World Tour Grand Finals 2018

NextLevel said:

He is a better player now no doubt. And this is Xu Xin not one of the others. Xu Xin has a structurally unsound game. The problem is that you have to play him often enough to have a chance of exposing it. But I am 95% sure that if Timo was on CNT and younger, he would be beating Xu Xin too.

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Interesting comment about Xu Xin. Regarding Timo ... if he was on the CNT he would now have been Timo, would he ... not the Timo we know today.

WorkerBee said:

What complete failure is the ITTF or the Korean federation handing to the world of Table Tennis? Look at the almost non-existent crowd in Korea for the wonderful game between Harimoto and Fransiska!!
https://youtu.be/CP0pf8pSKnQ
Pathetic.

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Even against Jang Woojin it was really empty and quiet. Didn't expect such a weak atmosphere in Korea.

Xu Xin today played like he had no interest to win today. I have seen him more pumped up than this even in CSL. Might be something wrong with him. You know that when he lands more BH than FH.

From the interviews, it appears many players have trouble with air current within the venue.

drunix80 said:

Xu Xin today played like he had no interest to win today. I have seen him more pumped up than this even in CSL. Might be something wrong with him. You know that when he lands more BH than FH.

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I completely disagree. In fact the second and third games were masterful displays in fighting when you are trying to beat someone you agree you are supposed to lose to. He managed to make LGY start missing and lose confidence. He just couldn't close our the 3rd game. If he had the match could have been very different.

drunix80 said:

Xu Xin today played like he had no interest to win today. I have seen him more pumped up than this even in CSL. Might be something wrong with him. You know that when he lands more BH than FH.

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It can look like that but the truth is LGY knows very well how to avoid xu xin's strengh and will rather make mistakes by taking risks than let xu xin launch his big forehands and bring him confidence. So in the end you have a match with many mistakes that may seem like a lack of motivation but it's not

NextLevel said:

How the CNT play so many events and do well is an question. That said, I have always felt that Xu Xin's loss to Fang Bo in 2015 WTTC was partly a result of playing too many events. Ito may have had a bit of that this time too, though of course it is easier to blame fatigue when you don't win when you are up.

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More on this.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/pingpang/2018-12-14/doc-ihqackac8027303.shtml

伊藤透露，这次的比赛，自己的整体状态低迷，是不争的事实，抵达韩国以来一直都没有调整好，“我自己也一时半会说不出具体的原因，反正状态很差，睡眠质量相当不好。”
　　13日，伊藤在女单第一轮被淘汰后，已经是当地时间晚上9点左右，吃完饭做完身体护理后，在凌晨1点多才就寝。今天的女双半决赛在早上10点开始，加上准备时间，伊藤也仅睡了5个半小时左右。“打比赛的时候非常困，所以半决赛一开始时，手和脚步移动都很僵硬。（落后后）改变战术后，才赢了比赛。今天是用头脑赢的球。”伊藤表示。
　　伊藤说平时自己都是睡8小时以上，睡眠不足很影响状态。所以会为了打好16日和中国选手的女双决赛，“回去好好补充睡眠！”女单、混双都已经出局，所以女双是伊藤唯一可争夺的一枚金牌，“要全力争夺冠军，填补所有的遗憾！”因为伊藤不参加日本国内的T联赛，所以和中国选手的这场女双决赛也是她今年的最后一场正式比赛，“无论如何，都要赢下来！”伊藤自嘲本次总决赛（睡眠不好“在头脑空白的状态就输掉了女单、混双比赛，所以女双决赛要全力以赴“以清醒元气的状态去打球！”

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Ito revealed that at this tournament, her poor form is an indisputable fact. It has not been adjusted since arriving in Korea. "I can't pinpoint the specific reasons for the time being. Whatever the case, my form is very poor, the quality of sleep is very bad."

On the 13th, after Ito was eliminated in the first round of the women's singles, it was already around 9:00 pm local time. After finishing the body treatment, she went to bed at 1 am. Today's women's doubles semi-final started at 10 am, and with the preparation time, Ito has only slept for about 5.5 hours. "It was very difficult to play the match, so the hand and foot movements were very stiff at the beginning of the semi-final. We won only after switching tactics (after trailing). We won by playing smart today" said Ito.

