I love it when people criticize the technique of world class players without fully accepting the implications.
i did not read it as "criticism", just stating that some styles are unique (individual quirks?) and not what is getting "coached" but rather developed by a certain & unique player, just like Ryusuke Sakamoto didn't teach Koki Niwa the chop-block.
I think he got it. Schlager was a brute. Absolutely brilliant. That whole match and the way he left the arena was like he beat Thomas Hearns for the MW title.
That interpretation I agree with. I just wish such thing went largely unmentioned as they are made to sound like demerits and sometimes bad things rather than quirks. Ma Long developed a quirk of using his offhand to guide himself to a lot of ball contact under one of his early coaches and now it is the holy grail of technique for some. People can underestimate the amount of "accident" that goes into developing any player. A lot of it just comes from trying to get the player to improve their adaptability to various circumstances and if it is working and not causing issues, they keep doing it.
Sheesh. I only mentioned it to pre-empt the 'oh, he wouldn't hold up in the modern era' type comments. It's a minefield here.
Ah okay. I think it helps to be explicit. There were forums that argued with Schlager over technique. Such is the nature of internet.
All good.For future reference, I'm a normal person. Here to enjoy and celebrate sport. This is my M.O.
Man, listen to that crowd! ❤️
Crowds in many other sports are just as wild as back then, it's unique to table tennis (looking at you WTT).
I dont think it is WTT's fault, TT is and has always been a bit of a niche sport. You do get such crowds at World Championships in Europe or Asia in general. Sure WTT has work to do to grow and commercialize the sport but in a world where lots of social media and entertainment are growing and trying to capture market share from other activities, it is very hard to grow with the amount of money in table tennis competing against all the major sports.
I am not so sure. Athletics is the pinnacle of sports but the crowds are very patchy nowadays. Some well attended but often not.
