World #90 Iba Diaw loses to Unranked Female Opponent, Calls Cheating!

[TensorBackhand]

Im surprised we dont see more of this style on the world stage. I always felt a LP punch blocker is more dangerous than a LP chopper, because you have less time to react and read the spin.

Between this match and the other Isegawa match, its clear its a troublesome style.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Im surprised we dont see more of this style on the world stage. I always felt a LP punch blocker is more dangerous than a LP chopper, because you have less time to react and read the spin.

Between this match and the other Isegawa match, its clear its a troublesome style.

you obviously haven't played against one

 

[TensorBackhand]

you obviously haven't played against one

Ive have played very low level lp blockers. If they were higher level overall, i wouldve lost big time due to the lp style.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Just curious, if prime MA Long usatt is 2900, im guessing, what would the rating of Diaw and Sun Yinsha be?

Im just wondering where the top women stand in the men's ranking.

 

[JJ Ng]

Contractually bound is probably a higher cause here
Butterfly sponsored player said I can take photos of his bat...because there is a non butterfly rubber on.
Its very common, so I am not surprised.

and who is the interviewer? a complete stranger?
You think anyone can just rock up to any "pro" player and ask to see his bat?

I think there is a couple of things within merit on why they did need to reply with a Butterfly rubber.

and I saw the matches, that rubber looks very normal to me

A few thoughts to share:

@Takkyu_wa_inochi did an awesome job finding it on the list of ITTF approved rubber

@Scarfed Garchomp did an awesome job identifying it as 388D-2 green.

But to be honest, the photo is a bit blurry. Maybe we are 60% sure it is 388D-2 green?

The interviewer seems to be affiliated with the tournament director. So why not show him the blade?

Since the video showed Iba Diaw getting upset about the green rubber, I hope most likely the tournament director and umpire did check the rubber and found it to be "green 388D-2" and left it be. For click bait sake and for the video to go viral, they did not show the director or umpire check the rubber.

However, knowing how tournaments are run in the US, I don't think the tournament director checked. He seemed to just want to appease Iba Diaw and just "move on" to running the tournament. After all, the interviewer on the video is definitely associated with the tournament director so the director has access to his video and put it on YouTube. So we know the answer here.....

As for what Tony said, I assume the former CNT players are retired. If she were playing in the US and at her retired level, at best she gets a few sheets of free Dignic 09c from Butterfly IF there is a Butterfly sponsorship. So I doubt that is the reason.

People also said that players are very secretive about Ai Fukuhara is very secretive about her long/medium pips' identity. Yeah, she was playing at the top top level. For this former CNT player who supposedly play 30 minutes each time, three times a week, there is zero reason for secrecy. You think any potential player playing her in the tournament would intentionally go out of his or her way "hire" a training partner to slap 388D-2 green on one side and ask to "practice" against that rubber? No chance. the amount of prize money in the US tournaments is paltry. How do you even pay someone to slap a rubber like that to practice against you ahead of time. Finally whoever practice partner it is, cannot use 388D-2 green as well the as former CNT player anyway.

So a) I just would like to see a more clear picture to show it is 388D-2 green and not some backward rubbers we see on Aliexpress, 2) I agree that the way she uses the green rubber to block looks like a legit rubber. Old rubbers with too long of the pips would distort the ball projectory much more severe and 3) I still feel sympathetic toward Iba Diaw.

 

[TensorBackhand]

A few thoughts to share:

@Takkyu_wa_inochi did an awesome job finding it on the list of ITTF approved rubber

@Scarfed Garchomp did an awesome job identifying it as 388D-2 green.

But to be honest, the photo is a bit blurry. Maybe we are 60% sure it is 388D-2 green?

The interviewer seems to be affiliated with the tournament director. So why not show him the blade?

Since the video showed Iba Diaw getting upset about the green rubber, I hope most likely the tournament director and umpire did check the rubber and found it to be "green 388D-2" and left it be. For click bait sake and for the video to go viral, they did not show the director or umpire check the rubber.

However, knowing how tournaments are run in the US, I don't think the tournament director checked. He seemed to just want to appease Iba Diaw and just "move on" to running the tournament. After all, the interviewer on the video is definitely associated with the tournament director so the director has access to his video and put it on YouTube. So we know the answer here.....

As for what Tony said, I assume the former CNT players are retired. If she were playing in the US and at her retired level, at best she gets a few sheets of free Dignic 09c from Butterfly IF there is a Butterfly sponsorship. So I doubt that is the reason.

