Tomokazu Harimoto: "The fact that I was able to get to the point where I could unsettle my opponent with tactics is tremendously valuable."

　Without even a break after his dramatic victory at the WTT Champions Yokohama, Tomokazu Harimoto went on to compete in the Europe Smash held in Sweden. Even after returning to Japan, his busy schedule continued with T-League and events, yet he made time to give this interview. We are publishing the second half of the interview.
＜After the WTT Yokohama victory in August 2025＞
PHOTO Manabu Nakagawa

"I thought that if I lost the sixth Game and had to go to the seventh Game, I wouldn't be able to play anymore."

●—It seemed like you stuck to a non-standard strategy throughout the Final against Wang Chuqin. What are your thoughts on that?

Tomokazu Harimoto (hereafter, Tomokazu)　Before I went up 3-0, I was thinking I might add more Chiquitas along the way, and when it became 3-2, I kept playing while thinking to myself, "When am I going to use the Chiquita?" In the fourth Game, when I came back from 6-10 to 9-10, Wang Chuqin's bench called a time-out, and when I pushed to the backhand side on the Receive, he stepped around and scored with a single shot. At that moment, I thought, "This strategy alone probably won't work anymore." 　Even so, I was still leading 3-1 in the fifth Game, so I couldn't make a bold switch in tactics. Wang Chuqin was starting to get a feel for my Flicks and Pushes, so the fifth Game was when he was at his strongest. 　By the sixth Game, I knew I absolutely had to go with the Chiquita. I hadn't used it early on, but I knew that if I kept relying only on Pushes, I'd end up getting turned around and losing the lead, so once I started adding the Chiquita, it worked because he wasn't used to it. There's a difference between using the Chiquita right from the Love-all in the first Game and bringing it in after the score reaches 3-2. Being able to change tactics in the sixth Game led to the Victory. 　It was my first Win over Wang Chuqin in three years, but I think being able to take it to the point where I could throw my opponent off with tactics makes this an incredibly valuable title.