Why do Asian tt players mature earlier than Europeans?

says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
Yes, that's the guy (Bjorkryd) I was thinking of. We'll know in a couple years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Takkyu_wa_inochi
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Feb 2018
1,088
754
2,410
Read 2 reviews
Yes, that's the guy (Bjorkryd) I was thinking of. We'll know in a couple years.

We have a new tournament format called "Sweden Tour" that was kicked off this summer. Pretty good participation from our pros with Falck, Truls etc playing. Young Björkryd won his qualification pool in the latest tournament in Halmstad on Friday but was knocked out in R32 by Gerell.

http://resultat.ondata.se/000723/
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Aug 2020
21
19
42
These are all really good points Zeio. I'll admit I'm less sure of my original line of reasoning now and will have to re-consider. Thank you!

I wonder how old the OP is? Try looking up the age of those European players when they won the WTTC and World Cup in the 80s and 90s. Also check out the players at Seoul 1988. Boll would've been just another player back in the days. Take Samsonov, for example, who actually peaked really early. He reached the singles final at the WTTC 1997 at the age of 21, after getting past 4 CNT players - Ma Lin(R32), Wang Liqin(R16), Ding Song(QF), Kong Linghui(SF, defending champion), to meet Waldner. At the Atlanta 1996, he was 2:0(21 pts, best of 5) against Wang Tao in the QF when the power went out, twice!

The reason you feel Asian players mature and/or peak earlier is just because Europe has been in this weak state for over a decade. There has hardly been any new blood to replace these "uncles". Europe as a whole was historically the strongest from the 80s to mid-90s and could go toe to toe with China when all those legends were in their 20s. China was arguably the most dominant from 2005 to 2011, because of Beijing 2008. CNT players are also maturing and peaking later now because their overall strength is actually WEAKER now, despite still being dominant. Ma Long was playing on one leg at the World Cup 2019 and only Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju managed to beat him. There was a Tieba thread some 2 weeks ago asking why the young guns are having trouble making a name for themselves now and from the replies I could tell many of them are too young to know what they're talking about.
 
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
Well-Known Member
Jan 2018
7,234
9,322
18,308
A Lebrun: Retire, Boll and the other "uncles"!
Nv7OlSG.jpg

BhIn3e0.jpg

GuqZWDv.jpg

JSR55UM.jpg

rx7DDyJ.jpg


I wonder how old the OP is? Try looking up the age of those European players when they won the WTTC and World Cup in the 80s and 90s. Also check out the players at Seoul 1988. Boll would've been just another player back in the days. Take Samsonov, for example, who actually peaked really early. He reached the singles final at the WTTC 1997 at the age of 21, after getting past 4 CNT players - Ma Lin(R32), Wang Liqin(R16), Ding Song(QF), Kong Linghui(SF, defending champion), to meet Waldner. At the Atlanta 1996, he was 2:0(21 pts, best of 5) against Wang Tao in the QF when the power went out, twice!

The reason you feel Asian players mature and/or peak earlier is just because Europe has been in this weak state for over a decade. There has hardly been any new blood to replace these "uncles". Europe as a whole was historically the strongest from the 80s to mid-90s and could go toe to toe with China when all those legends were in their 20s. China was arguably the most dominant from 2005 to 2011, because of Beijing 2008. CNT players are also maturing and peaking later now because their overall strength is actually WEAKER now, despite still being dominant. Ma Long was playing on one leg at the World Cup 2019 and only Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju managed to beat him. There was a Tieba thread some 2 weeks ago asking why the young guns are having trouble making a name for themselves now and from the replies I could tell many of them are too young to know what they're talking about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OldUser
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2022
645
310
1,421
People should know that France being the n°1 country for wine and cheese, they know how to mature « things »

We’ve got caves for wine and cheese, and the the french tier 2 league Pro B for youngsters like Flavien Coton and the Lebrun Bros. Probably en even better league than the Pro A as of today, that makes it probably even the 2nd best league in Europe. The Pro B is like playing in a boxing gym sometimes when you look at CTT Bruille, home of Flavien Coton, « arena ». It smells sweat and tears all over, the crowd is VERY near you cheering loudly !!

