Can European players compete with the Chinese?

It's been 17 years since China was defeated by a European country and 14 years since a European took a world title.


Stephane Ouaiche Photo via: 2017JO./ DDM, N.Dumoulin

I've looked at Europe's best young talents this includes:

1. Simon Gauzy (France)
2. Tristan Flore (France)
3. Stephane Quaiche (France)
4. Liam Pitchford (England)
5. Jakob Dyas (Poland)
6. Dima Oscherov (Germany)
8. Benedik Duda (Germany)
9. Marcos Freitas (Portugal)
10. Anton Kallberg (Sweden)

I may be missing one or two but these are the main candidates in my opinion.

Simon Gauzy, (early twenty's) with a lot of talent and a fantastic flick and a good rally player. For me he lacks true bottle under real pressure and retreats a little too early.
Slim chance vs Chinese players

Tristan Flore, (early twenty's) and at one time looked as if he was going to conquer the world but injuries halted his progression. Last season he started to hit form using his great serves and variation of shots to cause big upsets. Lacks power and consistency in my opinion.
Occasional upset vs Chinese players possible

Liam Pitchford, (early twenty's) with one of the best backhands in the world especially down the line. Forehand can be suspect at times and struggles to cross the line against players who are higher ranked on the big occasion. Physically weak and in big halls it shows compared to domestic league halls.
Slim Chance vs the Chinese on a big stage

Jakob Dyas, (early twenty's) huge progression over the past couple of years with a backhand to die for. Slightly erratic and a more solid middle game needed to really challenge the best on a regular basis.

One off win here and there possible vs Chinese due to his explosiveness but would he be given the opportunity to do so? Most likely no!
Dima, (late twenty's) has been Europe's top player for the past 5 years and has beaten Zhang Jike. He can give anyone a game but his highest level is still a step or two below the best Chinese. The new ball seems to have given him some issues and now a dad! are the days of him winning a major gone?
Still can beat the Chinese, but lacks true inner belief that it's possible to beat the best Chinese. If it came to 9-9 in the last I would always bet on the Chinese to win against him.

Benedik Duda, (early twenty's) and has quickly risen up the world ranking. Solid European player but lacks power and is not strong enough in terms of middle game.
Slim chance vs Chinese

Marcos Freitas (late twenty's) and a few years back kept climbing the world rankings up to no.7. Unfortunately his rankings have dropped with a poor season last year. Amazing rally player and will fight to the death. For me lacks true weapons, ones that scare you and because of this can not penetrate the Chinese armour.
Slim chance vs Chinese and slowly losing form.

Anton Kallberg, (early twenty's) Great serves and one and one that the Chinese struggle with, strong forehand and backhand flick. Struggles when being attacked and his back hand needs to be strengthened technically and consistently.

Can beat the some Chinese, if above is improved the issue he may have.. the Chinese will study his serve and if they work it out it nullifies his main weapon

Last but not Least,

I left Stephane is my last option, as I believe he could be the secret weapon that not many would know or think of, especially if I mentioned him 3 years ago.

Stephane, has what I call a magical hand (magic touch) that can do anything; chop, Loop, fish, attack, Lob, rally and hit hard.
Two people from Europe caused the Chinese great trouble with variety of shot selection. Waldner and Michael Maze, I would also put Wenger Schlager in that category.

Stephane possess this ability he is a late bloomer and has been sending shock waves over the last year. His repertoire of shots enables him to win rallies from a seemingly impossible position and produce shots that no other can imagine.

I have my theory which I won't reveal as I'm good friends with his coach but I do believe if executed correctly over the next couple years, Stephane could be the one to shock the world...

ttmonster said:

I think its high time instead of using the term European , you should really use "Rest of the world" and include Latin American players in that list as well , or atleast one , Hugo Calderano

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i wanted to include Hugo, but i chose to write about Europe only, one because I'm from Europe and secondly i could be wrong but world titles have come only from Asia and Europe hence the post.

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

Ouaiche beating the Chinese ? you must have smoked too much ... Ouaiche is talented but he tends too quickly to go back from the table and i think he lacks power. As soon as he goes a bit back, any serious player destroys him. He's a nice chap and he's very motivated but I think it will be difficult for him even to get into ITTF top 20 or 30 players. I don't see him winning a Chinese anytime soon... and he's more likely to lose badly 4-0 -4 -3 -2 -4 with his style of play than anything else.

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i dont smoke lol,
i see and agree with what you say but I believe if he makes a few tweaks to his game, over the next few years he can cause trouble, lets not forget Maze played back and gave them a lot of trouble.

Baal said:

I thought Fegerl might take a late step up, but no.

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yes he looked interesting but his game is limited and once you know what to do against him, there's not much he can do to change his style to win. im refering to Fergel

it sounds like you have misunderstood me,
i would never discount anyone and of course the rest of the world count. im based in europe and my main expertise is and has been in europe. i made this thread with my true knowledge which is european table tennis in comparison to China. please dont get offended as this post is my personal views of european players versus chinese, thats all.

all the best

wonderful points you make, I can argue a few but ill leave that for another day. thank you for your insight and i 100% agree with the belief factor required initially.

Im entitled to my thoughts and opinions as you are and for me Stephane has the X factor, yes he needs tweaks in his game but he possess the ability to develop what is required alongside his gift of manipulating the ball