Jun Mizutani and Samsonov Training - Russian League 2017

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so sad that Vladi lost that Bronze medal match...

I think Vlad should call it quits. Sometimes you love the game so much and you dont know when to retire. Vlad is way past his prime. He can still trouble younger gen players so can many retired legends of the game if they come back from retirement. Just because you can make a few quarters in ittf pro tour , does not mean you harm your legacy by losing to every other rookie in most of the matches. I think he sould have called it a day post Rio. Its better if he puts his effort to bring in and coach Samsonov 2.0 to challenge the Chinese.
 
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I think Vlad should call it quits. Sometimes you love the game so much and you dont know when to retire. Vlad is way past his prime. He can still trouble younger gen players so can many retired legends of the game if they come back from retirement. Just because you can make a few quarters in ittf pro tour , does not mean you harm your legacy by losing to every other rookie in most of the matches. I think he sould have called it a day post Rio. Its better if he puts his effort to bring in and coach Samsonov 2.0 to challenge the Chinese.

I agree 100% with you, even though i love him
 
Just because you can make a few quarters in ittf pro tour , does not mean you harm your legacy by losing to every other rookie in most of the matches. I think he sould have called it a day post Rio. Its better if he puts his effort to bring in and coach Samsonov 2.0 to challenge the Chinese.

Because you know better than him when he sould retire. Great.

Most of the international players would kill to make a few quarters in ittf pro tour.
He is ranked #13 and #3 in Europe.
He just won the Champions League with Orenburg.

But he should have stopped last year? Because he is not beating the top chinese players anymore.
Players nobody beat anyway.

Thanks for the video TTD!

The legend continues.
 
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Because you know better than him when he sould retire. Great.

Most of the international players would kill to make a few quarters in ittf pro tour.
He is ranked #13 and #3 in Europe.
He just won the Champions League with Orenburg.

But he should have stopped last year? Because he is not beating the top chinese players anymore.
Players nobody beat anyway.

Thanks for the video TTD!

The legend continues.

Yeah. He is still playing great table tennis. Still capable of great results. Just has more bad days because of his age. I have never understood the argument that playing past your prime hurts your legacy.
 
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Yeah. He is still playing great table tennis. Still capable of great results. Just has more bad days because of his age. I have never understood the argument that playing past your prime hurts your legacy.

Folks, my comment was purely from a fans perspective. I was and still am a great fan of Samsonov. It is dissapointing to see your fav player lose every now and then. Plain and simple. World #13 does not mean a big deal to these guys. Look at Federer for example. He only wants to target and win grand slams irrespective of rank. What matters is big titles. "People would die to make a few quarters" - Yes , but that would be for folks like Caldarano or Jakub Dylas not for greats like Samsonov. Legends should continue like legends not losing first few rounds of every 2nd tournament.
 
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lol, Vladi keeps playing because it seems he enjoys doing so! I guess he doesn't think much of your opinion that he isn't beating all comers left and right!

Who is he hurting by playing and winning medals/money still? It's not like he's a prize fighter past his prime getting brain damage each outing... christ, he's just playing a sport he loves! While we're at it, let's tell He Zhi Wen to hang it up and perhaps Joo!
 
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Folks, my comment was purely from a fans perspective. I was and still am a great fan of Samsonov. It is dissapointing to see your fav player lose every now and then. Plain and simple. World #13 does not mean a big deal to these guys. Look at Federer for example. He only wants to target and win grand slams irrespective of rank. What matters is big titles. "People would die to make a few quarters" - Yes , but that would be for folks like Caldarano or Jakub Dylas not for greats like Samsonov. Legends should continue like legends not losing first few rounds of every 2nd tournament.

Federer did not win a big title since 2012 - no one other than the Chinese has won big Titles since Samsonov in 2009. You think the fact that Federer got luck in 2017 now makes you right after the fact? Or you would have been wrong in Samsonov had beaten Mizutani despite being injured?

When he stops enjoying it, he will stop playing. Saive was the same way.
 
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Federer did not win a big title since 2012 - no one other than the Chinese has won big Titles since Samsonov in 2009. You think the fact that Federer got luck in 2017 now makes you right after the fact? Or you would have been wrong in Samsonov had beaten Mizutani despite being injured?

When he stops enjoying it, he will stop playing. Saive was the same way.

If he makes semis/finals consistently like Federer did since 2012 and consistently threatened the top guys for big titles. I would have been equally thrilled for Samsonov. Anyway, this is a fan's perspective. Till when he enjoys and plays the game is his own decision. But as a fan, I want him to win more games. I am not sure how many people enjoyed watching Waldner into late 40s. If that is the way Samsonov wants to go out, it is his wish but he will have one fan less among his legion of admirers.

Just in case anybody wants to review his performance last 6 months (or so) in major tournaments :

Qatar Open 2107- Round of 32
India Open - Round of 32
ITTF Europe Top 16 - Qualifying
Hungarian Open - Quarter Final (CNT sent their B team here)
World Tour Finals - Round of 16
European Table Tennis Championships 2016 - Round of 16

He won some challenger tournament but I think there was nobody else playing the event apart from unknown players.
 
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You're cherry picking information. If we look at 2016, you'll see that he played amazingly in the Olympics (beating Ovtcharov) and even had a close match against Fan Zhendong in the Qatar Open (I'd like to see anyone except Ma Long try that). He also made the finals of the German Open and took two sets from Ma Long that year (let's see anyone outside the top 10 try that with whom the CNT with familiar with).

The fact that he's not in his best shape in his 40s (which elite player is, anyway?) shouldn't tarnish his legacy at all.

After all, Waldner played even though he was way out of shape in the 2005 WTTC and in the 2006 WTTC. Persson also had an extremely long career and I'm pretty sure he could still be top 50 if he wanted to but that hasn't made us forget their glory days.

As long as Samsonov is able to compete convincingly (which he still does) and has fun doing it, why shouldn't he continue playing?
 
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If he makes semis/finals consistently like Federer did since 2012 and consistently threatened the top guys for big titles. I would have been equally thrilled for Samsonov. Anyway, this is a fan's perspective. Till when he enjoys and plays the game is his own decision. But as a fan, I want him to win more games. I am not sure how many people enjoyed watching Waldner into late 40s. If that is the way Samsonov wants to go out, it is his wish but he will have one fan less among his legion of admirers.

Just in case anybody wants to review his performance last 6 months (or so) in major tournaments :

Qatar Open 2107- Round of 32
India Open - Round of 32
ITTF Europe Top 16 - Qualifying
Hungarian Open - Quarter Final (CNT sent their B team here)
World Tour Finals - Round of 16
European Table Tennis Championships 2016 - Round of 16

He won some challenger tournament but I think there was nobody else playing the event apart from unknown players.

This is like looking at the 6 months where Federer was playing badly while injured and focusing on that. You seem to forget that he was injured during the Olympics. All these results just come after and his focus is really on WTTC. It's like looking at Federer in 2016 and saying he should retire. These guys have good and bad days, bad days more as they get older. They just stop playing when it is no longer fun.

Losing players like Ma Lin and Wang Liqin just because they can't be on CNT is one of the silly things about this sport. Would much rather see them playing somewhere.
 
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