Paris Olympic Games 2024

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i hope so, i love his playstyle. he was plagued by a back (?) injury and didnt get to play much this year
I would say he made a sort of comeback this year.

Kihara got the silver medal.
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I would say he made a sort of comeback this year.

Kihara got the silver medal.View attachment 31459

Hayata said that she will loan Kihara her Team silver while she poses with her Singles bronze so that they can have a nice group photo. But it is emblematic of the subgroup - Kinoshita and Hayata lol.
 
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Hayata said that she will loan Kihara her Team silver while she poses with her Singles bronze so that they can have a nice group photo. But it is emblematic of the subgroup - Kinoshita and Hayata lol.
Ah, my bad. Didn't realize it were different medals.
 
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Togami has improved, he challenged LJK down to the wire last time around, He's not met Wang/Fan/Ma in a while though, so it's hard to gauge his improvement relative to the competition.

I think his grade is fair.

Shinozuka is still quite underwhelming despite being able to play the "right" shots though. I hope the curse of the diminutive lefty Japanese starlet isn't haunting him.
Then got 3-0'ed right in the next Wtt starcon, we can't glaze that 3-4 lost forever. Togami has what it takes to be the best player Japan has ever seen, but he needs a coach that can give him wider tactics as well as train his mental toughness.

Shinozuka is like the opposite of Togami, calm and collected, good adaptability but his small physique hold him back from reaching new heights
 
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I think the bronze mens match indicates a promising future for players on both teams, but a couple of questions occur. For the Lebrun's I wonder has the coach planned an intense year of gym time for the brothers? Alex seems quite shockingly flabby round the middle for instance. I wonder would the bothers cooperate with a regime to preserve their dazzling speed?. I would hate to see Felix acquire a "spare tire" too early in life. France need to ensure the physical health and development of their squad for the future. Maybe the government will invest?
On the Japanese side I wonder if TH will learn to conserve a bit of emotional energy by moderating his shouting?
More interestingly Shinozuka is a puzzle any coach would like to have. He seems to play just an ordinary game yet he shows himself to be so comfortable while playing against Felix's brilliance and Felix is often troubled by his placement and variation when Felix seems to read other players with ridiculous ease.
I. hope we get to see. more of Shinoxuka because there is a lot to be learned.
 
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Let me summarize my experience. I attended the men's team final at Paris Arena Sud 4. I almost missed the start because I was watching everything from home in a different time zone. I thought I had 2 hours before the match, but it turned out to be 1 hour. I had to rush to the arena (about 30 minutes away). When I arrived, there was a huge crowd of Chinese fans ahead of me, so I definitely wasn't the last one.

The venue was packed. The vast majority of the audience was from China. I saw two Swedish flags, and there was a noisy fan near me who managed to outshout the Chinese supporters.

The Chinese fans were quiet and reserved individually, but when someone started a chant in support of a player, the entire arena joined in.

I believe the overwhelming fan support has an impact on players in critical moments.

Each match was close.

I was with my wife, and she couldn't see the dominance of China because the Swedes pushed every match to the decisive game, and the play was often evenly matched.

The fans were very loud in their support of Ma Long. It seemed like a large number of young women were cheering for WCQ.

As for the game itself, it looks significantly slower in real life than on the screen. Watching on screen is more convenient, but the atmosphere in the arena is fantastic.

The final score was 3-0 in favor of China, but the score doesn't reflect the gameplay. The Swedes played excellently. I really wanted Kristian Karlsson to beat WCQ, as it would have given us another chance to see FZD or Ma Long play. Kristian played very well, though I was hoping that Källberg would be chosen for the third game, as his chances of winning would have been higher.

During the match, the Chinese player who was scheduled to play next left to warm up with his personal coach. The Swedes didn't do this. During WCQ's match, the Chinese players sat on the bench, perhaps confident in the victory and not planning to warm up for the next game. When the score became tied, Wang Hao sent FZD to warm up, indicating that Ma Long wasn't initially planned for the singles matches.

