[World Table Tennis 2026 Finals: In-Depth Analysis] Why did Tomokazu Harimoto lose after leading 2-0? The pitfall of the "moment victory comes into view" as explained by sports psychology
Late at night on May 10, 2026, at the OVO Arena Wembley in London. In the men's final of the 100th Anniversary World Team Table Tennis Championships, Japan lost to China 0-3 and finished with the silver medal.
In the first match, Tomokazu Harimoto, leading 2-0 in games against top-ranked Liang Jingkun, suffered a shocking comeback loss after allowing his opponent to take three consecutive games. Many of you watching on screen must have felt your hearts sink.
"He lost his concentration." "His mentality was weak." Such words were flying around on the internet.
However, from my perspective as someone who has spent 20 years in the field of sports psychology, observing everyone from juniors to top-tier athletes, that was neither a "loss of concentration" nor a "weak mentality."
It is a clear, neuroscientifically explainable phenomenon that can occur even at the highest level in the world.
And in the same tournament, Miwa Harimoto achieved a major upset in the women's final, defeating world No. 1 Wang Manyu after a full-game battle.
Why was one player turned around while the other defeated a superior opponent? The answer lies not in technical differences, but in the "difference in how the nervous system is used."
In this article, I will explain:
Reading Tomokazu Harimoto's 2-0 comeback loss in the men's final through psychology
The reason Miwa Harimoto was able to beat the world No. 1 in the women's final
The true nature of Sora Matsushima's "mental reconstruction" in the men's semifinals
The Polyvagal Theory and the "Traffic Light Model" that runs through it all
Three practical steps that parents and coaches of junior athletes can use starting tomorrow
using all the resources of neuroscience and sports psychology.
Let's start with the conclusion—what happened in last night's final was "3 psychological traps" and "1 psychological liberation."
Chapter 1: Reading Tomokazu Harimoto's 2-0 comeback loss through psychology
In the first match of the men's final, the matchup was Tomokazu Harimoto versus Liang Jingkun. Harimoto took the first two games 11-8 and 11-4, and it looked to everyone like he would win the first point. However, he then lost three games 9-11, 11-13, and 8-11, resulting in a full-game comeback loss.
I will organize what happened here into three points from the perspective of sports psychology.
Trap 1: Shift in the object of attention—from "how to hit" to "how to win"
When the human brain sees the finish line, it automatically shifts its focus from the "process" to the "result." The moment a player wins two games, what occurs in their brain is a very subtle, yet decisive shift in consciousness: from "this ball I am hitting right now" to "myself, one game away from victory."
When this happens, the "thinking self" interrupts the movements (swing form, breathing, footwork) that had been automated until then. The motor commands that were originally precisely controlled subconsciously are slightly disrupted by this conscious intervention. In motor learning research, this phenomenon is called "de-automation."
Trap 2: De-automation of movement—consciousness destroys motion
The movements of top athletes are highly automated motor programs written into the cerebellum and basal ganglia through tens of thousands of repetitions.
When thoughts like "I must not make a mistake" or "only one more game to go" enter this process, the prefrontal cortex begins to interfere with motor control in areas it is not normally responsible for. As a result, movements become stiff, the rhythm is slightly off, and the ball's trajectory is disrupted by a few centimeters.
This is the true nature of what sports psychology calls "choking." It is not that concentration was lost, but that the consciousness became "too focused."
Trap 3: Qualitative change in the autonomic nervous system—from "offensive excitement" to "fear of losing"
The decisive factor here is the qualitative change in the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system arousal before the lead was an "awakening for attack." However, once the lead is established and victory comes into view, even though the sympathetic nervous system remains dominant, its quality quietly transforms into "tension accompanied by the fear of losing."
From the outside, it looks like the same "focused face." But within the nervous system, a completely different mode is running. To understand this transformation, we will introduce the Polyvagal Theory in the next chapter.
Chapter 2: Polyvagal Theory and the "Traffic Light Model"
Polyvagal Theory is a three-layer structural model of the autonomic nervous system proposed by neurophysiologist Dr. Stephen Porges.
I explain this in coaching settings as the Traffic Light Model.
Signal | Nervous State | Quality of Performance | 🟢 Green | Ventral Vagal Complex | Safety, Connection, Optimal Arousal | 🟡 Yellow | Sympathetic Nervous System | Fight, Flight, Excitement | 🔴 Red | Dorsal Vagal | Freeze, Shutdown
The zone state that top athletes exhibit during competition is a state of "attacking with peace of mind," where yellow is layered on a green base. Because the nervous system is "open," the field of vision is wide, judgment is fast, and movements are fluid.
