Europe Smash Sweden August 14-24 2025

[Tony's Table Tennis]

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.

precisely.
we ask why so many events.
then we ask, why in the middle of nowhere (maybe it is cheaper to host??)

While I won't say Malmo is questionable, since it is about 30 min drive from Copenhagen airport, many of WTT events are very far from major international airports, where you need to transit domestically and still add on car travel time.

But is is also funny - travelling to Sweden, your point of entry is Denmark, not Sweden. This is actually very common in many European cities, where the host city/country main airports are so far away that the neighboring countries is closer.

So this middle of nowhere with no crowds, tend to also become logistical tiring for the players.
It just doesn't make sense - we would think you want local crowds, but then set it in places where it is easier for local crowds to show up.

I am sure over time, quality will improve.

 

[travelt123]

Great final, with crazy rallies. Lin Shidong might have lost but i think this was the first time Chinese fans actually cheered for him no for team china. Maybe he won in that aspect. Also I think he is working a lot on his forehand and this might mess with his playing style. He seem unsure in his play.
I don't like Trules but he deserved the win he played out of his mind.

Since Wang Chuqin didn’t play, his die hard idol fans who hate LSD didn’t show up en masse and the Chinese crowd felt balanced this time around having a friendly rivalry with the Swedish fans.

 

[S2000]

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!

I agree - easily the best sporting event I have looked at in a long time. Crowd and level of play and the nerve of the matches

 

[zeio]

Was he lucky to meet the then WR1 WCQ in R32 back in Paris Olympic?

He was lucky to have met WCQ early, as Persson said in the TTDCast WCQ would've won if they met in the later round, not unlike Harimoto meeting Togami early at WTTC 2025.

Another 2 factors are that WCQ had his racket broken and it's said his shoulder was acting up after XD F and MS R64.

Swedish Table Tennis Is Back | Jorgen Persson | TTDCast #14
https://youtu.be/7EctP0itusA?t=782

 

[zeio]

Truls had enough luck too. 3 lucky points already in the 1st set. Even luckier draw. Felix, Tomo and Hugo were on the same side of the draw but lost shockingly. Relatively easy route to final from Truls. Best player he beat before today was Duda...

For a start, Harimoto was not convinced by Moregard in the Butterfly interview after Paris 2024, that he was inconsistent and his WTT results do reflect that.

Besides the draw, Moregard is lucky Europe Smash 2025 was held in Sweden and China was not there in full force (and those present there were quite far from their best form).

 

[NextLevel]

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.

It's a shame for sure, but I am mixed between wanting more TT and having events held only in places where TT draws a decent audience.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It's a shame for sure, but I am mixed between wanting more TT and having events held only in places where TT draws a decent audience.

whats the purpose of having TT events held in places where there are little to no audiences?

Not sure if you follow feeders enough, but some of those events have close to no local audiences. So what purposes is there exactly?

we all talk about return of investment - if people are burning the same cash, then can ROI been measured in terms of "for the better of table tennis"?

don't get me wrong, I also like TT to be outside the traditional places

 

[NextLevel]

whats the purpose of having TT events held in places where there are little to no audiences?

Not sure if you follow feeders enough, but some of those events have close to no local audiences. So what purposes is there exactly?

we all talk about return of investment - if people are burning the same cash, then can ROI been measured in terms of "for the better of table tennis"?

don't get me wrong, I also like TT to be outside the traditional places

There are likely some offsetting advantages - easier for some players to travel to those locations, ability to get funding at those locations. Maybe if events were only held at TT Meccas, we wouldn't have that many.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

There are likely some offsetting advantages - easier for some players to travel to those locations,

some of these are a mission to get to (after getting into major international airport, to transit domestic and then go by car)

ability to get funding at those locations.

this is the most probably cause

so in summary,
lets host events for the sake of hosting events and host it in places where the local gov can get funding for it
and we don't care if there are audiences, and there is just way so much TT happening in the same time, that even online audience will have schedule clash.

does that sound about right?

so, what is the purpose of doing all those?
for ranking points for players?
to make money from hosting?
who is benefiting?

