Australian Open 2019 [Platinum]

This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Dec 2018
1,416
556
5,516
So...
Random seeding (in which I do not believe) united the Japanese players into quarters:
Sato - Ishikawa
Ito - Hirano

That is, they will meet each other in the second round ....Unless, of course, they meet in the first round with Chinese women who have qualified ...

This is where the position in the current ITTF rating matters ....
The Chinese have very consistently taken the first four positions, and by the end of the year the first six will certainly be taken .....
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Sep 2013
7,259
6,225
15,294
Read 3 reviews
So...
Random seeding (in which I do not believe) united the Japanese players into quarters:
Sato - Ishikawa
Ito - Hirano

That is, they will meet each other in the second round ....Unless, of course, they meet in the first round with Chinese women who have qualified ...

This is where the position in the current ITTF rating matters ....
The Chinese have very consistently taken the first four positions, and by the end of the year the first six will certainly be taken .....

you see, when the Chinese was a victim of this new seeding rule, people said that it is the best for table tennis (or atleast ITTF says so)

but the moment the Japanese, Korean, German falls into the same issue, then the problem now makes senses.

I guess what is bad for the Chinese is equally as bad to the other nations
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,274
17,739
44,286
Read 17 reviews
You see, the earlier the players give courtesy lose, the earlier they can start the holiday lol

this back to back world tours is just silly.
most people have no idea how stressful it is for a player to be pushing themselves to near 100% performance back to back.
The june/july period is very taxing on the players.

The real issue is the travel schedule of the European players. There is no point really in having then adjust to time zones repeatedly when they can just plan to spend extended time in Asia and Australasia. It is the same thing that drives putting the opens in Europe back to back later in the year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pgpg
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,274
17,739
44,286
Read 17 reviews
you see, when the Chinese was a victim of this new seeding rule, people said that it is the best for table tennis (or atleast ITTF says so)

but the moment the Japanese, Korean, German falls into the same issue, then the problem now makes senses.

I guess what is bad for the Chinese is equally as bad to the other nations


Actually, Japanese women were even more of a victim than China because they used to send more players to tours. In any case I prefer the tour now and I don't miss separation by association.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Sep 2013
7,259
6,225
15,294
Read 3 reviews
The real issue is the travel schedule of the European players. There is no point really in having then adjust to time zones repeatedly when they can just plan to spend extended time in Asia and Australasia. It is the same thing that drives putting the opens in Europe back to back later in the year.

Yeah, I guess that is the only sense making of the whole scheduling


[h=2]Seamaster 2019 World Tour Platinum[/h]

[h=2]Seamaster 2019 World Tour[/h]

So the player can arrive in May for China open (start 30 May)
follow by Hong Kong Open
follow by Japan Open
then Korea Open
then Australia Open (end 10 July)

a 7 week long travel for 5 opens. 3 of which are platinum (a must for any European player)

very taxing I must add...
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Sep 2013
7,259
6,225
15,294
Read 3 reviews
Actually, Japanese women were even more of a victim than China because they used to send more players to tours. In any case I prefer the tour now and I don't miss separation by association.

You only saw lots of Japanese because of Tokyo budgeting
I doubt after Tokyo you will still see 10-20 women going to 1 open
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Aug 2018
226
307
696
So...
Random seeding (in which I do not believe) united the Japanese players into quarters:
Sato - Ishikawa
Ito - Hirano
That is, they will meet each other in the second round ....Unless, of course, they meet in the first round with Chinese women who have qualified ...
I don't understand...
Why is it NOT random? Other than the first 4 seeds who take each of the quarters, the other players or representatives go up IN PUBLIC VIEW, pick a ball from a bowl, inside of which is a number, which is plugged into the seeding chart. How can they 'monkey' with that?
Ishikawa and Sato, just like Hirano & Ito, don't necessarily will meet in the 2nd round. There are theoretically 7 CNT and 9 JNT qualifiers that would come into the Main draw. They may just have a bad/tired/off day, and be knocked out in the FIRST round. But then CNT faces the same issue, witness the Korea Op.
For the longest time, Japan had always sent a shitload of players, 17-19 each time to the Opens. Theoretically, they could have locked up the first 6 positions with such an approach. But going in, Japan never had the infrastructure, unified support, skill levels in training personal nation-wide, or the depth/strength of the feed pool, both in the players' pyramid and world class coaches, like China possess. Not too far down the road, China WILL lock up the first 8 positions for sure. Together with a sea of skirmishers/sweepers in the Qualifications, continued hegemony is assured.
In the meantime, for the JNT, their real worry now is to survive the FIRST round, prior to fratricide, as each round of survival now matters, specially between Ito, Hirano, Ishikawa, as far as resulting point acquisition goes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vlad Celler
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Dec 2018
1,416
556
5,516
Well, I have doubts .....:eek:
You seem to say everything correctly ....
Perhaps very, I'm just wrong ...:eek:
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Dec 2018
1,416
556
5,516
....For the longest time, Japan had always sent a shitload of players, 17-19 each time to the Opens. Theoretically, they could have locked up the first 6 positions with such an approach. But going in, Japan never had the infrastructure, unified support, skill levels in training personal nation-wide, or the depth/strength of the feed pool, both in the players' pyramid and world class coaches, like China possess. Not too far down the road, China WILL lock up the first 8 positions for sure. Together with a sea of skirmishers/sweepers in the Qualifications, continued hegemony is assured.
In the meantime, for the JNT, their real worry now is to survive the FIRST round, prior to fratricide, as each round of survival now matters, specially between Ito, Hirano, Ishikawa, as far as resulting point acquisition goes.....


