27th ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024, Astana, 10/7-13

[ThePongCommenter]

The beauty of table tennis context and matchups.

Of course, however stylistic matchups only goes so far in explaining things when there is such a big level difference and especially at the pro level compared to amateur level.

Without making excuses for any players, as I mentioned above I'm guessing there is some interesting context behind many of the surprises this tournament, Tomokazu included.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Odo pulled through in a tough match against Suthasani Sawettabut. Odo was in real trouble down 1-2,1-5. Then, she played the way we saw in the WTT tournaments with power and precision. Suthasani has always been good, but she is way under ranked at WR#59.

 

[NextLevel]

Tomokazu too...after an Olympic nightmare

Nah, until this tournament and in ultimately inconsequential losses in the Teams ecent, Tomo was playing close to his level - even his Olympuc nightmare had him demonstrating enough success. Cho just hasn't caught the kind of break his playing as #2 for Korea deserved and probably now has Korea looking for ways to defend choosing him. He is the only Korean to lose on round 1 and to spin Japanese guy who hasn't played internationally in forever (fine I am overselling this a bit). Tough luck.

 

[NextLevel]

Odo pulled through in a tough match against Suthasani Sawettabut. Odo was in real trouble down 1-2,1-5. Then, she played the way we saw in the WTT tournaments with power and precision. Suthasani has always been good, but she is way under ranked at WR#59.

Odo is tightening up under the pressure of representing Japan here, glad to see she managed to loosen up when she was about to lose.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

if you think US Open 2022 (if I recall) was bad, ATTC 2024 is worse.

match start 10am this morning, finish 11pm
players lounge ran out of food by 6pm and waited 2 hours for delivery of food
weather is 0 degrees with heavy rain
the 21:30 match, please can we change tables, or delay it to some other time
had to warm up 3 to 4 times per day, 3 meals all at different times.
So difficult to plan when I can go back to the hotel to rest

 

[Vlad Celler]

I wonder, personal meetings lately, Odo-Ito... what are they like?

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Nah, until this tournament and in ultimately inconsequential losses in the Teams ecent, Tomo was playing close to his level - even his Olympuc nightmare had him demonstrating enough success. Cho just hasn't caught the kind of break his playing as #2 for Korea deserved and probably now has Korea looking for ways to defend choosing him. He is the only Korean to lose on round 1 and to spin Japanese guy who hasn't played internationally in forever (fine I am overselling this a bit). Tough luck.

I didn't say he wasn't playing close to his level... how his matches ended, specifically at the Olympics, were without a doubt a nightmare, and luckily his teammates pulled through against Hong Kong here.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

if you think US Open 2022 (if I recall) was bad, ATTC 2024 is worse.

match start 10am this morning, finish 11pm
players lounge ran out of food by 6pm and waited 2 hours for delivery of food
weather is 0 degrees with heavy rain
the 21:30 match, please can we change tables, or delay it to some other time
had to warm up 3 to 4 times per day, 3 meals all at different times.
So difficult to plan when I can go back to the hotel to rest

Pretty standard experience for the international pro players, whether its ITTF, WTT or ATTU in charge... lol

 

[OvrChkn]

Faraji has such ridiculous speed and footwork to cover his pivot FH. LSD too. Wish this was a best of 7

 

[NextLevel]

I didn't say he wasn't playing close to his level... how his matches ended, specifically at the Olympics, were without a doubt a nightmare, and luckily his teammates pulled through against Hong Kong here.

I think Cho is experiencing a drop off in level. He will be back but it is a tough time.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Miu Hirano is in trouble down 0-2 vs. Lee Eunhye at the moment:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o-0NF0VwWM

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Pretty standard experience for the international pro players, whether its ITTF, WTT or ATTU in charge... lol

you never run out of food!!

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Lee Eunhye closes out Miu Hirano 3-0.

 

[RefereeNumber2]

Just looking ahead at the scheduling for this event tomorrow, and it looks insane. Imagine being Lin Shidong and potentially having to play:
1. Mixed doubles - Final
2. Men's doubles - Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final
3. Men's singles - R32, R16 and Quarterfinal

 

[dingyibvs]

Just looking ahead at the scheduling for this event tomorrow, and it looks insane. Imagine being Lin Shidong and potentially having to play:
1. Mixed doubles - Final
2. Men's doubles - Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final
3. Men's singles - R32, R16 and Quarterfinal

That's nothing, @NextLevel played 19 matches in a day recently and he ain't 19 years old

 

[5545]

Lee Eunhye closes out Miu Hirano 3-0.

Wonder what excuse Zeio has for her performance now🤣🙄

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Just looking ahead at the scheduling for this event tomorrow, and it looks insane. Imagine being Lin Shidong and potentially having to play:
1. Mixed doubles - Final
2. Men's doubles - Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final
3. Men's singles - R32, R16 and Quarterfinal

You left out the 3 meals schedule... need to squeeze in some where too

 

[zeio]

Wonder what excuse Zeio has for her performance now🤣🙄

Same as last time. She has turned her focus to beating CNT players since 2023 (highest win rate against CNT players in 2022 and 2023 and against non-CNT players until early 2023), and she is the only one who has done as well as Harimoto in WT, beating 2 CNT players in 2024. The knee brace is there for a reason (tons of matches to catch up in WR after fending off Ito in selection trials). Their overall stats against non-CNT players, especially KNT, have gone down. 8 losses this year. 3 for Hirano, 2 for Ito and Kihara each, and 1 for Nagasaki. What RSM said back in early 2021 is starting to manifest.

LA 2028 Cycle
ATTC 2024
R32 Hirano 0-3 Lee Eunhye (-10, -15, -9)
China Smash 2024
R32 Hirano 2-3 Kim Nayeong (10, 13, -11, -9, -7) [For reference, R16 Ito 3-2 KNY, G5 5:9, 11:9]
WTT CS Macao 2024
R16 Ito 0-3 Joo Cheonhui (-7, -10, -7)
WTT CT Almaty 2024
R16 Kihara 1-3 Yoo Siwoo (-8, 11, -9, -10)

Paris 2024 Cycle
Paris 2024
QF Hirano 3-4 SYB (-4, -7, -5, 7, 8, 9, -11)
WTT CS Incheon 2024
R16 Ito 2-3 JJH (-9, 4, 6, -8, -6)
WTT SCT Ljubljana 2024
QF Kihara 2-3 SYB (-11, 5, -7, 11, -6)
R16 Nagasaki 1-3 SYB (-16, -5, 5, -2)

 

[rpb23]

That was too intense.. LSD 17-15 Faraji

In China Smash final at 7th game, LSD was 4:8 trailing Ma Long and came back winning 7 points in a row and claimed the title.
In ATTC, against Faraji, at the decider, Lin was 3:9 behand, won 6 points in a row leveling the score, than grounded out a final win at 17:15.
A 14 years old boy was so impressive in defeat but steel-willed LSD was equally impressive. LSD at such a young age, the maturity and mental toughness is historical even for Chinese.

 

[rpb23]

Even the Chinese coach showed a lot of appreciation for the kid's efforts.

Come on, any coach would do the same to a crying boy whether he played good or bad. It's just a common human nature.