Jun Mizutani’s Eye: How Far Will Matsushima’s Excessive Confidence and Fearlessness Go?

For Japanese table tennis players, the All Japan Table Tennis Championships, known as “All Japan,” are a special event.
It is the pinnacle of the domestic scene, boasting more than 80 years of history, and in the past it also served as the selection event for Japan’s World Championships team. Winning this tournament can sometimes be harder than winning an international event, and every top player fine-tunes their condition with this stage in mind.

Jun Mizutani, who captured an unprecedented 10 titles at this All Japan Championships and made the name “champion” his own, is analyzing the tournament from a year and a half ago. It was the event where Sora MATSUSHIMA, then 17, upset the world top-ranked Tomokazu. HARIMOTO in the semi-final and captured his sensational first title. Did that shocking victory already foreshadow his win at the 2026 WTT Smash USA?

《Analysis of the men's Singles at the 2025 All Japan Championships》

Jun Mizutani 
Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, 10-time All Japan Championships winner

Sora MATSUSHIMA varied eight types of Service, mixed in Long service, and changed his Service on every single point

　First, let’s look back at the semi-final between Sora MATSUSHIMA (Kinoshita Group) and Tomokazu. HARIMOTO (Tomokazu Kikaku).

●Men's Singles Semi-final

Sora MATSUSHIMA　  13-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-7  Tomokazu. HARIMOTO　

　MATSUSHIMA was very bold with his Service in this match. His trademark is to keep firing Service to all kinds of locations, whether his Service is working well or not.

　A Player naturally wants to keep using a Service that is working, but he changed his Service every point. By varying sidespin and top-and-back spin, and even his standing position, he can use around eight different Services. He also uses Long service frequently, so the Opponent has to anticipate those eight types of Service while also staying alert for the Long service. That puts a lot of pressure on the Receive side. That way of serving is the same as Timo Boll’s (Germany / Olympic medalist).