However, what happens the "moment victory comes into view"? The green foundation drops out, only yellow remains, and the moment the player enters defensive mode, the yellow shifts from "offensive yellow" to "fearful yellow."
At this time, pupil constriction, peripheral vasoconstriction, and stiffening of fine motor skills occur simultaneously. Reaction to the ball is delayed by 0.1 seconds. The swing shortens by 3 centimeters. That is enough to decide a world-class match.
It is not that their "mentality was weak," but that the traffic light switched unconsciously—this is the accurate description.
Chapter 3: Why Miwa Harimoto was able to beat the world No. 1—"one psychological liberation"
In the same tournament, the exact opposite phenomenon was occurring.
In the first match of the women's final, 17-year-old Miwa Harimoto defeated world No. 1 Wang Manyu after a full-game battle: 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 4-11, 11-4. This was an undeniable major upset.
Why was he able to win? The answer lies not in technique, but in the "freedom of the nervous system of a player who has nothing to lose."
When challenging as an underdog, a player's nervous system is paradoxically liberated. The gravity of "having to win" disappears, attention remains broad, and movements remain automated, allowing for full swings.
This is a form of psychological liberation.
Interestingly, figure skater Ami Nakai also mentioned that when she makes a mistake in a competition, she tells herself, "I've gotten all the bad stuff out, so I'm okay now."
It is a form of self-dialogue that does not pursue perfection, but incorporates mistakes and returns consciousness to the "next" step. This is a universal principle of modern sports mentality that transcends the boundaries of specific sports.
What Miwa Harimoto showed against Wang Manyu was precisely this "liberation of someone who has nothing to lose."
Chapter 4: Sora Matsushima's "Mental Reconstruction"—The True Nature of Self-Regulation Skills
After the men's semifinal match against Chinese Taipei, Sora Matsushima left an impressive comment.
While struggling to perform at his best during the early stages of the final tournament, he said, he was able to face his own mentality through the quarterfinal match against Germany— that is what he said.
This is the activation of what is known in sports psychology as self-regulation skills.
Self-regulation skills are the technique of executing the following three steps during intervals in a match (bench, timeouts, before serves):
Self-monitoring: Noticing your current nervous state
Reappraisal: Changing the meaning of the situation
Behavioral modification: Switching your nervous state through breathing, movement, and self-dialogue
of the three steps, executed during match intervals (bench, timeouts, before serves).
During the match, Matsushima was able to sense "which color (blue/yellow/red) he was currently in" and activate the technique to intentionally return to a blue base. That is why he was able to regain his game in the semifinals.
This is not a talent, but a trainable skill.
Chapter 5: Three practical steps that parents and coaches of junior athletes can use starting tomorrow
So, what can junior athletes, performers, and everyone who wants to perform at their best in high-stakes situations do starting tomorrow? I will narrow it down to three points.
Practice 1: Verbalizing to focus only on the "next ball" precisely when you have a lead
The phrases 'one more game' or 'one more point' send your attention into the future. Instead, replace them with present-tense cue words like **'the next ball'** or **'this return.'**
Make it a habit to say the same words whenever you have a lead, starting from practice. This alone can prevent your focus from shifting.
Practice 2: Self-monitoring of nervous system state through breathing
Between points, take just one set of breaths where you **'make the exhale one beat longer than the inhale.'** This is the simplest technique to intentionally reboot the ventral vagal complex.
You can use this during timeouts, before serves, or right after a mistake. If you feel your traffic light shifting to yellow, use your breath to bring it back to green.
Practice 3: Processing both mistakes and successes with the same routine
Whether it's Ichiro's sleeve-tugging motion or Nadal's bottle alignment, these are all routines for processing mistakes and successes with the same action.
For junior players, help them decide on their own 3-second routine. Touching their hat, adjusting their strings, taking a breath—anything is fine.
If a 'special action' only appears when you make a mistake, that action itself makes you conscious of being a 'person who made a mistake.' The same for good times and bad times, this is the golden rule.
Conclusion: To everyone who felt regret last night
The phenomena that occur at the world's top level happen in every sport and every age group. That is precisely why they can be trained.
It is not that 'my child has a weak mentality.' It is simply that 'they haven't learned how to use their nervous system yet.'
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