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There is as much money on the embedded side of the sport and TT also has some limitations as a spectacle. But I agree that people should stop just doing that has already been done, there should be some risk taking to get more people into the sport, including variants that may not be popular...

There is something to be said for winning key matches and events where the pressure is higher, so no not just world tours, World Championship matches, 3 times in a row, and only started winning after that player retired. But your view is also part of the full picture. Just as zeio's is. But...

Humility (partly feigned and partly motivational) is taken as literal truth. Is this the level of reasoning we are using here?

Harimoto is entiled to his opinion as are many others, and I can see the value in his opinion. It is always difficult to compare across eras, but just by every statistical metric we use to quantify careers in the modern era, ML is the GOAT. You can argue it away all you want, Harimoto is...

Look at Cheng I Ching today - playing great table tennis. Last year at WTTC 2023, she had a tremendous lost lead/choke vs Chen Xingtong that may have cost her a medal though she would have had to beat an out of form Wang Manyu to get it. But her heroic struggles should be celebrated, not just...

I thought that since he is playing Olympic singles that they would conspire to boost his ranking. But it is clear that they really believe he has a path to redeeming himself or a plan B. Or maybe they may get separation of nationality back into the Olympic draw. So no, I didn't feel he would...

Oh, most people can tell the difference between speculation and reality, I will trust their judgement and accept your right and mine to draw whatever conclusions we want. But my position has always been that Hayata, Hirano. Harimoto, Ito and Ishikawa are all players working hard and doing...

I think he needs these events for his Olympic seeding.

Hype her how so? She played well and lost as expected. I am surprised that FZD lost, things have really changed on CNT.

Samsonov did it for years, Bernie and Ding did the Tomahawk. It is not *that* awkward. But it does require changes.

This is what I mean when I say players don't really want to change the culture. They can fix some of this by actually making some of these things illegal and adjusting their body orientation a bit. However history and tradition and refusing to retain their serves are still king

Unusual bounces can be returned or created to sometimes display an even higher level of skill in the game. Such is life and table tennis.

Definitely many are invested, but compensation often speaks to the quality of individuals you can get to show up, sometimes on short notice. Many invested people are retirees, which may not be quite what you want/need for professional umpiring at a world class level in a competitive sport...

Tennis umpires can make over $1K per match. If something even close to that was often possible in TT, a lot would change immediately.

Yes. Tomokazu does have a tall order against Kallberg. Miwa against Diaz, that is more likely to be a strategy thing. But Kallberg when his game is on is just hard to beat. Even Harimoto finds Kallberg borderline unplayable.

Since we are in the predictions/punditry business: Semifinalists: Head (heart) Kallberg (Harimoto) Harimoto (Diaz) Ma (Togami) Meng (Hirano) Wang (Hayata) Fan (Fan): Sun (Cheng) Wang (Jang)

The difference is not that much, so therefore, none of them should retire even in jest. The "gold content" statement is all true, based on achievements that she had in the 2016 to 2018 period, while noting that her World Cup win was in the absence of China. Remove those achievements, Hayata...

6 months is a long time for a 15 year old with a good vengeance record. Just saying. To make the point a bit clearer, I am not even sure 6 months ago, Miwa had beaten Hayata.

It's an event in China, it is sometimes better to have the personal coach instead of the national team coach .

They are both overrated players so it doesn't matter. On a more serious note, no, she shouldn't be able to beat Miwa tomorrow.