Ok, I have read through the whole threads. Here are my thoughts:
I am going to go back to some earlier posts from
@blahness
1) Pips does not have a ceiling for 99% of the players out there except maybe the top 50 in the world. I agree with that statement. His statement got buried in five pages of responses so far.
2) Pips does have a ceiling when we talk about top 50 players in the world or who is the all time great. Yes we can all agree that Ma Long would not have achieve his GOAT status unless he has played with short pips on both side (AKA Johnny Huang style from the 1990's and early 2000's).
3) I think the average club players who use pips and OVERRELY on pips by using that side every time and just sitting in the middle of the table, taking half step to the right and half step to the left really mess up our feelings against pips.
When you look at players who excel with pips, they train hard. Just using those Indian ladies as an example. They move well. None of them would have done that well against the CNT players unless they move to the optimal position on the table to block with their anti/long pips well. Then their powerful forehand smashes would not have such killers if they did not move into positions (meaning a lot of athleticism was involved) and if they had not been practicing over and over and over again (meaning putting in a lot of sweat and training and pushing their bodies in practices). They also have to learn, such as Bitra, turn their paddles around and sometimes use inverted to block down the line or change the pace when they feel that their long-pips were pinned down by heavy topspins.
So we should block out the average lazy club players who use pips and think about all the top players who use so much time to learn how to play both inverted and pips well (after all, one side should be inverted and the other side long pips/anti; double long pips or double anti will not get you anywhere at all).
4) Blahness did bring up a good point. The number of kids being trained with pips from the get go is very small. Maybe if more kids start practicing with pips since they are young (i.e. especially in China) and more coaches figuring out new ways to use pips in game situation (both technical strokes and strategies), pips players at the highest level might have higher ceiling that we have not discovered.
However, China did use pips for decades to dominate because Swedes destroyed them with double inverted so if China did see the huge potential in pips, I doubt they would not put more resources in it. Liu Guoliang used pips on the forehand side and with his position in CNT over the past decade and half, if Liu Guoliang thinks that pips have a bright future, he most likely would have pushed for it. Wang Tao also used inverted on the forehand and short pips on the backhand side. After those two players, I cannot think of any top Chinese players who have not played with double inverted.
Finally the goal of table tennis is not to smash and win the point outright. The goal is, whoever can keep it on the table the longest wins. And looping with inverted rubber does just that with the least margin for errors.