Ito said that she usually sleeps for more than 8 hours, and lack of sleep affects her form a lot. Therefore, in order to play the women's doubles finals on the 16th against the Chinese players, "sleep well once back to the hotel!" The women's singles and mixed doubles have already been eliminated, so the women's doubles is the only gold medal that Ito can compete for. "Going all out for the title, to fill all the regrets!" Because Ito does not participate in the domestic T-League, so women's doubles final will be her last official match this year. "In any case, I gotta win!" Ito joked this time the Grand Finals she lost the women's singles and mixed doubles in the state of blank mind, so for the women's doubles finals she'll go all out to "play in a state full of genki!"

Poor Ito, she is delusional. She must listen to Tony Table Tennis who has pointed out that she is only as good as Cheng I Ching, who Ito lost to and who Ding Ning cleaned the floor with. This despite having beaten Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen twice and being 8 years younger than Cheng.

NextLevel said:

I completely disagree. In fact the second and third games were masterful displays in fighting when you are trying to beat someone you agree you are supposed to lose to. He managed to make LGY start missing and lose confidence. He just couldn't close our the 3rd game. If he had the match could have been very different.

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More or less what the man said.

NextLevel said:

Poor Ito, she is delusional. She must listen to Tony Table Tennis who has pointed out that she is only as good as Cheng I Ching, who Ito lost to and who Ding Ning cleaned the floor with. This despite having beaten Ding Ning and Liu Shiwen twice and being 8 years younger than Cheng.

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Results from Day 2 (Fri 14 December 2018):

Men's Singles

Round of 16:

[1] Xu Xin 4:1 Wong Chun Ting [12] (11:6, 9:11, 11:3, 11:8, 11:7)
[6] Lin Gaoyuan 4:2 Lee Sangsu [11] (11:7, 9:11, 11:8, 11:9, 7:11, 16:14)

[8] Jun Mizutani 4:0 Liu Dingshuo [13] (11:9, 11:5, 11:4, retired due to injury)
[3] Liang Jingkun 4:0 Timo Boll [15] (11:6, 11:4, 11:7, 13:11)

[4] Tomokazu Harimoto 4:1 Patrick Franziska [9] (11:7, 10:12, 11:8, 11:7, 11:7)
[5] Jang Woojin 4:0 Lim Jonghoon [10] (11:5, 11:3, 11:6, 11:5)

[7] Hugo Calderano 4:3 Yuya Oshima [16] (11:5, 4:11, 11:8, 8:11, 9:11, 11:4, 11:7)
[2] Fan Zhendong 4:0 Koki Niwa [14] (11:6, 11:8, 11:5, 12:10)


Quarter-finals:

[6] Lin Gaoyuan 4:2 Xu Xin [1] (11:3, 9:11, 13:11, 11:13, 11:2, 11:9)
[8] Jun Mizutani vs Liang Jingkun [3]

[4] Tomokazu Harimoto 4:1 Jang Woojin [5] (12:10, 11:8, 11:7, 9:11, 11:9)
[7] Hugo Calderano vs Fan Zhendong [2]


Women's Singles

Round of 16:

[1] Wang Manyu 4:1 Feng Tianwei [15] (11:3, 10:12, 11:6, 11:6, 11:5)
[6] Chen Meng 4:3 Chen Xingtong [10] (11:7, 9:11, 11:7, 11:6, 8:11, 9:11, 11:5)

[7] Zhu Yuling 4:1 Hitomi Sato [11] (11:5, 11:8, 7:11, 11:1, 11:4)
[3] Liu Shiwen 4:1 Sun Yingsha [14](8:11, 11:6, 11:6, 11:6, 11:9)

[9] Cheng I-Ching 4:3 Mima Ito [4] (11:9, 3:11, 11:7, 6:11, 8:11, 11:8, 11:7)
[5] Ding Ning 4:1 Saki Shibata [16] (11:3, 11:6, 7:11, 11:7, 11:5)

[12] He Zhuojia 4:0 Suh Hyowon [8] (11:5, 11:5, 11:8, 11:4)
[2] Kasumi Ishikawa 4:1 Miu Hirano [13] (11:6, 11:3, 9:11, 11:8, 11:7)


