LGL's take on the historical status of Boll after WTTC 2011, where he earned his only Bronze medal in singles.
https://sports.sohu.com/20110517/n280607163.shtml
“应该说波尔对于中国男乒来说，是一个非常特别的人物。其实我们的对手整体水平较高的还是在亚洲，但波尔在欧洲一个人给中国男乒造成了很大威胁，特别是明年伦敦奥运会依然是他的主场，相信他肯定会承载所有欧洲人的期望。”刘国梁说。
在具体提到波尔这名球员时，刘国梁表示波尔目前的特点气质，颇为类似他自己打球时的瑞典老将瓦尔德内尔，毕竟目前波尔是中国的最大对手。“波尔现在就是第二个老瓦，他的技术水平和对中国队的威胁都证明了这一点。但是波尔要想在运动成绩上超越老瓦并不容易，毕竟老瓦打了那么多年，而且是在中国低谷的时候，老瓦取得了很辉煌的成绩。现在属于中国队的鼎盛时期，时代不一样，他们承载的任务不一样。”
"It should be noted that Boll is a very unique figure to the CNT.
In fact, our opponents, those with a higher overall level, still remain in Asia, but Boll alone in Europe poses a great threat to the CNT, especially for the London Olympics next year that will still be his home turf. I believe he will certainly carry expectations for all Europeans," said Liu Guoliang.
When referring specifically to this player, Liu Guoliang said that Boll's current characteristics are quite similar to the Swedish veteran Waldner in his playing days. After all, Boll is currently China's greatest opponent. "Boll is now Waldner 2.0. His technical level and threat to the CNT have proved this point.
But it is no small feat for Boll to surpass Waldner in accomplishments. After all, Waldner has played for so long, and he achieved brilliant results when China was in a slump. The CNT is in its prime right now. The times are different, and the missions they carry are different."
To give you an idea what kind of existence Waldner was, below is how the CNT is
officially depicted when Cai Zhenhua picked up the baton back in the early 90's, after Sweden dethroned China.
http://www.sport.gov.cn/n322/n3407/n3413/c564658/content.html
1.3.1 技术突破
蔡振华执教伊始，中国男子乒乓球队技术落后，士气低落。男队员大体都有恐惧症，人人敬畏瓦尔德内尔。著名运动员马文革在第40届世锦赛之后还说，与瓦尔德内尔打球，“打到一个球，就是赚了一个球，打不到反倒属于正常。因为自己没有那个能力。”好些运动员在宿舍里粘贴着瓦氏画像与照片。有的运动员更是模仿瓦尔德内尔的行头，从胶皮到底板，再到赛前粘贴胶皮等，认为唯此才能打球。蔡振华执教之后，严正指出当时中国乒乓球的问题是“创新不够”和“直拍进入了死胡同”，唯一的新路就是必须在技战术的打法上实行变革。中国乒乓球队男队在1992年第25届西班牙巴塞罗那奥运会上由吕林与王涛合作的双打获得了金牌；在1993年的世锦赛上由原来的第７名获得了第２名的好成绩；在1995年天津世锦赛上与女队配合，囊括了全部７项乒乓球冠军；1996年第26届美国亚特兰大奥运会上，中国运动员囊括了全部四块金牌。至此，蔡振华执教以来的第一个飞跃已经完成，中国队特别是中国男队再次走到了世界乒乓球的领先位置。
1.3.1 Technical breakthrough
At the beginning of Cai Zhenhua's coaching, the Chinese men's table tennis team was trailing in techniques and the morale was low.
Members of the men's team had phobias in general, and everyone was in awe of Waldner. Ma Wenge once said after the 40th World Championships, playing with Waldner, “making a shot is as good as making off with a point. Not making it is the norm, because I'm not equal to the task.” The dormitory of some players is filled with portraits and photographs of Waldner. Some even imitated Waldner’s setup, from rubbers to blades to gluing before the match, thinking that is the only way it is meant to be played. After Cai Zhenhua took office, he pointed out the problems of Chinese table tennis at the time were "insufficient innovation" and "penhold has run into a dead end." The only way out of it was a major overhaul of the technical and tactical play...
Last but not least, discussions and select comments from a forum in Taiwan back in late 2015.
https://myptt.cc/article/tabletennis/M.1450417451.A.CCF
我想請問一下德國名將波爾在桌球界的歷史地位算不算高?
以一個非中國隊出身的球員
當然一定比不上華德納和皮爾森
但是如果和老薩，蓋亭，施拉格，塞夫等比有比較高嗎?
