I personally still think that USATT rating is good system but also very controversial..(William cut out vid sorry) ...Peter Nguyen, a Vietnamese amateur player who just moved to US recently and won one or two tourney, now he is rated 2501. But sometime ago I read a post on TTD saying that some US boys training for upcoming OG are only rated about 2300-2400.
Sent from a loaner NSA Phone borrowed from Carl
TTD Memebrs, this weekend, Brice got a firsthand look at a major big-time TT center tourney and what level(s) of play are going on. He saw the U2000 division qualification groups as each one being a group of death, the round of 16 worse, and so on... He saw the U2300 matches look like lightning, and the Open with SEVEN 2350+ players competing... he saw that class make 2200 players look like they were in soiled diapers.
OK, maybe I should let Brice choose his own words, but for sure, Brice saw what the top end of each division looks like compared to what the (low) official rating of the players are. After watching the action this weekend, Brice will think 1700 is a major great achievement and 2000 is a tough level. In this region, I think there are 5 each 2000+ level players from his country.
For Brice's comparison to what a big time TT center ratings classification compares to Korea, here is a quick breakdown.
U1500 - This is Div 5 City and the average club player who gets lessons, but doesn't shoot up in level. The top end of this field somehow make their way to Div 4
U1700 - 1700 is the top end of Div 4. Of course, there are growing kids who are actually way better than 1700, but either did not do a tourney to catch up the rating, kept their rating at their level, or got defeated by a really under-rated kid. This applies to all levels really.
U1900 - This is a tricky one to call. There is supposed to be top end of Div 3 city in Korea, and the ringers of Div 3 city are indeed this level or even 2000 level. In a big time training center, there are LOTS of kids and a few adults who have a low 1800s rating, but play at a near 2000 or above level.
U2000 - The top end of this should be the upper range of Div 2 city in Korea. You can be a Div 1 player at a low 2000 level. Again, SO MANY kids and adults have a sub 1900 rating or low 1900s rating, but play above 2000 level. You have to play 1-2 levels above your level EVERY MATCH to have any chance of making the semis or final in these events.
U2100 - This is Div 1 City level in top end, but in USA, you will see Div 4 players enter these kind of events, since they can. In USA, you can enter any event as long as your official rating is below the ratings cutoff.
U2300 - The absolute top aces in Div 1 city are this level, and you will find very few at that level. North of Seoul, outside of coaches, there might be only 12 players at that playing level. The average Div 1 city player would fail to make the round of 8 in the U2100 event if there is a field of 32 players at a big time club. An average Div 1 city player might fail to advance out of a 4 player qualification group where top two advance to knockout phase.
U2500 - There are no amature Korean players at this level in most cities. In a big time club, there are 2-3 of these, some tourneys attract 10 or more of this class. If you go to a HUGE National level tourney in Korea, the ones who are call Champions League Division are this level, they are the aces who consistently win Div 1 in National level tourneys.
Open - You get some 2600 and 2700 level player at some of the big centers. That level is way too good for Korean amature TT. A professionally trained top athlete by Senior year of High School is 2600ish, (the ones who are pro player material are higher) but they do not let them compete with amatures. At the National level tourneys, they have a Division called "Seon-Soo Boo" which is "Athlete Division" in English. This is reserved for pro-trained full time TT athletes who were trained by a former pro hired by the school. These kind of players have had this kind of training since middle school and it is like it is their mission in school to be an athlete, not a student. The Korean Semi-pro League is made up of the City Hall teams of cities and major sections of Seoul, like Yong-In Si Cheung, Seoul Si_Cheong, Bucheon Si Cheong, etc. You gotta be mid 2600s to be on one of those teams.
One of the Korean kids form the Korean team that competed at teh Nationals Team tourney last fall in Washington DC stopped by the major clubs in the area and a little kid tore apart teh game of Virginia's best player with ease, that coach has got to be mid 2300s or better on his worst day and couldn't return serves from that kid, who was pro player material on track with pro training.
That is the Korean perspective of amature world and pro-training world over there and how it stacks up to the big TT centers in USA, which also train and grow in the top end, some similar 2600+ players.
