The difference can make the difference; arguably that is one reason why Germany’s Qiu Dang succeeded in his second match in the Boys’ Singles event at the 2013 ITTF World Junior Championships in Rabat on the afternoon of Thursday 5th December.
Not only did the 17 year old succeed; in claiming victory he caused a minor upset.
Currently listed at no.89 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings, having earlier in the day beaten New Zealand’s Nathan Watson (11-3, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8), he overcame Hong Kong’s Li Hon Ming in a close five games encounter (11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-4).
Li Hon Ming, named at no.73 on the Under 18 Boys’ World Rankings.
Unlike the Rest
Qiu Dang is different to the vast majority of players in action in Rabat. He is a pen-hold grip player, adopting the style of the likes of China’s Wang Hao, adept at executing top spin strokes from both wings.
He is the difference that once was never a difference. At the recent Liebherr Men’s World Cup, the only pen-hold grip player on duty was Xu Xin; quite ironic that the only player to use the grip won the tournament!
Grip Abandoned
At the World Junior Championships in Rabat, countries such as Korea and Japan, who once fielded teams full of pen-holders, have no such artist in their line-ups. Noticeably, neither has China, the one country in the world that appears to be prepared to continue to promote the grip.
No doubt some eagle eyed whizz will prove me wrong but are there only two pen-holders out of 192 players on duty in Rabat? Brazil’s Luan Oliveira is also a pen-hold grip player like Qiu Dang.
Preferred Grip
“I tried the shake-hands grip but my backhand was not so good”, said Qiu Dang. “I changed and tried the pen-hold grip and for me it was much better.”
Adopting the pen-hold grip in order to improve the backhand somewhat flies in the face of modern day thinking; the backhand is perceived as being vital in the modern era and the best way to execute a strong backhand is to use the shake-hands grip.
Good Backhands
The performance of Xu Xin at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup in September and the efforts of Qiu Dang in Rabat suggests the backhand can be just as effective whichever of the two grips you use.
Surely nobody proved the point that you can be a pen-holder and have a strong backhand more that Wang Hao?
Serve and Receive
Certainly, the style of Qiu Dang was very effective against Li Hon Ming.
“I think maybe I was just slightly the better in serve and receive”, added Qiu Dang. “Sure, I’m really pleased I won, I played him recently and lost four-zero!”
In Rabat Qiu Dang turned the tables.