波爾其實好像從2000年以來一直被中國鎖定是頭號勁敵
但是現在被年輕的奧恰取代
不過這將近十五年來的波爾始終很平穩且保持競爭力，即使到今年世錦賽也打得不差
可惜被鎖定因此沒有拿過任何三大賽的冠軍
不國他的球品好像很多人都很欣賞也很喜愛他
不知道以他這一生的成就大概可以排在非中國球員中第幾呢?
...
17 推 magicdio: 桌球史上最後一位有能力威脅中國的歐洲選手如何？ 12/18 18:56
18 推 mikedo: 生錯時代，剛好在中國隊開無雙的時代 12/18 19:38
19 → mikedo: 不然技術面成就我覺得優於其他老將 12/18 19:39
20 推 magicdio: 還好啦 他算剛剛好，早點遇到老瓦，現在的話一樣被打好 12/18 20:15
21 → magicdio: 玩的，他算幸運兒了。 12/18 20:15
...
29 → vcvca: 老瓦的成就 在於長期能爭TOP的水準以上 12/18 21:47
30 → vcvca: 但中國現在是等於TOP 12/18 21:47
31 推 vcvca: 所以波爾算是生錯時代吧 但其他好手如吳尚垠也是 早生一點 12/18 21:51
32 → vcvca: 歷史地位一定比現在好很多 12/18 21:52
33 推 magicdio: 我覺得波爾的時代，中國雖強，但是打法多元，算是百花齊 12/18 22:26
34 → magicdio: 放，比賽也算上軌道，轉播也多，比賽比現在好看多了，波 12/18 22:26
35 → magicdio: 爾的時代也是讓他賺到最多錢的時代，再早再晚點，他應該 12/18 22:26
36 → magicdio: 都拿不到這個地位。 12/18 22:26
37 推 hesitates: 波爾有一陣子2003左右技術是最先進的 只是當時心理素質 12/18 23:50
38 → hesitates: 不佳 那時候中國中近台反拉和擺速都不如他 12/18 23:51
39 → hesitates: 後來技術被中國超越後 就再在也追不上了 12/18 23:53
40 → hesitates: 另外我覺得瑞典人的正手普遍比德國人好 瓦 佩 都不會夾 12/18 23:53
41 → hesitates: 大臂 但是德國人從羅斯科夫到波爾都夾大臂 限制了德國y 12/18 23:54
42 → hesitates: 人最終的成就 不知為何會這樣 12/18 23:54
43 → wfjh31734: 吳尚垠我覺得身在別的時代也是差不多..狀態起伏超級大 12/19 00:02
44 推 magicdio: 百花齊放就是什麼打法都有，都能佔有一席之地，從瑞典人 12/19 00:27
45 → magicdio: ，老施，老普，老薩，反手王，梅茲，沒一個相同的，波爾 12/19 00:27
46 → magicdio: 的打法特色就是旋轉強，沒完沒了，他的全勝時期，正是灌 12/19 00:27
47 → magicdio: 膠最盛行的時代，他用ALC，這些都會影響他的動作，但是 12/19 00:27
48 → magicdio: 拿動作跟成就來說，我認為是無關的。 12/19 00:27
49 → magicdio: 有經歷過那個時代的球友應該有印象，小球，BRYCE刷五次 12/19 00:29
50 → magicdio: ，誰敢站近台? 12/19 00:29
51 推 magicdio: BOLL的半出臺，二枚腰極轉小拉球，是他的最大武器，後來 12/19 00:38
52 → magicdio: 年紀大，打不出來，就只剩下吃經驗了。 12/19 00:38
53 推 pippo1: 講到半出台球不能不提到賽夫 根本是半出台的超級專家 12/19 02:49
54 推 vcvca: 波爾只有那次,能跟中國競爭TOP吧,其他都被電... 12/19 09:46
55 → vcvca: 百花齊放是發生在中國大陸 同一個大團隊練出來的 每個TOP 12/19 09:47
56 → vcvca: 打法都不一樣 就是大陸強大以後 奪去所有的光芒 12/19 09:47
57 → vcvca: 後來再嘗試新的東西的 比較多是日本 12/19 09:48
58 → vcvca: 不過他們的新東西 沒辦法競爭到拿牌的等級 12/19 09:49
59 推 magicdio: 波爾可是很長一段時間都是有能力威脅中國的選手，現在可 12/19 10:39
60 → magicdio: 是沒有這種人物，以打法的變化性來說，中國從來就不會比 12/19 10:39
61 → magicdio: 外國的多樣，BOLL其實應該也研究過近台打法，我相信他們 12/19 10:39
62 → magicdio: 應該是放棄了。 12/19 10:39
63 → vcvca: 有能力威脅中國是相對性吧 他長期是非中國TOP沒錯 12/19 19:52
64 → vcvca: 但其實 根本沒辦法跟中國競爭獎牌 12/19 19:53
65 推 magicdio: boll的年代，大概是46開，偶爾可以嬴個一個中國選手，甚 12/19 20:26
66 → magicdio: 至出現連過三個中國選手，競爭獎牌還不是沒有啦，現在只 12/19 20:26
67 → magicdio: 剩下28開了。 12/19 20:26
I'd like to know if the German top player Boll’s historical status in table tennis is high or not?
