Japan Releases LA 2028 Selection Criteria Two Years Early — Blessing or Curse?
Japan Releases LA 2028 Selection Criteria Two Years Early: Blessing or Curse?
On the 8th, the Japan Table Tennis Association announced the selection criteria for Japan’s table tennis players at the 34th Olympic Games (2028 / Los Angeles, USA / July 15-29, 2028), as follows.
Some netizens commented: the Harimoto siblings Tomokazu and Miwa, plus strong players such as Sora Matsushima, Satsuki Odo and Honoka Hashimoto, are very likely to be selected. Drawing the framework this early may make it hard to adjust to the actual situation when the time comes. Blessing or curse? Hard to say.
1. Events and Quotas
(1) Events
a) Team event: mixed team
b) Individual events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles
(2) Quotas: maximum number of players (pairs) per event
Men’s and women’s singles: 2 each for men and women
Men’s and women’s doubles: 1 pair each for men and women
Mixed doubles: 1 or 2 pairs
Mixed team: 3 each for men and women (6 in total)
Note: the maximum entry for each National Olympic Committee (NOC) across the six events above is at most 3 men and 3 women.
2. Selection Method for Mixed Team Candidates
Note: an NOC that obtains mixed team places (3 men and 3 women) simultaneously obtains 2 places each in men’s and women’s singles.
(1) Selection method for men’s and women’s singles candidates (2 each)
a) The top two Japanese players in the first ITTF singles world rankings published in January 2028 (expected on Monday, January 3).
(2) Selection method for mixed team candidates (3 each)
a) Based on the men’s and women’s singles candidates (2 each) selected in 2.(1) above.
b) The third player will be decided by the strengthening headquarters within one week after the end of the general division of the 2028 All-Japan Table Tennis Championships, taking the following into comprehensive account: selecting a player judged to have a high level of international competitiveness in both the singles and doubles of the mixed team event.
(3) Selection method for men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles candidate pairs
If Japan obtains entry to each doubles event through Olympic qualifying (continental qualification, world qualification, world-ranking quotas, final allocation), then because the entries are awarded to the NOC and not to individual players, the strengthening headquarters will select, from the players chosen in 2.(2) above, the single most internationally competitive pair for each doubles event.
Note: regarding the number of mixed doubles entries, at the point of final allocation (May 22, 2028), if an NOC has two pairs within the world’s top 8 in mixed doubles and all four of these players are included in the mixed team candidate list, then that NOC may enter up to two pairs. If Japan meets this condition, the second mixed doubles pair will be selected by the strengthening headquarters from the six mixed team candidates, from among the members other than the two players selected in (3) above.
3. Selection Method for Reserve Candidates (1 each)
An NOC that obtains mixed team places is entitled to one reserve player. The strengthening headquarters will select, from among those other than the candidates chosen in section 2 above, one man and one woman judged to be helpful to Japan’s bid for a mixed team medal and to have a high level of international competitiveness in both singles and doubles, as reserve candidates. The reserve candidates are to be announced before the deadline for recommendation to the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC).
4. Player Eligibility Conditions
(1) Compliance with the participation conditions set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the provisions of the current Olympic Charter (including Article 41 on athletes’ nationality and Article 43 on the World Anti-Doping Code and the Olympic Movement rules on preventing the manipulation of competitions).
(2) Compliance with the latest ITTF rules and satisfaction of the eligibility standards.
5. Supplementary Notes
(1) Japan has a very high probability of obtaining mixed team places through continental qualification and the 2027 Mixed Team World Cup, so these criteria are premised on Japan obtaining those places. In the unlikely event that places are not obtained by the end of the 2027 Mixed Team World Cup, the board will deliberate separately.
(2) The 2027 Mixed Team World Cup also serves as the qualifier for the LA Olympic mixed team event, so players selected to represent Japan at that event must, as a condition of selection, take part in the Mixed Team World Cup (except in cases of force majeure such as injury or illness).
(3) The strengthening headquarters will report the candidates determined in section 2 above to the board and then recommend them to the JOC.
(4) If a candidate or reserve candidate cannot compete due to injury, illness or other reasons, the strengthening headquarters will decide on a replacement, report it to the board and recommend it to the JOC.
(5) If new changes by the ATTU (Asian Table Tennis Union), ITTF or IOC create discrepancies with these criteria, the board will deliberate again.
Original report by Hu Qingyuan, Ping Pang Wang