ITTF 2019 Hong Kong Open June 4-9

Sali · Jun 9, 2019

Do not underestimate Wang Yidi, when I saw her playing ishikawa I did not see much mistakes. Ishikawa wasn't playing bad. Footwork, power and placement make her tough opponent among others CNT members.

zeio · Jun 9, 2019

Even Guo Yan said in the post-match interview that Ito could lose this week only to bounce back harder and come up with a solution next week. "Beating her once doesn't mean you have the upper hand."

Compare how she played DN in Qatar Open and China Open.

vik2000 · Jun 9, 2019

ugh... whatever opinions there are out there about whether she tried or not, her performance at the final was terrible period.

Loopadoop · Jun 9, 2019

Mima Ito unique style with her age can have ups and downs, but she is getting more consistent.

NextLevel · Jun 9, 2019

zeio said:
Even Guo Yan said in the post-match interview that Ito could lose this week only to bounce back harder and come up with a solution next week. "Beating her once doesn't mean you have the upper hand."

Compare how she played DN in Qatar Open and China Open.

This is true, but the final was Ito trying everything she had but it just didn't really work. Maybe she had an off day or something, but people should kill this idea that she wasn't trying hard. You don't pivot to return serves if you are not trying hard.

RidTheKid · Jun 9, 2019

Of course Ito was trying her best, she looked like she didn't have an answer to Wangs consistency and spin.

FruitLoop · Jun 9, 2019

Look at the stats. She went even on her own serve and got smashed by a factor of 5/1 on Yidi's serve.

thom · Jun 9, 2019

Couldn't Ito win using old stuff (perhaps + some new)and save enough new stuff for the Olympics? What is this winning just based on tricks? What happened to winning based on quality ?

rainneverever · Jun 9, 2019

JesperStef said:
I felt like Wang Yidi did very well with her service tactics: primarily long to Ito's backhand with heavy "straight" backspin (with some no-spin serves mixed in.

The length made it more difficult for Ito to execute her various return techniques effectively - and when she did, Wang had more time to adjust to the various sidespins.

And the heavy backspin made it hard for Ito to attack forcefully directly on the service. Against "normal" long FAST serves against the backhand, she is usually good at attacking/redirecting with the backhand or stepping around and smashing with the forehand. But against the heavy backspin, her backhand attacks were not as dangerous and when she stepped around to open with a spinny forehand topspin, she left the forehand corner wide open, which Wang exploited quite well.

I'm not sure if other CNT players have used this tactic against Ito yet?

The real pip expert DYP said exactly the same in commentary.
One major weakness of Ito is she cannot BH smash 弹击 on backspins; a BH pip player has to fix this. The other is relatively weak FH loops 拉球 like TH. Not that they cannot do good FH smashes, flicks, etc. It is that they don't have killing shots with FH topspins and usually use as transition shots and give opponents opportunities. Being old fashioned or not, she believes the level of FH determines the level of a player.

DYP appreciates WYD's execution of tactics today. Very effective. Long serves to Ito's BH. She also thinks WYD can do more backspins service returns rather than banana, like long pushes. The young generation in general lack variations on service return.

driversbeat · Jun 10, 2019

Ok i've seen Mima's interview video after the match. She was devastated and in tears. No way the final was faked. Wang Yidi won fair and square.

NextLevel · Jun 10, 2019

rainneverever said:
The real pip expert DYP said exactly the same in commentary.
One major weakness of Ito is she cannot BH smash 弹击 on backspins; a BH pip player has to fix this. The other is relatively weak FH loops 拉球 like TH. Not that they cannot do good FH smashes, flicks, etc. It is that they don't have killing shots with FH topspins and usually use as transition shots and give opponents opportunities. Being old fashioned or not, she believes the level of FH determines the level of a player.

DYP appreciates WYD's execution of tactics today. Very effective. Long serves to Ito's BH. She also thinks WYD can do more backspins service returns rather than banana, like long pushes. The young generation in general lack variations on service return.

