Europe Smash Sweden August 14-24 2025

[SFF_lib]

Really. OK.
Can you please prove to me unequivocally how FZD is the best player in the world right now.
Thank you

After the Paris Olympic, FZD had not played any competition.

After months of participating in TV ad etc, FZD started training just a few weeks before the Chinese super league.

In stage 1, FZD won all 8 singles - beating LSD, Xu Haidong, Lin Gaoyuan etc

In stage 2, FZD won all 13 singles - beating LSD, Sora Matsushima etc. In total he only lost 4 sets in 13 matches.

I don't know how FZD could've performed if he did not withdraw from WTT.

For those who are not familiar with Chinese super league, even top ranking players can lose.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

As I watch the replay video of this match, I just find the roar of the crowd for *both* players therapeutic. That's something we don't get often in the vast majority of WTT tournaments. But that's what you want and expect from a great sporting event. Add in the numerous highlights and awesome final point make this easily the best Grand Smash Finals ever!

 

[NetProphet]

You're way too invested in this.

Nothing good ever came out of adding ad hominem attacks to strawman non-argument.

Back off, rethink, put off your phone... There's a finite number of minutes remaining in your life.

Then stop talking rubbish and calling strawman all because you wrote something ridiculous about LSD that you cannot back up without confusing the entire issue and bring FZD into it at a time when he's not even playing international tournaments.
This is about LSD and your statements that initiated this discussion.
I've already given you that even if LSD is bottom of that world no1 list at the age of 20 I can't see how he'd be bothered about it.
But he won the game V Gauzy that upset you, from 1-3 down and you still wrote undefendable nonsense about him.
If you believe FZD to be the current world's best player then fair enough but it DOES come with doubt because he's put himself in a nice relaxing position where he's not willing or able to prove it via the world rankings.
Ah, but world no 1 doesn't mean worlds best player according to you.
Tell me, who else made no 1 without ever being the world's best player??
Maybe wise up a little and discussions can go somewhere other than in circles.
As for ad H attacks, don't call strawman BS and I won't be calling you confused.
And for the record, you never mentioned anything about 'at the moment' until I pointed out that LSD was without a doubt playing the world's best TT when he reached the no 1 spot.
Talk about moving posts.
Anyway, your welcome to your opinion on LSD but as long as he remains this consistent your argument just gets thinner and thinner....

 

[NetProphet]

After the Paris Olympic, FZD had not played any competition.

After months of participating in TV ad etc, FZD started training just a few weeks before the Chinese super league.

In stage 1, FZD won all 8 singles - beating LSD, Xu Haidong, Lin Gaoyuan etc

In stage 2, FZD won all 13 singles - beating LSD, Sora Matsushima etc. In total he only lost 4 sets in 13 matches.

I don't know how FZD could've performed if he did not withdraw from WTT.

For those who are not familiar with Chinese super league, even top ranking players can lose.

Absolutely. And the part about him being out of WTT is exactly my point, he didn't have the appetite for it all and so he now has the luxury of playing so few matches and doing so little travel that it adds up to a considerable, yet also unquantifiable, advantage.
And so nothing is without doubt in stating who one believes to be the current best player in the world.
I respect you believing that he is and I'm not gonna try to change your mind but those who slam the current world no 1 and claim to undoubtedly know things that are completely subjective just come across as silly imo.

I personally don't think FZD can do the week to week all around the world travelling and continuous high intensity life of a WTT player and dominate everyone, I think he's been too long at it, CNT since 2012!
Doesn't mean he can't beat ANYONE on his day and when he's ready but the rankings do mean something and so the claim to be the world's best and yet not in the rankings is an incredibly flamboyant stretch of the imagination.
And although not impossible it is unprovable and still with doubt. Imo.
Which brings me right back to where this all started.... 🤷

 

[FIXPOINT]

Europe Smash - Sweden 2025 WS Final

Europe Smash - Sweden 2025 MS Final

 

[SFF_lib]

Absolutely. And the part about him being out of WTT is exactly my point, he didn't have the appetite for it all and so he now has the luxury of playing so few matches and doing so little travel that it adds up to a considerable, yet also unquantifiable, advantage.
And so nothing is without doubt in stating who one believes to be the current best player in the world.
I respect you believing that he is and I'm not gonna try to change your mind but those who slam the current world no 1 and claim to undoubtedly know things that are completely subjective just come across as silly imo.

I personally don't think FZD can do the week to week all around the world travelling and continuous high intensity life of a WTT player and dominate everyone, I think he's been too long at it, CNT since 2012!
Doesn't mean he can't beat ANYONE on his day and when he's ready but the rankings do mean something and so the claim to be the world's best and yet not in the rankings is an incredibly flamboyant stretch of the imagination.
And although not impossible it is unprovable and still with doubt. Imo.
Which brings me right back to where this all started.... 🤷

At thoese high level it's rare to guaranty who's the best.

