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Another big problem for Japan next year is Chinese Taipei. Lin Yun Ju seems to have elevated the Hope's of all the Taiwanese players and I can see them being another contender for gold in all events if LYJ plays sufficiently well. CCA and CCY are not pushovers and are a strong doubles team as well.

This post is so politically incorrect - Carl, I am sure you don't plan on running for President any time soon.

The plastic ball has just exposed Dima much more than ideal. The opening no longer has the extreme value it does, so his backhand opener is more devalued, his serve spin is not that devastating and the balanced rallying isn't there. All of this is level relative of course.

Agreed, but he has moments when he gets it workable and moments when it is not. But when he loses to these up and comers, it reminds me that his game is just wrong. In fact to me, how he plays against them speaks more loudly than how he does against the top A-players.

Dima seems to lose these Chinese up and comers. For me this is the biggest match of the year for me to believe he is fundamentally sound again.

Looks like Lin Yun Ju has the whole Chinese Taipei team inspired for a chance at a medal next year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81rroyE6UP4

He is playing many more spin oriented forehands. Much better overall approach to the ball. On one serve return (3-7 in game 6), he went for his old forehand, missed long and was annoyed. Kurashima had to calm him down. He needs to forget that forehand. Even on third ball he hit one down the...

I didn't watch the prior point because of bandwidth issues at the time but I guess it was probably just something he needed to address immediately.

That German National Team practice session is over. Now Harimoto gets to play another lefty with a vicious forehand and a slightly more spinny backhand.

Is Filus really a defender? What is the point in being a defender if you can't even bring back the first attack consistently?

Depends in what you mean. Until this year, she was a foreigner by ITTF rules and was only Olympics eligible. Now she is eligible for all events and will be featured more across the tour. She is also only about 26 and a lefty, so she doesn't have to do anything special. But she has been the...

It puts into context who she played against. Otherwise, we would be puzzled by Wu Jiaji of the Dominican Republic beating Kanak Jha of the US despite being 648 ranked playing 33 ranked. Please, don't let your behavior stop us from making reasonable points using facts.

So I tested the Carbonado today and I liked it. Unforltunately, I didn't like the handle. Too thick. But it felt like a better Butterfly ALC blade. So I suspect if I manage to sand or change the handles, I might revisit at some point in the future. But for right now, I will be using the...

You can do both or post a link to the first post with a results updated message.

I didn't remember a slapping counter. There was more forearm rotation even on counters that I remember used to be flat. But.maybe I am just biased. I agree with you largely by the way.

https://youtu.be/4Lom19YBVNg I see growth.

I think his forehand vs Zhu Linfeng showed a marked improvement. He is beginning to spin rather than drive more consistently and this helps his recovery. Keeping the elbow close and using his back for stability.

Another reminder that good forehands are not the exclusive province of Asians.

I understand what you mean. Unfortunately, there is always a winner and a loser. I prefer this to the alternative.

There was a very good and obvious reason for doing so. Abe had just smashed 3 times and lost the point and was deflated. It was a good time to take a time out to make sure she didn't lose heart but the coach didn't. Losing the next two points didn't help.