The level of the forehand determines the level of the player is not old fashioned at all. It has its limitations but I think you will get general agreement amongst all good players that you can only go as far as your footwork and forehand will carry you at the top level. Even the good backhand oriented players tend to fall apart when they face someone who is good enough to sustain forehand bombardment. The backhand wing just can't be so weak that you can be exploited with forehand transition.

NextLevel · Jun 10, 2019

driversbeat said:
Ok i've seen Mima's interview video after the match. She was devastated and in tears. No way the final was faked. Wang Yidi won fair and square.

No doubt about this, when I was first responding I hadn't seen the match. After I watched it, I felt Ito had nothing to bring that would have fixed the score. I do feel that returning long backspin serves with pips is fixable, and she is going to have to make her pivot more aggressive - maybe she just needs more time in the gym. But under the match conditions she was completely outplayed. I also feel the shorter CNT women like Wang Yidi and Sun Yingsha have an advantage that RTK pointed out over the Wang Manyus and Ding Nings in that theory being shorter makes it easier to take the ball earlier naturally and with less arc so Ito's smashing game becomes riskier just naturally.

All that said, Ito still has time to grow a bit stronger and work out a bit harder. She is going to need it.

RidTheKid · Jun 10, 2019

I find it very impressive how fast CNT analyze and adjust to combat the new rivals from other countries (for instance Hirano and Ito). Very professional.

quanghuysk · Jun 10, 2019

I believe Ito will be back and stronger

zeio · Jun 10, 2019

zeio · Jun 10, 2019

NextLevel said:
This is true, but the final was Ito trying everything she had but it just didn't really work. Maybe she had an off day or something, but people should kill this idea that she wasn't trying hard. You don't pivot to return serves if you are not trying hard.

Well, in the morning show "Sawako's Morning" that aired on 6/1, on the topic of imitation players, Ito says how she'd test various things for matches she has a low percentage of coming back.

In the post-final interview, she wished she could've tried out some stuff more. After following her interviews for so long, it's become clear she would come up with a game plan and then stick to it through and through. For this Hong Kong Open, I get the feeling she wanted to see how far she could push her serve and attack.

Michal_Z · Jun 10, 2019

lukyancheg said:
Karlsson is also chopperKilla, it's a big surprise Ma Te escaped

Mostly after Karlsson led 5:0 in the deciding game.. (I mean WTF?!)

Michal_Z · Jun 10, 2019

quanghuysk said:
Hi guys,
anyone in Europe can watch the stream? It says due to copyright, the stream is not available.
I'm in Slovakia. If there is any TV channel here or in Europe, can you let me know?

Thanks in advance.

Arena šport to vysiela..
But the best thing to do is to download free vpn for your browser and watch streams online..
Set for Germany or France and ITTV and LAOLA will work..

quanghuysk · Jun 10, 2019

Michal_Z said:
Arena šport to vysiela..
But the best thing to do is to download free vpn for your browser and watch streams online..
Set for Germany or France and ITTV and LAOLA will work..

Thanks a lot Michal!!!

Michal_Z · Jun 10, 2019

Tempest/Comet said:
True, every bit counts. In this case 1st is 1800, 2nd is 1440, a difference of 360 pts.
But to give away all your plays (to be meticulously analyzed) heading into next week's Japan Op, where ALL the top CNT contenders will be there, is not worth the 360 extra pts. There's nothing to gain to duke it out with WYD, a CNT skirmisher (she's NOT going to the Olympics).
Besides, Ito has accomplished her mission of staying ahead of her other 2 competitors. Actually, in one fell swoop, she has made up enough grounds to cover the no World Cup scenario, with only 5 Tournaments.
Just thinking out loud strategically, on my own, nothing implied.

Please, where I can find a table of points giving for matches in tournaments?

ITTF 2019 Hong Kong Open June 4-9

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