Playstyle counter each other

Age matters

Home ground matters

Maturity and metality matter

Consistency matter

That's the beauty of not knowing who will win the next title.

I am simply saying FZD has the mentality, tactic, consistency to win so many games. It does not mean he's the best. If he plays a full 7-set against LSD, then age will catch up on him especially after months of no training.

The BEST is impossible to define.

 

[NetProphet]

I’d take FZD against anyone else in the world right now in a head-to-head match, so I agree he’s the “best” in that sense. He’s well-rested and in great form based on his super league performance.

Where I disagree is with anyone saying that makes him the “real number one.” He wasn’t even ranked #1 right after winning the Olympics. The grind of the tour was wearing him down, and he had taken a number of losses in 2024 (including a beatdown from Lin Shidong at the Singapore Smash) before taking the gold medal. Holding the top rank requires consistently reaching the final stages of big tournaments, and I think it would be very difficult for FZD to maintain that level today.

Call it a flaw of the ranking system if you like, but it should not break anyone’s brain to hold these two ideas in your head at the same time.

This is basically a better written version of what I've been trying to say.

Except the part of taking him against anyone else in the world (just me) cos in the past 3 months alone WCQ, Hugo, Harimoto and now Truls have produced displays where they have looked unbeatable.
For sure FZD has also had these but unfortunately I have not watched the CSL matches.
Anyway, I throw a blanket over those performances and just keep my money, I wouldn't have then confidence to bet on any of them!

 

[piligrim]

 

[TTLOVE]

Unbelievable.. I wasn't supposed to be there on the final day but a friend wrote to me last minute to book tickets for the final. So glad I went.

btw the cameraman step on truls's racket, just like it happened to WCQ.

 

[chandyrandy]

Absolutely amazing match
So close anyone could win? ✅
Under the table roller?✅
Long as attacking rallies?✅
Crazy lob rally's?✅
Great crowd for both sides?✅
Great storyline?✅
I don't know what else could make this match better

 

[SFF_lib]

Omg it’s worth every penny. The last moment is electrifying!

It’s probably one of the best final match in a decade.

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

what a win, one of the best TT moments ever

 

[NextLevel]

Unbelievable.. I wasn't supposed to be there on the final day but a friend wrote to me last minute to book tickets for the final. So glad I went.

How someone can watch that and say that was the play of the world #5? I blame Gauzy...

 

[rpb23]

How someone can watch that and say that was the play of the world #5? I blame Gauzy...

That many dazzling high lobs in the end, even in losing, worth of pure gold, if you are pure TT fans.
All the greats, current or past, could anyone in their early young age, master these great lobs in a non-exhibit play?
Truls happens to be a master lob smasher. If the opponents are not Truls, say WCQ, LSD has a decent chance winning these lobs. He won the last point in China Smash against the goat with lobs.
Also, the net saving dribbler LSD executed, only peak FZD did the same.
All in all, LSD is a worthy number 1, a genius table tennis player.
Remember No.1 does not equal unbeatable.
Besides of age, lots of things going LSD's way, one of them is natural for him, which is mental toughness and calmness. He is also teachable and adaptive. The come back win against Simon perfectly demonstrated these traits.
He will only get better.
His weakness is fixable. If I were his coach, I would only urge and direct him to play with some recklessness(more serve return flip, more third ball attack, etc) like young FZD and ZJK did.

 

[turbozed]

Man what an incredible tournament. So many players playing at their absolutely best levels and getting to show their stuff in front of a large and appreciative crowd in a Grand Smash.

For the CNT, we get the women all proving again how dominant they are with the WR1 and WR2 in the finals. SYS continues to be the most dominant single player in the sport and rewards the largest single-player fanbase in the sport.

Sabine Winter - We've been following her late career revival with the switch to anti over the past year and there's been some promising moments but she finally put it all together in this huge event in Europe getting to a QF and even beating CXT to get there. This is an incredible achievement and a good example of how taking risks and changing things up drastically late in careers can have some benefit. Really an inspiration for older players who feel like they've hit a wall.

Honoka Hashimoto - She's been no secret to fans of TT up to this point with her winning some minor events and just dazzling us with her play and beating CNT members. But I feel like she finally got the shine she deserved getting to play in a packed arena in a Grand Smash and having the audience chant her name as she goes on to beat CXT and WYD. The match with WMY was one of the best matches of the tournament up to that point and she gains a ton of new fans. More importantly, for her career she firmly establishes herself as an undeniable member of the JNT, and they will have a lot to explain to the fans if they keep her sidelined from now on.

