Hungarian Open 2012 - ITTF World Tour

Sounds like Timo has had a bad run. Back injury and then bronchitis. Hope he's on the mend. Germany will need him for the Worlds in March. I remember watching the final Germany vs China in 2006 which was fantastic. Germans love their table tennis.

I doubt he'd be ready in time for Worlds, and with the Olympics in July I would almost say he should prepare for that instead. Just get a lot of training in for it. A good 3-4 month Training session will have him ready for the Olympics for sure. He doesn't need to burn out too soon or for that matter be on injury during this Olympics as well. He already missed 04 and that was a huge chance for him as he had such a high ratio against RSM, but couldn't play in top form.

As far as Chinese levels of play they're huge. Because so many players are required to play as practice partners many of the Chinese National A and B team members do not get exposure as a representative of China. The other players that do normally play just know how to beat all of these Practice Partners as they're required to play much like the competition from other countries. So I would venture to guess that these practice partners are all above the level of the rest of the world, but fail to compete against the Chinese A team because of their regularity in practice. The Chinese A team members typically only play matches against each other via tournaments or leagues. They would normally train via multiball and practice partners that mimic those players they have the most tough times with excluding their compatriots.

I've been saying this for a while now, but if China ever was allowed to enter an extra Dozen players in the Pro Tour I doubt any non Chinese player would be able to remain in the top 20 for long.

If I get a free day,I be there

YosuaYosan said:

Interesting, TTPoster
I concur tho

Click to expand...

Haha, yes

Mr. RicharD said:

I've been saying this for a while now, but if China ever was allowed to enter an extra Dozen players in the Pro Tour I doubt any non Chinese player would be able to remain in the top 20 for long.

Click to expand...

I'm always curious about that... How many players does China have of that level. But I think that their team is really the very top, and those 3-6 players can be considered very rare talents, also in China. Else why would they have players like Chen Qi and Hao Shuai on the team for so long. They are good, but regularly get beaten by foreigners. But maybe they didn't get as much practise and attention as the main players do. That also makes a big difference in the very top.
In the womens circuit I think the statement is true, but in the mens circuit I'm not so sure.

Evan01 said:

If I get a free day,I be there

Click to expand...

Have a fantastic time if you go Evan

Remember you can watch the Hungarian Open 2012 live in our ITTF Live Streaming Channel with Chat here

I just noticed this, but when was that picture of Liu Shiwen taken? She's clearly using a DHS blue sponge rubber, but I was pretty sure she was using that Tibhar purple sponge rubber Grip - S I think it's called.

@ Wiwa - Hao Shuai has had a lot of mental game errors, but his technique is clearly top 20 easy. Chen Qi had a back injury and I believe that's the main reason why he hasn't been able to compete as he did before when he was in the top 10. Here's the thing about Male National Chinese A players. A lower percentage of A team members are allowed to play in the Pro Tour. Typically this number is anywhere from 2 - 6 depending on the type of event. As they do Trials it's clear they let both the A and B teams compete, but there are still a good amount of A team members that do not get a chance at playing in the Pro circuit. Also let's not forget that there are at a minimum 2-3 players for each of the top players that currently compete, that means there are a minimum of 12-16 other players that are only slightly below the level of play for the current top 20 Chinese members that are professional practice partners. Let's also not forget that there are plenty of younger players from 16-20 years of age that are in the B team or lower, but have not had the chance to prove themselves against the A team members. Yan An and Fang Bo are good examples of players that have not quite had the chance to compete for China in the Pro Tour regularly. I would venture to guess that because so few players (2-6) can compete for China many either become practice partners as a profession or immigrate to other countries that provide a higher income. Then we have to look at all the players in the Chinese Super League that are top notch. Because so few slots exist it drives the current top A players to compete at higher levels, but if more slots were opened up the Coaches would just open more slots up for the lower teams which would seal up the vacuum. For every player on all the teams (A through C I believe) there are thousands if not tens of thousands that would compete to take their spot.

I have no doubt that China would dominate the rankings if they were allowed.

Too bad the Japanese team are absent.

spin88 said:

Too bad the Japanese team are absent.

Click to expand...

Its a shame indeed

Liu Shiwen has just mentioned on her Weibo status that 'I ahve packed my bags and i'm now ready for the Hungarian and Slovenian Open 2012!

i hope xu xin does well.... he's my absolute favourite
(but, just to be realistic, zhang jike is more likely to win it )

I hope that Xu Xin would be able to prove himself!

Not long now! Ill see you all in the Live Stream when the match starts

GabrielK said:

I hope that Xu Xin would be able to prove himself!

Click to expand...

i hope for him too. he, ma long and zhang jike should be the top3 player soon. so xu has to keep it up the problem is, that he enjoys the game to much i think where ma long and zhang jike has the competition part in their hearts, xu xin has a fun part he could easily win some games more, if he would play what he can do infront of the table, not 5 meters behind and trying magic shots

PlasmaLight said:

i hope for him too. he, ma long and zhang jike should be the top3 player soon. so xu has to keep it up the problem is, that he enjoys the game to much i think where ma long and zhang jike has the competition part in their hearts, xu xin has a fun part he could easily win some games more, if he would play what he can do infront of the table, not 5 meters behind and trying magic shots

Click to expand...

At least he brings us spectacular table tennis But so do Ma Long and Zhang Jike Xu Xin might rise up this year though. Also I am curious what Kim Min Seok will do.

Mr. RicharD said:

I doubt he'd be ready in time for Worlds, and with the Olympics in July I would almost say he should prepare for that instead. Just get a lot of training in for it. A good 3-4 month Training session will have him ready for the Olympics for sure. He doesn't need to burn out too soon or for that matter be on injury during this Olympics as well. He already missed 04 and that was a huge chance for him as he had such a high ratio against RSM, but couldn't play in top form.

As far as Chinese levels of play they're huge. Because so many players are required to play as practice partners many of the Chinese National A and B team members do not get exposure as a representative of China. The other players that do normally play just know how to beat all of these Practice Partners as they're required to play much like the competition from other countries. So I would venture to guess that these practice partners are all above the level of the rest of the world, but fail to compete against the Chinese A team because of their regularity in practice. The Chinese A team members typically only play matches against each other via tournaments or leagues. They would normally train via multiball and practice partners that mimic those players they have the most tough times with excluding their compatriots.

I've been saying this for a while now, but if China ever was allowed to enter an extra Dozen players in the Pro Tour I doubt any non Chinese player would be able to remain in the top 20 for long.

Click to expand...

I agree. That's the reason for Chen Weixing playing for Austria.. and not really impossible for most of the Chinese players to do so too..

The DRAW is out everyone!

Men's Singles
Women's Singles
Men's Doubles
Women's Doubles

Who will win?Ma Long
I can't wait for this Pro Tour.

Hmm.. Second round matches:
Ma Long-Kreanga and Kim Min Seok-Monteiro. Hope they stream those.

I just hope Xu Xin will win! New Year, New Chances Gogogo !