A very accurate analysis, in my opinion ....
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Aug 2018
226
307
696
Is there a fair way to seed the draw so team mates don't meet each other in the early rounds ?
may be re-introduce the separation rule. But then be ready for a main draw first round of 64, given both China & Japan are sending almost 20 each time. ;)
Or use the separation rule, but limit each association to 6 players maximum. Still going to be a long tournament though.
But the way things are right now make the tournaments much more exciting, as there are more unknowns, more variables and uncertainties involved. And for the first time, fatigue is part of the game dynamics, as the very top players can no longer hide behind only playing 4-5 time each year. It's like a bar fight in the old west movies, but the director lost his script.:p:eek:
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Vlad Celler
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Feb 2019
560
537
1,736
Ito, Hirano and Liu drawn into the same quarter. Crucial tournament for all 3 of them. For Ito and Hirano, to get deeper into the tournament than the other and for Liu a chance to prove that she has what it takes to beat Ito.

IMO Liu has a lot to lose if she loses to Ito again, including nullifying the good reputation she has recovered from her WTTC victory.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Aug 2018
226
307
696
IMO Liu has a lot to lose if she loses to Ito again, including nullifying the good reputation she has recovered from her WTTC victory.
Riding high on both WTTC singles & XD championships, It'll take a lot to dull LSW's sheen & glow.
Given the visible condition & predicament Ito was in both Japan and Korea, I don't think LSW would have a problem THIS TIME. 1 week is not sufficient for Ito to rebound.
R16 against Hirano is a toss up, IF both of them make it thus far, as Hirano seemed to have found a way to confound Ito's play last time they went H2H. Had it not been the 2 early round close lost, it might have gone either way.
I hope I'm utterly wrong in this and get to eat my words, because Ito needs to go at least 1 round beyond Ishikawa.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Vlad Celler
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Dec 2018
1,416
556
5,516
These Chinese ... They were the ones who made Ishikawa’s gift by letting her pass at T2 ...:mad:
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jun 2011
3,095
1,277
5,264
Read 7 reviews
Fun fact - there is a player named Ma Lin playing for Australia ;)
Also very interresting that Kristian Karlsson got very easy draw compared to others..

Matches to wait for in the preliminary rounds - men:
Tristan Flore vs. Xu Yingbin in round 1, winner vs. Wong Chun Ting in round 2!
Zheng Peifeng vs. Qiu Dang in prelim round 2..
Pucar vs. Xu Chenhao in prelim round 2
Gacina vs. Morizono in prelim round 2..
Darko Jorgic vs. Ma Te in prelim round 2 if Ma Te wins round 1..
Also very possible Jeoung Youngsik vs. Ma Te in the round 3 if both go that far!
Pistej vs. Xue Fei can also be quite interresting if Xue Fei can beat Togami Shunsuke
Simon Gauzy bad luck he will most likely play Zhou Kai in his first match..
Robles vs. Wang Chuqin for sure in prelim round 2!
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jun 2011
3,095
1,277
5,264
Read 7 reviews
For the main draw, at last Ma Long is in the other half, not with FZD..
FZD and XX in the same half is quite interresting and also if both make it far enough, Calderano vs. XX will be spectacular!
Koki Niwa vs. XX before that, two shoumen against each other!
I would love to see Harimoto vs. Pitchford rematch..
I also hope to see Mizutani beat Jingkun..
And I hope to see Ovtcharov think something new against Ma Long if they meet..
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jun 2011
3,095
1,277
5,264
Read 7 reviews
For the women singles preliminary, Hina Hayata got a chinese in the first match (round 2) - Li Jiayi,
Also very interresting in round 3 it seems Nina Mittelham will play Han Ying (clash of two "german" players) ..
If Hasimoto beats Mori Sakura, she may to play Mu Zi in round 3..
Liu Weishan vs. Yu Mengyu in round 2..
Nagasaki will most likely play Zhang Qiang in round 3..
Sun Yingsha playing another chinese in round 2 (Yang Huijing - I never heared that before)
 
Top