People also said that players are very secretive about Ai Fukuhara is very secretive about her long/medium pips' identity. Yeah, she was playing at the top top level. For this former CNT player who supposedly play 30 minutes each time, three times a week, there is zero reason for secrecy. You think any potential player playing her in the tournament would intentionally go out of his or her way "hire" a training partner to slap 388D-2 green on one side and ask to "practice" against that rubber? No chance. the amount of prize money in the US tournaments is paltry. How do you even pay someone to slap a rubber like that to practice against you ahead of time. Finally whoever practice partner it is, cannot use 388D-2 green as well the as former CNT player anyway.

So a) I just would like to see a more clear picture to show it is 388D-2 green and not some backward rubbers we see on Aliexpress, 2) I agree that the way she uses the green rubber to block looks like a legit rubber. Old rubbers with too long of the pips would distort the ball projectory much more severe and 3) I still feel sympathetic toward Iba Diaw.

I still think the "main event" should be just inverted rubbers. There should be secondary event that allows rubbers where the goal is to return odd balls that purposely trick or mess up the opponent's rhythm

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Its an embarrassing loss for Iba but apart from the bad PR on YT and his pride being a little bit affected, it doesn't really matter for him as he'll never play again this kind of style.

Personally i hate this kind of style. I see quite a lot of similar players at amateur level in Japan both men and women. I almost always lose badly to them. The few wins make me happy though

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

A few thoughts to share:

@Takkyu_wa_inochi did an awesome job finding it on the list of ITTF approved rubber

@Scarfed Garchomp did an awesome job identifying it as 388D-2 green.

But to be honest, the photo is a bit blurry. Maybe we are 60% sure it is 388D-2 green?

The interviewer seems to be affiliated with the tournament director. So why not show him the blade?

Since the video showed Iba Diaw getting upset about the green rubber, I hope most likely the tournament director and umpire did check the rubber and found it to be "green 388D-2" and left it be. For click bait sake and for the video to go viral, they did not show the director or umpire check the rubber.

However, knowing how tournaments are run in the US, I don't think the tournament director checked. He seemed to just want to appease Iba Diaw and just "move on" to running the tournament. After all, the interviewer on the video is definitely associated with the tournament director so the director has access to his video and put it on YouTube. So we know the answer here.....

As for what Tony said, I assume the former CNT players are retired. If she were playing in the US and at her retired level, at best she gets a few sheets of free Dignic 09c from Butterfly IF there is a Butterfly sponsorship. So I doubt that is the reason.

People also said that players are very secretive about Ai Fukuhara is very secretive about her long/medium pips' identity. Yeah, she was playing at the top top level. For this former CNT player who supposedly play 30 minutes each time, three times a week, there is zero reason for secrecy. You think any potential player playing her in the tournament would intentionally go out of his or her way "hire" a training partner to slap 388D-2 green on one side and ask to "practice" against that rubber? No chance. the amount of prize money in the US tournaments is paltry. How do you even pay someone to slap a rubber like that to practice against you ahead of time. Finally whoever practice partner it is, cannot use 388D-2 green as well the as former CNT player anyway.

So a) I just would like to see a more clear picture to show it is 388D-2 green and not some backward rubbers we see on Aliexpress, 2) I agree that the way she uses the green rubber to block looks like a legit rubber. Old rubbers with too long of the pips would distort the ball projectory much more severe and 3) I still feel sympathetic toward Iba Diaw.

Flip the angle around.

Pro player can play very well with LP, no reason for her to cheat and destroy her reputation.
What if tournament director will check?

Reputation cost way more than some small prize money.
She isn't a nobody.

Most times where I notice funny long pips, are among vets and in amateur space.

I had a video of Anti + SP
People were asking about which rubbers the player use. Both the player, her mom and the coach weren't comfortable making the information public. She isn't top top level like Ai.
It is pretty normal to be honest for keeping your equipment out of public view

Having seen matches of her beating CNT A team members. Her BH now and then is more or less the same and yeah, I don't see anything funny going on.

Maybe its just one of those - not happy playing against pips story.

 

[zeio]

First hit with the search query "Guo Jiangshan". Aha, 有錢使得鬼推磨. See for yourself.

Butterfly Training Tips With Jiangshan Guo – Backhand Bump With Long Pips

(By: Bowmar Sports Team) In this Butterfly Training Tips Jiangshan Guo is is working with coach Yu Di focusing on the Backhand Bump using long pips. http

butterflyonline.com

 

[ttarc]

Why do they say that she's unranked? https://usatt.simplycompete.com/userAccount/trn/115856
She got her first USATT rating in 2016 and played the last three Westchester Opens in August, September and October. Current rating: 2476 and number 20 in the US https://usatt.simplycompete.com/use...playColumns=Membership+Expiration&pageSize=25

Iba Diaw was rated 2695 according to https://usatt.simplycompete.com/exp/pass1?tri=14836&uai=115856&format=