As a non-Chinese player
Certainly not as good as Waldner and Persson
But is he higher when compared to Samsonov, Gatien, Schlager, Saive etc.?
Boll seems to have been locked in on by China as the No 1. opponent since 2000
But now he is replaced by the young Ovtcharov
However, in the past 15 years, Boll has always been stable and competitive, and he was decent even in this WTTC.
A pity he's been locked in on and so hasn’t won any titles in the 3 majors[TL's note: corrected by the early commenters afterwards]
However, he seems to be well-liked for his demeanor
I wonder how high he could rank among non-Chinese players given his accomplishments?
...
17 magicdio: The last European player to threaten China in the history of table tennis. How is that?
18 mikedo: Born in the wrong era. Right in the era of unparalleled China
19 mikedo: Otherwise, I think he's better than other veterans in terms of technical accomplishments
20 magicdio: Not that bad. He's all right. If he were to meet Waldner earlier, he'd have
21 magicido: been toyed around. He's the lucky one.
...
29 vcvca: Waldner's accomplishments lie in his ability to compete for the TOP for a long time
30 vcvca: but China is now equal to the TOP
31 vcvca: So Boll was born in the wrong era, but other good players like Oh Sangeun was in the same boat. Born a little earlier,
32 vcvca: his historical status would've been much higher than now
33 magicdio: I think for Boll's heyday, China might be strong, but there's a variety of styles, hundred schools of thought per se,
34 magicdio: the tournaments were well-developed, there were more broadcasts, the matches were much more entertaining,
35 magicdio: Boll's heyday also made him the most money. Had it been earlier or later,
36 magicdio: he likely wouldn't have reached his current status
37 hesitates: Boll was for a while the most advanced in techniques circa 2003, but his psychological quality at the time
38 hesitates: was poor. Back then China was not as good as him in close-to-mid-distance counterloops and consecutive strokes
39 hesitates: Later on, his techniques were surpassed by China, and could no longer keep up
40 hesitates: In addition, I think the FH of the Swedes is generally better than that of the Germans. Waldner and Persson don't keep
41 hesitates: their upper arms bent, but the Germans, from Rosskopf to Boll do, limiting the
42 hesitates: ultimate accomplishment of the Germans. I wonder why that is
43 wfjh31734: For Oh Sangeun, I think he wouldn't be that far off in a different era...fluctuating tremendously
44 magicdio: Hundred schools of thought means any styles you can imagine, with each holding its own, from the Swedes,
45 magicdio: to Schlager, Primorac, Samsonov, Kreanga(?), Maze, no one is the same, Boll's
46 magicdio: style is all about strong spin, with no end to it. His prime was precisely
47 magicdio: in the most popular era of gluing, and he uses the ALC, all of which affect his strokes, but
48 magicdio: comparing strokes with accomplishments, I think they have nothing to do with each other.
49 magicdio: Those who experienced that era should have the impression that, with 38mm balls, Bryce plus 5 layers of speedglue
50 magicdio: Who dares to stay close to the table?
51 magicdio: Boll's half-long, double heavy slow loop, was his WMD, but after
52 magicdio: he got old, he couldn't do it anymore, instead relying on his experience
53 pippo1: When it comes to half-long balls, you gotta mention Saive, who is simply the go-to expert for it
54 vcvca: Only that time was Boll able to compete with China for the TOP, he got tased in the rest...
55 vcvca: Hundred schools of thought happened only in mainland China. They were trained by the same big team. Every TOP
56 vcvca: played a different style. It was only after mainland became stronger, stealing the show
57 vcvca: Later on, it was Japan that tried new stuff more
58 vcvca: But their new stuff was not at the level to compete for medals
59 magicdio: Boll was a player who had been able to threaten China for a long time, but now
60 magicdio: there's no such figure. In terms of variability of play style, China has never been
61 magicdio: more diverse than foreign countries. Boll has probably studied the close-to-table style, but I believe they
62 magicdio: have given up.
63 vcvca: Being capable of threatening China is relative. No doubt he's the long-term non-Chinese TOP
64 vcvca: But in fact, he simply can't compete with China for medals
65 magicdio: In Boll's heyday, roughly 40-60, beating the odd CNT player, or
66 magicdio: even getting past 3 of them at once, so not like he couldn't compete for medals, but now
67 magicdio: it's only 20-80.