1682093357753.jpg
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2022
645
310
1,421

When you have to endure that kind of loud crowd, a WTT infinity arena is nothing. Just ask guys like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert or Giannis Antetokounmpo the difference between a nice NBA arena in the US and a Euroleague arena in Serbia or Greece When NBA american players cross the atlantic, they‘re really scared !
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2022
645
310
1,421
Fact is: France thought it was impossible to do better than the Gatien-Eloi-Chila-Legoût generation. That’s why they’ve been playing for a so long period, Gatien excluded of course his career was very short. This generation has won anything possible, and as football, rugby, Judo, fencing and tennis were eating most of the Ministère des Sports subsidies, TT went down in the 2000’s, that’s why an old Damien Eloi was the only french player to survive (and it didn’t last long) in the Beijing Olympics, and that’s why Christophe Legoût has managed to win the french nationals at 38 ! in 2011.

When a generation brings so much, it’s difficult for at least decade after that, now Germany seems to face that same issue with barely any U21 player able to rise.

There are 2 things that helped France raising new talented kids:
- the new self employement system know as « autoentrepreneur »: now a graduated federal coach can work in many different clubs as possible, he makes his own business, he’s not only working for a single club hiring him. This greatly helped detection as a result cos’ the amateur clubs can now pay a pro coach for only 5 to 6 hours a week to teach the kids. When I started in the late 80’s, I had to go to university to get a pro training and coaching in a big city like Lille.
- the FFTT pro leagues: the pro A is obviously for top world seniors like Chuang Chi Yuan, Kristian Karlsson or Lim JongHoon, but there’s now the pro B that is the « maturation » laboratory for youngsters U19. They have to face the top world seniors relegated in pro B because they couldn’t get any contract in pro A.

I may add a 3rd thing: the Lebrun Bros. club mentality: they could have left Montpellier, their home, for the pro A or even the Bundesliga, but they instead choose to stay in Montpellier in Nationale 1 only 2 years ago ! they wanted their home to play the pro A, it’s the european sport mentality: you play for your home, for your town, not a franchise. Completely different mindset. Therefore it has raised up the french TT level to new heights, just think of it: next September you will probably have the Lebrun Bros., Kristian Karlsson, CCY, Lim JongHoon and many other world top 50 players in that pro A. The bundesliga should worry about that.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Feb 2023
168
61
347
Very interesting points. I wonder how the TT scene can grow in the Philippines.
We pretty much suck, we've only qualified for the Olympics once ever (RIP Ian Lariba). The late Ian Lariba was a female tt player, we never had a male tt player qualify for the Olympics.
 
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
Well-Known Member
Jan 2018
7,234
9,322
18,308
The Pro A and Pro B sound exactly like how 甲A/Jia A and 甲B/Jia B are in China a few years ago, where many foreign pros from East Asia (such as Ito in late 2017 who couldn't get a contract in the CTTSL, unlike Hirano) and Europe participated. Those were not necessarily weaker in level than the CTTSL. Ito's level saw a big increase after that. IIRC, she won all 14 matches during her stay, and the lesson she learned was not the matches itself but the sense of competition as raised by Gatien.

Either way, in a recent video, provincial team head coach Wang Chao shares his views on the Lebrun brothers and Moregard and one of the points he raised was "young age".


8lygDYi.jpg

FaMByr6.jpg

jNTQrNH.jpg

5ZaXGdc.jpg

3pKDiKt.jpg

JGkEhIG.jpg

1vxdMf8.jpg

8eRaDVo.jpg

3YxUCXa.jpg

sCx3tH5.jpg

GecP5Sn.jpg

TRB0B95.jpg

jEuxHtr.jpg

0FH75ay.jpg

JsZSK0M.jpg
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2022
645
310
1,421
Yep, that’s the thing, kids here are sometimes involved in no less than 5 different competitions, facing adults most of the time:
- the «indivs », single boy and girl competitions, with age draws like the WTT Youth does, you start as low as your ranking is, in lower divisions, and then you can climb up some divisions when you win your tournament.
- the open tournaments, I’ve seen a young kid like Nathan Pilard who’s in the Metz WTT Youth Contender now winning the Anjou Open near is home Pro A team Angers Wolves against seasoned adults. And again, his father is no less than an ex french national team member, David Pilard. I’ve played one of the kids he coaches in Angers in that tournament, he was only 10 but managed to beat me 3-2 and he plays the french nationals each year now. David Pilard was right behind me, next to my coach.
- the U15 team leagues on saturdays
- the FFTT senior leagues on sundays, the girl I’ve helped training as a « relanceur » does ALL those competitions since she’s 11.

And then you finish the season with the nationals, for the better kids of course.
 
Top