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Why do they say that she's unranked? https://usatt.simplycompete.com/userAccount/trn/115856
She got her first USATT rating in 2016 and played the last three Westchester Opens in August, September and October. Current rating: 2476 and number 20 in the US https://usatt.simplycompete.com/userAccount/s2?citizenship=&gamesEligibility=&gender=female&minAge=&maxAge=&minTrnRating=&maxTrnRating=&minLeagueRating=&maxLeagueRating=&state=&region=Any+Region&favorites=&q=&displayColumns=First+Name&displayColumns=Last+Name&displayColumns=USATT#&displayColumns=Location&displayColumns=Home+Club&displayColumns=Tournament+Rating&displayColumns=Last+Played+Tournament&displayColumns=League+Rating&displayColumns=Last+Played+League&displayColumns=Membership+Expiration&pageSize=25

Iba Diaw was rated 2695 according to https://usatt.simplycompete.com/exp/pass1?tri=14836&uai=115856&format=

That why I say, its just pure click bait

2700 loss to a 2500 funny style player vs 2650 loss to a 2300 (proper unranked) funny style player.
I would say Mark Hazinski took the loss on his chin

 

[TensorBackhand]

First hit with the search query "Guo Jiangshan". Aha, 有錢使得鬼推磨. See for yourself.

Butterfly Training Tips With Jiangshan Guo – Backhand Bump With Long Pips

(By: Bowmar Sports Team) In this Butterfly Training Tips Jiangshan Guo is is working with coach Yu Di focusing on the Backhand Bump using long pips. http

butterflyonline.com

hmm, I feel like I could learn to do this push block quite well. I already block quite well with inverted.

I still have a unopened Yinhe Qing rubber, maybe time to put it on and practice this style

 

[TensorBackhand]

That why I say, its just pure click bait

2700 loss to a 2500 funny style player vs 2650 loss to a 2300 (proper unranked) funny style player.
I would say Mark Hazinski took the lost on his chin

This is why LP should be a separate category. It's unfair for 2700 guys to lose to the equipment of their opponent.

 

[ander999]

I was present at this event and Ibrahim Diaw never accused her of cheating. In fact, he stated multiple times that "She played very well." Although it is surprising to see such an upset occur, pibs /anti is the easiest way to upset someone. However, it is all perspective. I never played her myself, but my friend who is around 2300 beat her 3-0 just last month.
And I didn't come to defend either player in any way. The ending was definetely sketchy.

 

[dingyibvs]

I was present at this event and Ibrahim Diaw never accused her of cheating. In fact, he stated multiple times that "She played very well." Although it is surprising to see such an upset occur, pibs /anti is the easiest way to upset someone. However, it is all perspective. I never played her myself, but my friend who is around 2300 beat her 3-0 just last month.
And I didn't come to defend either player in any way. The ending was definetely sketchy.

I see the video was taken down, but there was a long segment in there where he was talking about the "illegal rubber".

 

[ander999]

I see the video was taken down, but there was a long segment in there where he was talking about the "illegal rubber".

The guy said "It isn't an illegal rubber."

 

[SlowPower]

This is why LP should be a separate category. It's unfair for 2700 guys to lose to the equipment of their opponent.

Why is LP unfair and Dignics not? Everyone should play the material best suited to each style of play.
You could also argue that dignics is unfair and the attacking players should stick to coppa or mark v as they get too mich spin and speed with this dignics high end material!

 

[Peter93]

Why is LP unfair and Dignics not? Everyone should play the material best suited to each style of play.
You could also argue that dignics is unfair and the attacking players should stick to coppa or mark v as they get too mich spin and speed with this dignics high end material!

People who complain about long pips in 2023 just aren't very good at the sport imo. You had the aspect ratio change in the early 90s, the aspect ratio and pimple density change in the late 90s, then the ball got larger (less spin), then the frictionless ban in 2008, AND then the ball change again in 2015 and you're still complaining about long pips. Give me a break.

 

[trumpet_guy]

Hello sir,
I am German & my English not very good. I am trying to understand your statement

I believe he meant, “Diaw should win the match even if his opponent is cheating.”

 

[JJ Ng]

People who complain about long pips in 2023 just aren't very good at the sport imo. You had the aspect ratio change in the early 90s, the aspect ratio and pimple density change in the late 90s, then the ball got larger (less spin), then the frictionless ban in 2008, AND then the ball change again in 2015 and you're still complaining about long pips. Give me a break.

Agree. The new pips really are not that disruptive. The spin back in 38mm celluloid ball was insane.

Now people loop a relatively no spin ball and stare at their rackets thinking it is the rackets' fault. Lol, there is not that much spin on the ball to start with!!!

I am 100% fine with LP. I have fooled around with LP here and there. It is not that easy to play.

Heck tennis hard court, clay court and glass court. Should they just ban the clay court and took away all of Nadal's championship trophies?