WCQ played the fastest and most aggressively of all. FZD was ready to play a more defensive game, slightly farther from the table, counterattacking. Truls is a showman, and Karlsson is a fighter.

In the end, Ma Long became the first Chinese athlete to win 6 Olympic gold medals. FZD earned his gold in the individual event, and WCQ gained even more fans for his fan club.


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Did You have a pair of minoculars?

Cheers
L-zr
No. Before going, I saw in photos and videos how far the stands were. I asked my coach, who had attended tournaments before (both as a player and as a spectator). He said that everything would be clearly visible. Indeed, I was sitting far back, but I could see everything just fine. I couldn't see the faces of the Chinese team members who were sitting on the side stands, but the gameplay itself was clearly visible without any issues.
 
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No. Before going, I saw in photos and videos how far the stands were. I asked my coach, who had attended tournaments before (both as a player and as a spectator). He said that everything would be clearly visible. Indeed, I was sitting far back, but I could see everything just fine. I couldn't see the faces of the Chinese team members who were sitting on the side stands, but the gameplay itself was clearly visible without any issues.
Wow, hard to believe but I suppose there is no other option, Glad you enjoyed.

Cheers
L-zr
 
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The last day of Paris Olympics, CNT back to China, leaving Sun Yingsha(with her coach Qiu Yike) in Paris, since she received a special invitation to attend the closing ceremony, as the representative of Asian Athletes(and Table Tennis).

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She has a perfect height to blow out the Olympic Flame, and she also has the rich experience of blowing….
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shake hands with the G.O.A.T of the Marathon.
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Crowded by all the athletes, we are the family of the table tennis.
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DWARFISH AND YET ATTRACTIVE.

THIS ALL looks like dwarfish game from distance 30 metres away from the playing court. Happily, the giant screens were a useful help for the attendants. Table tennis is a chamber sport unfit to be watched from a long distance, not suitable for spacious arenas. It is getting much more attractive when watched on TV.

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I think the bronze mens match indicates a promising future for players on both teams, but a couple of questions occur. For the Lebrun's I wonder has the coach planned an intense year of gym time for the brothers? Alex seems quite shockingly flabby round the middle for instance. I wonder would the bothers cooperate with a regime to preserve their dazzling speed?. I would hate to see Felix acquire a "spare tire" too early in life. France need to ensure the physical health and development of their squad for the future. Maybe the government will invest?
On the Japanese side I wonder if TH will learn to conserve a bit of emotional energy by moderating his shouting?
More interestingly Shinozuka is a puzzle any coach would like to have. He seems to play just an ordinary game yet he shows himself to be so comfortable while playing against Felix's brilliance and Felix is often troubled by his placement and variation when Felix seems to read other players with ridiculous ease.
I. hope we get to see. more of Shinoxuka because there is a lot to be learned.
I feel the same about Shinozuka, well I wrote above that he reminds me of the plucky kid in the karate movies who always gets the crap kicked out of him!
But in the movies they always come good eh.

Having watched all the past 2 wks I don't know if any of these players, Truls, Harimoto, Felix, Shinozuka etc will ever get past the top Chinese though, especially if the Chinese level stays at that of Z Jike, Ma Long, FZD, an in form WCQ even.
There's a level there that only top form Timo and Dima threatened to reach but even they couldn't do it consistently. Timo beat a young Ma Long 3 times but that was 2005, 2008 & 2010. He has one victory V prime Ma Long in 2017 and Dima has never beaten him...
There's just so much information, intensity, training, mental toughness and absolute knowhow in Chinese TT that I can't see this crop surpassing it. Fan Zhendong is 12yrs on CNT already so I can hardly imagine the lessons from all he has played with and against in that time.
I know I'm not saying anything controversial or new here but the Olympics has served to remind me just how steep that hill is for everyone...
 
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