Kuwait Open 2016

My heart never beat this fast watching TT....wonder how XX and MJ can stay so calm and not made a single sound through out the whole game. Great shots after great shots. Can't ask for anything more!

NextLevel said:

I was so happy at 10-4 that I am depressed at 10-12. Samsonov put something in the water with the way he played in the 4th game against Ma Long. He showed the template and everyone followed it. But no one has the fitness or temperament to fully execute it.

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Completely agree. Samsonov played really excellent table tennis. Mizutani did have the fitness and the temperament to play bravely but unfortunately got cramped up by the weight of the occasion at 10-4 .

Now Ovtcharov leads 1-0. Let's hope for the best.

Just imagine you are great player but you have never won against chinese player (especially the one who is not looking with others then chinese )you did great comeback and have 6 matchpoints. What else do you need. If I was Jun I would not have any more motivation to play this sport.

Sali said:

Just imagine you are great player but you have never won against chinese player (especially the one who is not looking with others then chinese )you did great comeback and have 6 matchpoints. What else do you need. If I was Jun I would not have any more motivation to play this sport.

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I have had many such losses before having my best victories. I expect Mizutani to experience the same. The fact that he came back after going down from 10-7 up in the third game and being down 7-9 in the 6th game is in his favor. He just has to do it at the Olympics.

anchorschmidt said:

Completely agree. Samsonov played really excellent table tennis. Mizutani did have the fitness and the temperament to play bravely but unfortunately got cramped up by the weight of the occasion at 10-4 .

Now Ovtcharov leads 1-0. Let's hope for the best.

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I mean, Samsonov could have won game 1 and won game 4 with the right approach. Tang Peng went up 2-0 on FZD and was tied in the 3rd game before things started falling apart. And some of the shots TP was taking were full commitment shots that are not his usual. Mizutani took SO MANY full commitment shots in this match. Full commitment table tennis is what is required to match the Chinese. Bent elbow rally looping will not get it done.

I think Jun's coach had to step up. I mean at 10-7 he needed to stand up and shout something like: "ATACK JUN ATACK"
When coach gets yellow. Eveyone is like "WTF" BUT the situation got shake a bit and atmoshpere changed...
Ofcourse this is not very nice, but when you have this rare oppurtunity to win you need to do anything.
Well atleast in other sports I have seen doing such tricks when you have no other legal options

fanTT said:

I think Jun's coach had to step up. I mean at 10-7 he needed to stand up and shout something like: "ATACK JUN ATACK"
When coach gets yellow. Eveyone is like "WTF" BUT the situation got shake a bit and atmoshpere changed...
Ofcourse this is not very nice, but when you have this rare oppurtunity to win you need to do anything.
Well atleast in other sports I have seen doing such tricks when you have no other legal options

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Japan has a fairplay and rule following culture that frowns upon such...

fanTT said:

I think Jun's coach had to step up. I mean at 10-7 he needed to stand up and shout something like: "ATACK JUN ATACK"
When coach gets yellow. Eveyone is like "WTF" BUT the situation got shake a bit and atmoshpere changed...
Ofcourse this is not very nice, but when you have this rare oppurtunity to win you need to do anything.
Well atleast in other sports I have seen doing such tricks when you have no other legal options

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Well, Mizutani started to tie his shoelaces at 10-6 or something

NextLevel said:

I have had many such losses before having my best victories. I expect Mizutani to experience the same. The fact that he came back after going down from 10-7 up in the third game and being down 7-9 in the 6th game is in his favor. He just has to do it at the Olympics.

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Few years ago he was winning with ZJK 3:0 and Lost 3:4. So this is not first time. Chinese players are nightmares for Jun, especially now

NextLevel said:

Japan has a fairplay and rule following culture that frowns upon such...

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Yes I know that. They are not that "hot" to react and do such things...
I just can't watch when you see your player is in big hole and you do nothing.. (reminds me England coach)

@Minkin, no he did that i think at around 5-3.. And it was very clever too of him.

Sali said:

Few years ago he was winning with ZJK 3:0 and Lost 3:4. So this is not first time. Chinese players are nightmares for Jun, especially now

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That one was different - he was called for illegal serves and he was playing in Japan. ZJK wasn't yet ZJK then either.

Maybe it's good that it happened to mizutani some months before the olympics, because most of the time you wont mess up like that a 2nd time so he can win against a chinese at the olympics
And I don't think you can compare it to his game against Zhang Jike some years ago, he was 3:0 in front but needed a whole set to win the game, something completely different than only one point. You can rather compare it to jike's WC win in Rotterdam, where he almost lost the 6th set after having like 6 matchpoints too, and then he suddenly got very nervous and couldn't play until 10:10.. but he managed to win the game.

