"The axe forgets," wrote the poet Ahken Osei, "but the tree remembers." In the last few years, many a mighty tree has been felled by the fury of Tomokazu Harimoto's blade. The Japanese wunderkind has cut his way through the forest of international table tennis to firmly establish himself among the top five players in the world. On Sunday, Harimoto secured a podium finish at the 2020 ITTF Men's World Cup in Weihai, China. After blowing a 3-1 lead against Ma Long of China in the semifinals, Harimoto had a chance to redeem himself against the Republic of Korea's Jang Woojin in the bronze medal match. After Jang won the first two games, Harimoto steeled his nerve to steal the bronze in seven thrilling games. In a whirlwind week, players jetted from Weihai to Zhengzhou, China for the 2020 ITTF Finals. The youngest-ever winner of the ITTF Grand Finals two years ago at age 15, the world #4 Harimoto set out to reclaim the title won last year by Fan Zhendong, the world #1 from China. Whom should Harimoto meet in the opening round of 16, though, but none other than Jang Woojin. This time it was Harimoto who secured the early advantage, securing a 3-1 lead with with his blitzkrieg backhand attack, each point won punctuated by a bloodcurdling scream. In the fifth game, Harimoto held two match points at 10-8. Jang, however, held not only the serve but the insouciance of one with nothing to lose. With two quick points, it was deuce. Two more, and Jang was back in the match with a 12-10 win. After that, Harimoto seemed to pull an Elvis and leave the building. His body seemed animated only by muscle memory as he mustered a paltry seven points over the last two games. Even the shrieks denoting his handful of points won seemed perfunctory. Jang, by contrast, grew more confident with every shot, firing forehands down the line for winners at will. From the brink of elimination, Jang Woojin completed the comeback and the payback, (6-11, 2-11, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 11-2, 11-5). For his efforts, he earned a match with China's Lin Gaoyuan in the quarterfinals. Although Jang Woojin is but one of many to have fallen by the vicious blade of Tomokazu Harimoto, he is one of the few to inflict nearly immediate revenge. This tree certainly did not forget. After only four days, how could he?

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