The Never Ending Tragedy - Ma Long vs Hao

[Bollforte94]

What do you say? I am unable to speak at the moment?

It's always seems to be the same.

 

[Mikeh.95]

ma long's three wttc appearances have all ended the same....just like all of wang hao's olympic appearances xD

 

[lefty]

He's the best in the world, but he's not got the bottle to match unfortunately.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dan]

I was on the edge of my seat literally. I really thought Ma Long was going to take this worlds. He looked so tense from the start, it is confusing. He does so well throughout the year but at the real big tournaments he struggles. If Ma Long played Wang Hao in the China Super League or a World Tour he would play on such a different level... the saga continues...

 

[kjanko]

Hao es best, es #1. Huehuehue.

 

[revulucao]

I was on the edge of my seat literally. I really thought Ma Long was going to take this worlds. He looked so tense from the start, it is confusing. He does so well throughout the year but at the real big tournaments he struggles. If Ma Long played Wang Hao in the China Super League or a World Tour he would play on such a different level... the saga continues...

I absolutely agree with you and one other thing: i just had to play like he played against timo boll. he played very well. maybe his memory was too strong in the match with wang hao...i cannot find any other solution.

 

[grimrepo941]

I'd expect the same thing when Wang Hao faces Zhang Jike tomorrow.

 

[TableTennisDK]

He hesitated to much at vital moments.. It felt like he was not comfortable in his own game, and was frightened to play the big shots.. Pour effort in a match of that caliber. The technically best player did not win today, but the player with the best state of mind. Such a pity.

 

[Ballondefender]

It seems to be easier to understand now why Zhang Jike and Wang Hao played in the last Olympics. I'm not a huge fan of Wang Hao, but everyone has to admit that he has such a consistent game and is always playing well at the big tournaments, although he hast lost three Olympic finals. In my opinion Ma Long is technically probably the best player in the world, but his mental skills in tight situations and especially in big tournaments are a huge weakness. On the other hand, if you look at Zhang Jike I always have the feeling he can add some extra boost to his game whenever he wants to. Ma Long's game always falls apart during big tournaments when he is really tested. He was not there in the first three sets against Wang Hao yesterday. That's where he lost the match. Trailing from 0-3 against such an experienced player like Wang Hao, it's impossible to come back.

Wang Hao had very convincing performances during this World Championships beating both Yan An and Ma Long is really impressive. Nonetheless, Zhang Jike has impressed me even more. I think you can't play table tennis any better than he did during his 4-0 win over Xu Xin.

Wang Hao seems to me as the smartest player among the Chinese. He plays tactically so well and is always searching for the weaknesses of his opponents. That's where he outplayed Yan An and also Ma Long, who are both quite similar in their playing style. I guess we will see an interesting final tomorrow, but I believe Zhang Jike will take the title again. He can really raise up his performance during tournaments and is mentally the strongest of all Chinese players.

 

[niewiadomo]

This game with wang hao showed, that ma long maybe has the best skills, but he is really weak in mental ascpect of a game. It is quite similar situation like with ma lin. Ma lin won incredibile quantity of tournaments, but in wttc he couldn't achieve success, except olympic games in beijing of course.
Here is a nice video about ma long, especially about his mentality. English subs are poor, but maybe somebody knows chinease. I recommend to watch.

 

[gregor07]

I think one of the reasons Ma Longs weak nerves is Liu Guoliangs not trusting him.In every interview he talks almost negative about Ma Long. Same thing goes for Kong Linghui about Lui Shiwen.(Sorry for bad english)

 

[Darthray]

I'm guttered :'(
I wanted him to win soooo badly !! I really didn't want another ZZ and WH final !!!!!
Why, why why does Ma Long always choke !