 

[NextLevel]

some of these are a mission to get to (after getting into major international airport, to transit domestic and then go by car)

this is the most probably cause

so in summary,
lets host events for the sake of hosting events and host it in places where the local gov can get funding for it
and we don't care if there are audiences, and there is just way so much TT happening in the same time, that even online audience will have schedule clash.

does that sound about right?

so, what is the purpose of doing all those?
for ranking points for players?
to make money from hosting?
who is benefiting?

Yes, it is a mission for some players, but it is not the case for many of the local players. Local players get a chance to play an event and get international points. And some players may want to travel to those far away locations.

More events gives people choice. People can always choose not to register for those events. The fact that players do mean someone is being satisfied by the events.

 

[Talesofwin]

For a start, Harimoto was not convinced by Moregard in the Butterfly interview after Paris 2024, that he was inconsistent and his WTT results do reflect that.

Besides the draw, Moregard is lucky Europe Smash 2025 was held in Sweden and China was not there in full force (and those present there were quite far from their best form).

lol harimoto losing to scrub swedish player during olympics costing his team the finals. Dude is a fraud himself.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Yes, it is a mission for some players, but it is not the case for many of the local players. Local players get a chance to play an event and get international points. And some players may want to travel to those far away locations.

More events gives people choice. People can always choose not to register for those events. The fact that players do mean someone is being satisfied by the events.

so your logic is, some local players are the winners, and that is it?
why not make the location where local audience can win, since its the same for those local players too?


Just like this WTT Feeder in Bulgaria,
why not just have it in the capital, but choose a city 100km away, that has 15000 population?
do you want all the spectators from the capital to travel 100km too?

or choose a bigger city, there are just so many examples.
Note, I don't know all these European cities, but planning some trips with players - the flight path isn't easy and the same will be for local players too.
so your logic is, it is good to rather put in smaller towns, some are like 200km away from the nearest international airport, I have seen one that is 400 km, and had to fly to a smaller airport with 3 to 4 flights a day only. Or to a neighboring country and taxi / shuttle 1.5 hours in, since the host countries main airport are too far away.

My reasoning is simple, if it is complicated for players to reach there, how about the spectators?

 

[zeio]

and to dig deeper, the old ranking point gains/losses are also a lot more tougher than today.
I wonder if LSD can still be WR1, I'm almost certain FZD would be WR1 for a good time, until his 1 year of no participation push him out of the count

You could dig deeper than that.

In the old days, ITTF events had more seeds (1/4 (32) to 1/2 (64) for main draw of WTTC) and separation by association. Those two factors created an "almost impenetrable barrier" that made it much harder to break through by pure luck of the draw.

WTT events have so few seeds (1/6 (8) main draw for GS in 2022, 16 starting in 2023), it often comes down to the draw. For example, Moregard dropped in R64 1 time (12.5%) and R32 3 times (37.5%) out of 8 GS, a whopping total of 50% 1st-and-2nd-round-exit rate. That explains the inconsistent history of Moregard's WR. And Szocs, the one other than Hirano who had the highest win rate against the CNT? Points are also so low now (remember how you complained how the point gap the different rounds were so close back in 2018 and how I said it would pan out eventually?) Don't forget the higher odds of upsets in bo5 compared to bo7. All things considered, it's not necessarily easier now.

Second WTT Singapore Smash to have more seeded players, bigger mixed doubles field
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1128016/wtt-singapore-smash-changes

WTTC seeds/bracket
2025 32/128
2023 32/128
2021 32/128 (R128 bye for top 8)
2019 64/128
2017 64/128
2015 64/128
2013 64/128
2011 64/128
2009 32/128
2007 32/128
2005 32/128

Moregard
2025
EUR GS W
USA GS R32
WTTC SF
SGP GS R32
2024
WTT F QF
CHN GS QF
KSA GS R64
SGP GS R16
2023
WTTC R32
SGP GS QF
2022
WTT CF QF
SGP GS R32
2021
WTTC F

Harimoto
2025
EUR GS R16
USA GS F
WTTC R64
SGP GS R32
2024
WTT F F
CHN GS R16
KSA GS R16
SGP GS R16
2023
WTT F QF
WTTC R32
SGP GS R16
2022
WTT CF F
SGP GS R64
2021
WTT CF F
WTTC R64

F. Lebrun
2025
EUR GS R64
USA GS SF
WTTC R16
SGP GS R32
2024
WTT F R16
CHN GS R16
KSA GS QF
SGP GS SF
2023
WTT F R16
WTTC R32
SGP GS R16

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/fo...sh-sweden-august-14-24-2025.35820/post-536892

WS R32
Winter 3-0 Szocs (3, 2, 6)

Szocs' poor run in GS continues... 6 out of 8 were 1st round exits.