Quarter-finals:

[6] Chen Meng 4:1 Wang Manyu [1] (16:14, 11:7, 10:12, 11:8, 16:14)
[7] Zhu Yuling vs Liu Shiwen [3]

[5] Ding Ning 4:0 Cheng I-Ching [9] (11:6, 11:7, 11:9, 11:1)
[12] He Zhuojia vs Kasumi Ishikawa [2]


Men's Doubles

Semi-finals:

[5] Jang Woojin/Lim Jonghoon 3:1 Jeoung Youngsik/Lee Sangsu [1] (11:9, 8:11, 15:13, 11:9)
[3] Ho Kwan Kit/Wong Chun Ting 3:1 Masataka Morizono/Yuya Oshima [2] (11:9, 11:3, 5:11, 11:4)


Women's Doubles

Semi-finals:

[1] Hina Hayata/Mima Ito 3:2 Jeon Jihee/Yang Haeun [3] (12:10, 3:11, 9:11, 12:10, 11:6)
[2] Chen Xingtong/Sun Yingsha 3:2 Chen Ke/Wang Manyu [4] (11:2, 5:11, 13:11, 7:11, 11:8)


Mixed Doubles

Semi-finals:

[7] Wong Chun Ting/Doo Hoi Kem 3:2 Masataka Morizono/Mima Ito [6] (11:9, 14:16, 10:12, 11:1, 11:2)
[2] Jang Woojin/Cha Hyo Sim 3:2 Lim Jonghoon/Yang Haeun [4] (10:12, 11:4, 11:8, 5:11, 11:8)


Source: https://www.ittf.com/tournament/2825/seamaster-2018-ittf-world-tour-grand-finals/#information

drunix80 said:

Xu Xin today played like he had no interest to win today. I have seen him more pumped up than this even in CSL. Might be something wrong with him. You know that when he lands more BH than FH.

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I wonder if XX is making micro adjustments to his grip/balance/movement in order to facilitate RPB and harm his FH. Never saw him miss that many FH before which should be his usual strong weapon. No doubt he will pump up and cho out loud against foreign players like Harimoto in the crucial moments, but usually silent and kind of lagging playing other CNT members. After all Tours are testing ground as LGL said so I hope he will learn from it and move on.

Xu Xin is going to retire, he did mention he wants to spent more time with his family , not travel too much to play. It could be that he did not really try hard. I saw the match on line, it did not seem he wanted to try to win.

TurboZ said:

I wonder if XX is making micro adjustments to his grip/balance/movement in order to facilitate RPB and harm his FH. Never saw him miss that many FH before which should be his usual strong weapon. No doubt he will pump up and cho out loud against foreign players like Harimoto in the crucial moments, but usually silent and kind of lagging playing other CNT members. After all Tours are testing ground as LGL said so I hope he will learn from it and move on.

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LGY has been beating Xu Xin for a while now and should really have beaten him in WTTC 2017. However well you think Xu Xin played, LGY knows how to defuse XX.

jamesmith said:

Xu Xin is going to retire, he did mention he wants to spent more time with his family , not travel too much to play. It could be that he did not really try hard. I saw the match on line, it did not seem he wanted to try to win.

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Anyone who watches the second game and the third game and thinks XX was not trying is really a true XX fan.

NextLevel said:

LGY has been beating Xu Xin for a while now and should really have beaten him in WTTC 2017. However well you think Xu Xin played, LGY knows how to defuse XX.

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I know but losing to LGY as usual is one thing, but missing all the FH that he shouldn't have in the past like that is something else.

jamesmith said:

Xu Xin is going to retire, he did mention he wants to spent more time with his family , not travel too much to play. It could be that he did not really try hard. I saw the match on line, it did not seem he wanted to try to win.

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Stiga should release the new Dynasty fast with discount before it is too late.

FZD vs HT, can’t ask for anything more! My prediction: FZD 4:1 over HT. LGY 4:2 over LJK. FZD 4:2 over LGY

Free bird said:

FZD vs HT, can’t ask for anything more! My prediction: FZD 4:1 over HT. LGY 4:2 over LJK. FZD 4:2 over LGY

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My prediction - HT 4:3 FZD. LJK 4:2 LGY. LJK 4:1 HT