ZJK said:

Maybe it's good that it happened to mizutani some months before the olympics, because most of the time you wont mess up like that a 2nd time so he can win against a chinese at the olympics
And I don't think you can compare it to his game against Zhang Jike some years ago, he was 3:0 in front but needed a whole set to win the game, something completely different than only one point. You can rather compare it to jike's WC win in Rotterdam, where he almost lost the 6th set after having like 6 matchpoints too, and then he suddenly got very nervous and couldn't play until 10:10.. but he managed to win the game.

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No, it's never a good thing to lose like this. It really messes up your confidence. JM will regret this for a long long time. I hope he managed to take the positives from this match.

Even XX couldnt believe how lucky he was, he risked a lot of course but Jun missed 2 opportunities and made another 2 unforced errrors. 10-6 to 10-10 has happened lots of times but 10-4 is just too damn unthinkable

XX stare during the handshake was like "dude u really lost on your own, wtf man seriously?"

What an amazing game by Jun Mizutani and Xu Xin! Although Mizutani was able to reproduce the lead he had in game 1 (5-0) in game 7 which eventually led to 10-4 in both game 1 and game 7, he did not maintain the same mindset and was unable to take game 7 the way he took game 1. While it is sad for Mizutani, it is incredible to see the mental strength of Xu Xin to hang in there point after point, and not be affected by time tactics such as tying shoelaces etc. I am sure when this tournament is over, Xu Xin will be analyzing how to better receive Jun Mizutani's reverse pendulum serves...

So funny i started with Jun Mizutani Butterfly blade and i liked JM playing style in the past say last year, but now i don't feel interested in watching TT much because i feel i will keep watching Chinese all the time and it is true, in long time ago in the past we don't see China as on top always, Korea/Sweden/Japan and i don't know which country were rivals to China and could make hard time to them, i just started to watch TT again since last year and i feel there is no competition at all nowadays not for so long time later against China.

I just hope JM can fight and improve more so at least he can get his 5th ranking place back again, i like to have the top 5 for Asia only, hahaha.

What happened to JSH? i like his defensive style a lot but lately i feel he disappeared or something, is he dead or injured for long time or retired?

TareqPhoto said:

What happened to JSH? i like his defensive style a lot but lately i feel he disappeared or something, is he dead or injured for long time or retired?

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AFAIK he has said he will retire after Rio. He will play in the Qatar open in a few days though.

Todays Finals :

Women Doubles 12pm GMT (Ning/Shiwen VS Xiaoxai/Yuling)
Mens Doubles 12.30pm GMT (Xu Xin/Zhang Jike VS Ho Kwan Kit /Tang Peng)
Women's Singles 1pm GMT (Li Xiaoxai VS Ding Ning)
Mens Singles 2pm GMT (Ma Long VS Zhang Jike)

Short Statement of Dima Ovcharov after his match against ZJK:
As in the previous second round match against the world number Eleventh Wong Chun Ting (Hong Kong) Ovtcharov had a good start against the Chinese with right mix between aggressive attack and clever placement game. In the 5th set he missed an important opportunity to take the lead 3:2 from his own point of view at the score of 9: 8 : "At 9: 8 there was a very good chance to take the lead with 3: 2. I'm sure that I would have won the match, if I managed to take that game. "

Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat is really narrow: "Today maybe one point against one of Topchinesen was missing, but yesterday against Ho also one more point could have meant defeat against the number 74 in the world for me. " The german was really satisfied with his performance: "Knowing that after such a long break from training, I can play on the same level as the Chinese gives me confidence." He mentions that he still hasn t achieved his top form: "I am clearly lacking maximum power in the rallies, which distinguished me.When I am in the active/offensiv role, I usually don t lose a really. I got Zhang Jike in trouble in the beginning of the rally, but I couldn t take advantage because I am just not moving well and I still lack the power. That's what I'm going to work on and soon be back with my old strength. "

Over the past five weeks Ovtcharov had to take care of his body due to his back muscle strain with nerve irritation. At the first competition test in Kuwait, which was advised by his doctors Ovtcharov remained painless: "My body withstand that the most important feedback of the tournament." Ovtcharov looks correspondingly optimistic about the future: "I now travel with a lot of confidence to the Qatar Open and look forward to the intense training months from April to July I will make every effort to draw the right conclusions from the top tournaments in Kuwait and Qatar. To further enhance my performance and to present myself in top form at the Olympics . "

Managed directly by DTTB Sports Director Richard Prause the European champion was satisfied with 15:13, 11:8, 11:6 and 11:9 "service-return, my placement, tactically it was a super performance thanks to Richie. who has coached me here two days and pushed me in some difficult situation. "


source DTTB: http://www.tischtennis.de/aktuelles/meldung/18105