Moregard - He finally shows us his peak form, which is a rare sight. Having it all come together in his home country and in front of so many Swedeish fans, and to put on one of the best matches in history, with one of the best match point wins in history is one of the most storybook, Hollywood, hard-to-believe endings for a sports tournament possible. He gets the last word in against doubters who downplayed his run at the World Championships in 2021 this time by beating the strongest CNT member and world #1 in the Finals. Clearly he was motivated and amped for the whole tournament and it makes you wonder what his results would be if he could find that mentality more consistently.

There are lots of other good storylines I'm missing here but this was undoubtedly one of the best overall events I've watched.

 

[turbozed]

WTT home court advantage for real, Harimoto in Japan and now Truls in Sweden

Don't forget Felix in Montpelier.

For Harimoto, even though it was in Yokohama, he had a slightly harder hill to climb since the crowd was still like 80% for WCQ.

But definitely home court advantage, like in a lot of other sports, makes a huge difference. Whether it's crowd support, the lack of travel, or just more motivation in general, it brings out the best in some players.

Which is why it's also a shame that so many WTT events are being held in the middle of nowhere with no crowds and no local connection to WTT.

 

[NextLevel]

If WCQ destroys you 4-0 at a late stage in an event, good things are in your future. See Harimoto and Truls. Who's next?

 

[rpb23]

Japan's Honoka Hashimoto is currently the best threat Japan has against China. She has decent chance beating all Chinese women except the top two. It'll be crazy if Japanese coaches don't put her in the team in these team events.

For fans, we just enjoy watching her dance left and right, in and out, chop and hit, like a female cloud walker.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Big congrates to Truls
LSD as some put it - with his age, is inconsistent. The pressure of CNT is something that cannot be explained by words. With FZD exiting CNT, as well as a few others - they are really happy to have they lives for themselves and not for others. So, while CNT is resource heavy and has a lot of perks, the psychological pressure is also tremendous.

We talk about his age, but Felix and HT is in similar age groups. Hugo is the only older one.
so of the past 5 majors with CNT men force present, the winners has been:
April China WC - Hugo
May WTTC - WCQ
July US Smash - WCQ
Aug Japan Champion - HT
Aug Sweden Smash - Truls

My conclusion on recent results:
The rest of the world is much stronger than before, it isn't a single threat, but a group of threat and where it is the most different to yester years is that the support group of CNT Mens players are not knocking out these foreign threats early.
It becomes a lone wolf with LSD or WCQ needing to save CNT. Where before, the foreign threats can be taken out by your 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th ranked CNT player, and this helps greatly with pressure distribution.


Home Court:
Yes, it helps, but this also was/is CNT's advantage - home court every where on earth. The fan groups themselve said this - home court in every country.

Next up is China Smash, where CNT will likely have over a dozen players entered again.
This will be a lot tougher for any foreigner - to beat few CNT players on the trot - Hugo has done it, so it isn't impossible, and with the massive home court advantage, to beat China in China is not easy - but Hugo has done it in Macau.

What other to expect:
With last time WCQ getting defeated by HT, ethics-less fans of WCQ released a lot of fake news, ie, that HT is banned by WTT/ITTF, or even wishing for him to become permanently disabled as he took an injury time out, and even went as far as insulting the family that Miwa is the product of HT sleeping with his mother.

While you can't fix these new and disgusting fan culture over night, I won't be surprised the (too) low fans of CNT core players will resolve to more of these unsportmanship behaviors to allow they heros to have advantages over the foreign threats. I believe table tennis will get a lot uglier from these fans and this does need to be addressed by CNT and CTTA.

Conclusion:
As more and more players are beleiving that CNT is beatable. and the core players (well, it is just 2, WCQ and LSD) knows this and the pressure is its higest in decades, the support group should be the key to saving CNT, and not keep relying on lone wolfs of CNT to dig them out of trouble. On the other hands, more and more foreign threats will rise higher, as the fear of facing CNT is not the same as yester years - many can now believe they can also beat the support groups.

Overall, with anyone that could win on the day - this is very possitive for table tennis.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Japan's Honoka Hashimoto is currently the best threat Japan has against China. She has decent chance beating all Chinese women except the top two.

This is applicable to any womens threat to CNT.
It all comes to the last hurdle - we can defeat the top 2.

It'll be crazy if Japanese coaches don't put her in the team in these team events.

For fans, we just enjoy watching her dance left and right, in and out, chop and hit, like a female cloud walker.

I agree,
but team events has your doubles and this is a disadvantage for choppers.

I want choppers to feature more and forcing a team to play choppers for singles only, does take away a lot of strategic placements/surprises.
Until ITTF can fix rules, choppers need to sit out sadly (unless they become like JSH - the second best player in the country is a chopper)