong E.D. goes too hard. The winning shot, well, for one side, unfortunate. For the other, fortunate. A dribbler for our NBA star here. You know, with the length of rally right now, they could end up in the expedite system here. So much you can learn for the rest of your life and never fully master it, never perfect it. She misses that one, but fundamentally, the chopper, the defender's ability to get just about anything back, That must take its toll on the attacking player. I'm hitting shots here that normally I'm just going to walk up and towel down. She shows that anything that goes wide to her forehand, she has no fear. Smart combination. She got an attacking shot, or at least not a chop. That right there off the medium pips and behind the table, if someone's attacking with that. And that goes wide and long, and that is game two. Done in what might just be turning out to be the day of upsets here in Las Vegas. Game three has started. This combination when she can attack with both sides. It is so tough to keep the ball out of the net. Not just keep it out of the net when Honoka attacks with the medium pips. There should be data for the coaches to just keep track of every point. Whatever the fortune was, Honoka Hashimoto acknowledging it quickly. The reason I talk about that data is, it's just so useful to know. Ooh, a little fortune here in Vegas. After a twiddle, nonetheless, she had the black rubber on the backhand. You could feel the fire on the heels there. Wang Yidi survives one backhand attack and keeps it in play. These chops. Wang Yidi brought her a game for that final point. And the small print was wonderful to read. But the big print is going to show a bagel. 9-5-9. Defense is back, baby. Right here in Vegas, Honoka Hashimoto keeps this dying art form alive. And it is spectacular. We the spectator are better for it.