EUR GS 2025 R32
USA GS 2025 R64
SGP GS 2025 R16

CHN GS 2024 R64
KSA GS 2024 R64
SGP GS 2024 R64

SGP GS 2023 R64

SGP GS 2022 R64

 

[Metaxa]

In my opinion, there is currently too much table tennis at the highest level. Last week's Feeder in Bulgaria was indeed a joke. They would be better off centralising everything in one large city, such as Malmö, where the youth event is already held. Why not hold a Feeder there at the same time? Finding Feeder locations will also become increasingly difficult. In Belgium (with the exception of a youth meeting organised by Philippe Saive) and Greece, for example, nothing is happening at all.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

In my opinion, there is currently too much table tennis at the highest level. Last week's Feeder in Bulgaria was indeed a joke. They would be better off centralising everything in one large city, such as Malmö, where the youth event is already held. Why not hold a Feeder there at the same time? Finding Feeder locations will also become increasingly difficult. In Belgium (with the exception of a youth meeting organised by Philippe Saive) and Greece, for example, nothing is happening at all.

indeed, no one probably even noticed the event happening.

There is nothing wrong having many events in the same city in the same time.

But then, why have Bulgaria? and if the decision was the Bulgarian TT
then why did WTT allow it?

Scheduling just doesn't make sense.
Would they also have WTT feeders during the month of olympics and world championships?

 

[Nash77]

1) Was this final the best TT game you ever saw? it was the best I ever saw but I'm new to the sport.

2) What EXACTLY gave Truls the home court advantage in your opinion? Is the really the crowd? because that can also add pressure. Is the knocking the location? used to the tables? what exactly do you believe help him in Malmo?

 

[obsidian d]

so your logic is, some local players are the winners, and that is it?
why not make the location where local audience can win, since its the same for those local players too?


Just like this WTT Feeder in Bulgaria,
why not just have it in the capital, but choose a city 100km away, that has 15000 population?
do you want all the spectators from the capital to travel 100km too?

or choose a bigger city, there are just so many examples.
Note, I don't know all these European cities, but planning some trips with players - the flight path isn't easy and the same will be for local players too.
so your logic is, it is good to rather put in smaller towns, some are like 200km away from the nearest international airport, I have seen one that is 400 km, and had to fly to a smaller airport with 3 to 4 flights a day only. Or to a neighboring country and taxi / shuttle 1.5 hours in, since the host countries main airport are too far away.

My reasoning is simple, if it is complicated for players to reach there, how about the spectators?

They choose the small city because the main sponsor of the event is a mining company that has milions. Probably promoting the city as well.

 

[Egon]

I am very surprised. Often the end of the threads discussing tournaments ends with swearing. But not this time. Everything is calm. It is surprising and touching at the same time.

 

[zeio]

In my opinion, there is currently too much table tennis at the highest level. Last week's Feeder in Bulgaria was indeed a joke. They would be better off centralising everything in one large city, such as Malmö, where the youth event is already held. Why not hold a Feeder there at the same time? Finding Feeder locations will also become increasingly difficult. In Belgium (with the exception of a youth meeting organised by Philippe Saive) and Greece, for example, nothing is happening at all.

WTT Series (GS, CF, CS, SCT and CT) and Feeder Series (FEE) are separate. The top-ranked players should play WTT Series only.

WTTC and World Cup were supposed to be killed off, with the WTTTC left behind (potentially). China said no without actually saying it and reinstated World Cup and created XTWC (spiritual successor of TWC). Without those, the current WTT Series calendar wouldn't be that much different from a typical ITTF calendar.

Sharara pointed to the various leagues in Europe as a challenge for ITTF in 5/2011, which I touched on in 1/2018. WTT met a lot of resistance from Germany and Japan because it interfered with their own interests.

Interview with ITTF President Adham Sharara
https://youtu.be/KJ9THViJOSk?t=548

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I am very surprised. Often the end of the threads discussing tournaments ends with swearing. But not this time. Everything is calm. It is surprising and touching at the same time.

this time Sharara has invaded the thread