Actually I only talked to those players who beat Michael. They all agree that he is a solid 2400 player who has a 2700 service. And to compare Ma Lin to Michael is not a good example. I mean Ma Lin's forehand is still one of the best in the world. His short game and return of service are the best at least on the CNT if not the world. Michael is still young and is definitely getting better, but to say that his skill sets are all equal with say Peter Li or even Han Xiao is pretty ignorant to say. They are both stronger in the forehand and backhand, but when Michael played Han, Han was injured. When Michael played Fan, he made a great come back, but Fan had Match point several times and couldn't get over an argument with the ref in which he gave up the 6th and still lost match point in the 7th. Michael had close games through out the 5 toughest matches. He has more endurance definitely and he's a risk taker. 5 of his 11 matches against players who were around his level were to the 6th and 7th games and all were close. His will to win is very high almost as high as Adam Hugh.
And I want to be clear that I'm not taking away from Michael in any way nor mean to, but the fact is that the tournament was his day. His stamina, service, and will to win were higher than the others. If you look at the first day's matches all the top players were 3-1, so the competition level was definitely even. Michael finished 9-2 by the end of it and there was actually a 4 way tie at 8-3 for second place, of which Peter didn't make the cut due to 1 less game won. So to say that Michael is at a higher level than these players is inaccurate. No doubt that he was the one who pulled through, but he didn't do it on skill alone the majority of his wins were endurance and will based.
Ernesto was also a huge factor in this tournament. There was no coach there that was more prepared than he was. Every other coach was there to encourage there players, while Ernesto was showing Michael where weak points were and which shots he needed to use more as sometimes his BH or FH would be on a streak. I'm sure that a lot of you have said that Ernesto isn't playing the game for Michael, but in a sense that's exactly what he's doing. Ernesto is 2400 and Michael is now over 2600, but Michael will never beat Ernesto because Ernesto knows Michael's game inside and out. Ernesto essentially created Michael's game, so there is no one more qualified in giving him advice during a match. If you had to choose between a coach who would say: "You're doing great, you just need to find your shot. Give him a harder push and then you'll get the shot you need to instigate the attack," or "Okay you're doing great buddy, now I want you to start using your backhand against his wide forehand on service. I want you to serve on his forehand and then counter to his elbow, if he gets that back shoot it down the line and then worry about smashing if he can get that. His backhand is weaker when you push to his middle so always look for the backhand after he loops from the middle. Alright now you got this Michael come on." Obviously you'd choose Ernesto's advice because frankly he's just easier to listen to and has the best of both worlds. He is encouraging and informative because he pulls out a clipboard with every not about the opponent and even more notes about the current match.
Wow this is a novel again, but this'll be my ending comment as I happen to know more about Michael's game than average spectators. I was directing the live feed in which I heard all of Sean O'neil's comments and also talked with several of the high level players who've beaten Michael in the past.
There are some 12 years in the Milpitas CA level that would really enjoy the chance to play against great European players in the ITTF Junior Circuit so please consider coming. 
