WTT Contender Muscat-2026 (19- 24 January 2026)

[zeio]

A little late, but does anyone know why Shan Xiaona flipped her racket to use her black side at 8:57? 3-0 up in the fifth game against Shao Jieni.

I always thought single sided penholders pasted a spare sheet of long pips on the reverse side just in case of that 0.001% chance that they need a viable reverse side to catch a stray ball. I'm surprised that her reverse rubber appeared to play similarly to her main rubber in that very short rally (which she lost). But would that mean pasting two sheets of short pips on both sides to significantly add to her racket weight?

SXN actually talked about her setup in a Douyin live stream in 8/2025. Rakza PO in 2.0mm is actually more 沉/sinking and 怪/weirder than Moristo SP AX.

https://www.douyin.com/search/单晓娜底板反面沾的什么胶皮?modal_id=7535877606047173914
@Shan xiaona 单晓娜· 2025年8月8日
分享一下最近的器材，正胶球友们可以参考一下👀感谢@兔兔刚 徐总的大力支持
I'd like to share my recent equipment so that friends who play with hard rubber balls can refer to it 👀 Thank you @TutuGang and Mr. Xu for your strong support

 

[dingyibvs]

Maybe. As a double inverted hard sponge player, I struggle to find the weight of pimpled rubbers with thick sponge significant, I do understand your perspective, but I do think that the extra weight depends on the power of the sponge and it might not be as much as you think. And also, it is quite possible that you are right and that the sponge is relatively thin or even OX even if it might have appeared to you to be the same. We just have to wait for the data or hope someone asks her. Her lack of control on the block was telling.

It should be significant compared to 0X LP, and the Tieffenbach study did show that the only thing that really matters to speed with a hard hit is the weight of the setup so there could be some advantage to it.

 

[NextLevel]

It should be significant compared to 0X LP, and the Tieffenbach study did show that the only thing that really matters to speed with a hard hit is the weight of the setup so there could be some advantage to it.

Her setup is not even going to scratch 170 gs all in. With OX LP, it might be at best 30 g lighter. I get that 130g vs 160 gs might be a big deal to some as weight difference. For me, they are all the same. That's my point. I agree with what everyone has said, I personally don't find two-sided pimpled setups heavy.

 

[dingyibvs]

Her setup is not even going to scratch 170 gs all in. With OX LP, it might be at best 30 g lighter. I get that 130g vs 160 gs might be a big deal to some as weight difference. For me, they are all the same. That's my point. I agree with what everyone has said, I personally don't find two-sided pimpled setups heavy.

Objective testing has shown that they're not the same.

 

[NextLevel]

Objective testing has shown that they're not the same.

Objectively define "significant" if you want to that route.

 

[dingyibvs]

Objectively define "significant" if you want to that route.

It's more significant than anything else, e.g. all-wood blade vs a slab of marble, speed glued eurojap rubber vs no speed glue/boost Chinese tacky rubber. Nothing was more significant than a blade with 1 rubber vs 2. Is that significant enough for you?

 

[Lando]

He play there already long time. Or he unbeatable only in China? ))
ML and XX wouldn't lose any match

Nope, not a long time at all.

 

[piligrim]

Nope, not a long time at all.

Long enough to get used to new place

 

[Lemonxz]

You said it yourself, only WCQ, remains. The guy that was beat by a child...

I don't really know what your point is in this comment but I can say that Fan lost to an even worse player than Faraji, Marcelo Aguirre..

 

[Lando]

I don't really know what your point is in this comment but I can say that Fan lost to an even worse player than Faraji, Marcelo Aguirre..

if you had read the whole thing you'd know that the point is that CNT isn't the same powerhouse as it was with Long, FZD, Jike, XX.

 

[Lemonxz]

if you had read the whole thing you'd know that the point is that CNT isn't the same powerhouse as it was with Long, FZD, Jike, XX.

I really don't care about that point and I already read it.
I responded to this that you said, nothing else
"
Everyone in the finals is beatable.
Ma Long, FZD, Jike had an aura of "I'm fucked if I play them"
Wang Chuqin is just as "beatable" as they are. If there were three players just as good as Wang Chuqin it would be just as difficult in beating them as it was with fzd, ml and xu xin.

 

[NextLevel]

There used to be much more selective appearance by the CNT before the WTT system. With the WTT system, they would have been forced to play much more and I don't know whether they would have sustained quite the same aura of invincibility. We saw Fan struggle a little under the new system so the struggles of Wang are less about playing level than some would like to believe.

 

[Lando]

I really don't care about that point and I already read it.
I responded to this that you said, nothing else
"
Everyone in the finals is beatable.
Ma Long, FZD, Jike had an aura of "I'm fucked if I play them"
Wang Chuqin is just as "beatable" as they are. If there were three players just as good as Wang Chuqin it would be just as difficult in beating them as it was with fzd, ml and xu xin.

lol.
Still think CNT is the same as with FZD, Ma Long, XX etc?