Outrageous chopping skills by Stephane Ouaiche!

says Waldner Masterclass out now! 🏓
says Waldner Masterclass out now! 🏓
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Wow! Here's a rally for the best point collection! At the Korea Open in 2014, Stephane Ouaiche played Kristian Karlsson in an epic match and pulled of this outrageous rally below!

Just look at those chops!


Feeling or what!
 
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Someone, please remind what is good about playing like this again?


It's probably not "good". But.. and I'm gonna copy paste a comment I saw on fb by Eli Baraty as a response to another about the chop costing him the point etc.
"Yes..
but I think we often forget why we play sport! We all start playing a particular sport because we enjoy or love it, Stephane clearly loves playing and losing a point here and there due to joy is more than acceptable in my eyes. We learn when we experiment and for me freedom and expression in sport is too often restricted by external factors. The best ever Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, Messi etc. Express themselves regardless of the situation hence they shine as sportsman..."


For me, this sport is about enjoyment even though I am competitive.

I don't usually do these types of silly things during games, but my team mate loves to start lobbing, chopping or hitting around the nets and goes for these at every opportunity even if it costs him the point or potentially even the game. I don't usually do that because I want to play properly and not endorse bad habits. So, it depends what you mean by "good". It's good fun for me and others to watch and it's probably good fun for him to do.

Is it good for him to win? Probably not.. but winning isn't everything. Is it good for development? Probably not as you'll likely find yourself doing these things more and more often. But he's doing his thing and it's great to watch.

I don't quite understand what you mean by losing the point without admitting it.. how is he supposed to admit it and why does this matter? I've seen you comment about it before, I'm just curious as to why it seems to be such an issue to you?
 
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It's probably not "good". But.. and I'm gonna copy paste a comment I saw on fb by Eli Baraty as a response to another about the chop costing him the point etc.
"Yes..
but I think we often forget why we play sport! We all start playing a particular sport because we enjoy or love it, Stephane clearly loves playing and losing a point here and there due to joy is more than acceptable in my eyes. We learn when we experiment and for me freedom and expression in sport is too often restricted by external factors. The best ever Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, Messi etc. Express themselves regardless of the situation hence they shine as sportsman..."


For me, this sport is about enjoyment even though I am competitive.

I don't usually do these types of silly things during games, but my team mate loves to start lobbing, chopping or hitting around the nets and goes for these at every opportunity even if it costs him the point or potentially even the game. I don't usually do that because I want to play properly and not endorse bad habits. So, it depends what you mean by "good". It's good fun for me and others to watch and it's probably good fun for him to do.

Is it good for him to win? Probably not.. but winning isn't everything. Is it good for development? Probably not as you'll likely find yourself doing these things more and more often. But he's doing his thing and it's great to watch.

I don't quite understand what you mean by losing the point without admitting it.. how is he supposed to admit it and why does this matter? I've seen you comment about it before, I'm just curious as to why it seems to be such an issue to you?

It's an issue to me because some coach decided to hail this guy as someone with the X-factor for beating the Chinese.
 
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I do understand why something like this could be beneficial to the sport, but to act as if some kind of gimmicks are the end all be all secret to beating the Chinese just seems like denial of the fact that Europe isn't quite up to par with the Chinese on a technical, physical or mental level.

It's acting like we just haven't found the "magic spice" yet, and everything will be okay if we do. It's like saying that Waldner wasn't that good: he was just special.
 
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I do understand why something like this could be beneficial to the sport, but to act as if some kind of gimmicks are the end all be all secret to beating the Chinese just seems like denial of the fact that Europe isn't quite up to par with the Chinese on a technical, physical or mental level.

It's acting like we just haven't found the "magic spice" yet, and everything will be okay if we do. It's like saying that Waldner wasn't that good: he was just special.

I disagree - the main thing is the investment in resources in China pales Europe or even the rest of the world including other Asian countries with the potential exceptions of Japan and South Korea. All the other stuff is not that different.
 
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I disagree - the main thing is the investment in resources in China pales Europe or even the rest of the world including other Asian countries with the potential exceptions of Japan and South Korea. All the other stuff is not that different.
Yes, but towards what end result do those resources go? Into developing a better player, coach, team, system or perhaps even equipment, right?
 
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Yes, but towards what end result do those resources go? Into developing a better player, coach, team, system or perhaps even equipment, right?
We've gone through this elsewhere too often but developing a better player is sometimes about selection, not about planning. And having the resources to invest in enhanced healthcare etc. is something some other countries do with their basketball or baseball teams, not their table tennis teams.
 
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We've gone through this elsewhere too often but developing a better player is sometimes about selection, not about planning. And having the resources to invest in enhanced healthcare etc. is something some other countries do with their basketball or baseball teams, not their table tennis teams.
I mean, I don't disagree, so what can I say.
 
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