 

[Dan]

I think one of the reasons Ma Longs weak nerves is Liu Guoliangs not trusting him.In every interview he talks almost negative about Ma Long. Same thing goes for Kong Linghui about Lui Shiwen.(Sorry for bad english)

Very good point, the commentators mentioned this in the semi final match. That Ma Long feels like he has to prove something to the coaches. This actually happened to me a few years ago, ok so the level is a light-year of difference but I felt I had to prove to my coach all the time. My head was always ruined when I was playing and I started to over analysis hitting a term psychologists use 'paralysis by analysis . There are quite a few contributing factors to Ma Long's poor performance one of the biggest ones would be his past experiences with Wang Hao at the majors.

 

[spin4net]

Being a former World Champion like Wang Hao or Zhang Jike is such a big advantage in this kind of tournament.

 

[Mwit_Psychoror]

To Bollforte

I know how you feel as I am also a Ma Long fan. Be optimistic, this is not the last tournament he's gonna participate in. As long as Ma Long is still alive, there's some hope that he can win the WTTC and Olympics. He's won the world cup already remember? There's nothing for him to fear now. But for this match, he must fight against not only the present Wang Hao, but also against his old memory being defeated by Wang Hao twice in WTTC, it must be very hard for him. Having said that there's no excuse though, he's still mentally weak.

Although he has let me down many times now, I will not give up my hope on him. The reason why I support Ma Long is not because he has many big titles, but because I have witnessed the best table tennis in the history of mankind right there in his game.

Regards

 

[arhabib]

I am so sad for him now. No disrespect to Wang Hao but I was pretty sure that this would be an end
to his losses in big events, but ...
He is probably the best player on the planet but his mentality is not at the same level as his skills.
I love watching him play but it drives me crazy when he wipes his hand/head 3-4 times before each serve!
He obviously needs to find a way to solve his mental weakness. But one thing for sure, the younger
generation is coming and for Ma Long with a physical style of play, it might be the beginning of even
more problems.
As a big fan of him, I hope the coaches help him out of this situation, or maybe no one can help him except he himself. :-(

 

[harveyaquino]

I just woke up(it's morning here in the Philippines), and the first thing I did was log in in TTD and see WTTC results...sad,sad day indeed. I thought Ma Long would take the title this time, but I was wrong..

Well, better have a good mental set before having the best physical skills..

 

[harveyaquino]

Very good point, the commentators mentioned this in the semi final match. That Ma Long feels like he has to prove something to the coaches. This actually happened to me a few years ago, ok so the level is a light-year of difference but I felt I had to prove to my coach all the time. My head was always ruined when I was playing and I started to over analysis hitting a term psychologists use 'paralysis by analysis . There are quite a few contributing factors to Ma Long's poor performance one of the biggest ones would be his past experiences with Wang Hao at the majors.

Oh my. That happened to me from my last two tournaments.. Whenever I lose a point, I tend to look into my coach and he would not even cheer me up. And when I win a point, he would not be even affected. I am a new player in our university and whenever I play, I feel restricted by my coach expectations. Over analysis happens to me when I'm pressured.

 

[Persistence TT]

Guys table tennis big titles as in all sports needs not only good technique but strong mentality. ML is spectacular but with no mentality at all, crushing your opponents in world tours doesnt mean anything if you cant win at big tournaments. WH and ZJK can play both efficient and spectacular table tennis in crucial situations, ML choked once again such a pity. He needs to take it easy , some shots he lost are quite easy for amateur players imagine how much pressure he deals with. If he just relax and go for it then we shall see a more strategic and winning ML, he actually thinks when he plays thus damaging his game.

When the point is on, there is no space for thinking just applying your strategy and no matter win or lose you will evaluate your effort and tactics after the game

Many cheers for ML although im a huge ZJK fan, I believe this result will totally break him psychologically but once you reach the bottom, the only way is up. So he must learn from this experience and loose himself

 

[Goodah_Chunky]

I believe this won't be the case if both players have coaches on their side. ML is almost untouchable when he's playing in the Chinese Super League, because he has a coach that can calm him down when he gets rattled, call a timeout if need be, and relay tactics and strategies against an opponent the player can't see.

This policy of no coach if two players from the same country are playing each other has to stop. This is like a race car driver having to service his own car when he gets to the pitstop.