World Table Tennis Championships 2021

Originally Posted by Takkyu_wa_inochi

@michael zhuang i think its less technique than mental strength which is needed. He didn't lose to Fan Zhendong , or even Timo Boll, but to Dyjas, and also Jorgic and An.

he played at a small % of his abilities. and when that happens, even the non - very top players can beat him

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For me, I think his sister has a better style than him. He stands too close to the table, and is mostly reliant on his backhand to win points. Against the mid-distance loopers, he cant attack the heavy topspin, so he ends up blocking a lot on his backhand. His sister has a more "Chinese" style, with a heavy forehand game.Â

Originally Posted by TTHopeful
Any ideas what's happening to Harimoto? Too much pressure from always being in the limelight?

hleett;357128Choke-moto!!! He's overrated.

A bit harsh maybe? After all, he's still only 18.

i think its funny to see truls playing with the cybershape blade and that he is using it and make nice wins with it. also timo looks very smooth in his game.

Originally Posted by TTHopeful

Any ideas what's happening to Harimoto? Too much pressure from always being in the limelight?

He usually struggles with pressure in bigger tournaments but overall his development in the last 2 or even 3 years stopped (more or less). His footwork isn't great at all to say the least (compared to Togami what a difference). He can only win bigger matches if he plays super aggressive which he can't always. If he can't attack the service with his banana flick his strongest weapon is disabled, he is beatable then. His opponents are aware of this.

I mean he is just 18 years old but to be honest I don't see how he could change his technique and footwork a lot from now on. Also his close to the table play might be not the best for him anymore because he grew a couple of centimeter in the last 2 years, he is quite tall now.

im in the minority but the new camera angle is great for phone veiwing. zoom to fill and its basically perfect, on a monitor its a bit much so i have to keep it 1/4 screen.
It's not my favorite angle but i like it the same as dead on and a bit less than 45 degrees

Originally Posted by M51

I find it incredibly distracting when players move away from the table and suddenly they're out of the frame. This should never happen.

I agree. Players should never move that far away from the table, it's boring. Watch the women, they hardly ever do.

Originally Posted by mrk

I mean he is just 18 years old but to be honest I don't see how he could change his technique and footwork a lot from now on.

Really? I'm not sure why that would be the case. Many of the absolute top players are still at the very pinnacle of the sport in their 30s. Timo Boll is 40 and he's managed to keep developing his game and remain competitive at the highest level. Harimoto, if he wants it, has a long career ahead of him and plenty of time to develop his game.

Originally Posted by TableTennisDaily

The World Table Tennis Championships held in Houston has begun!

The number 1 seed is Fan Zhendong!


Number 1 seed Fan Zhendong: Photo via WTT

The draw has been released:

Men's Draw:



Full men's draw here.


Women's Singles Draw:



Full women's draw here.


A huge tournament to follow, be sure to get involved in the TTD discussions. We can use this topic as a means to display all the latest results, videos and news from the World Table Tennis Championships! What are your predictions for the men's and women's singles?

Am I the only one who misses ML and XX?

So I'm a UK user I want to watch pitch vs groth today. How do I do it?

Originally Posted by TTHopeful

So I'm a UK user I want to watch pitch vs groth today. How do I do it?

As shown on https://worldtabletennis.com/results...dTab=SCHEDULED it should happen at 2:50pm local time on table 3 which is on youtube at:

Originally Posted by Atas Newton

It was silly to assume that since by 14 he was winning against top100 players and by 16 against top10, he must be top1 by 18. Yeah, and by 30 he'll rule the universe with iron fist. Doesn't work like that.

Agreed 100%.
I just don't agree with the suggestion that, because he's already 18, he won't be able to alter his technique and/or game strategy to improve further. He may or may not get much better than he already is (which, let's be honest, is a level beyond most mortals!) - but either way it'll be because of the right coaching and hard work, and not because he's already too old to learn/adapt.

Originally Posted by Manto76

Agreed 100%.
I just don't agree with the suggestion that, because he's already 18, he won't be able to alter his technique and/or game strategy to improve further. He may or may not get much better than he already is (which, let's be honest, is a level beyond most mortals!) - but either way it'll be because of the right coaching and hard work, and not because he's already too old to learn/adapt.

It’s not easy to change habits that you have had for more than 10 years. Possible? Yes. But very hard.

Many people questioned Harimoto’s technique and style 3-4 years ago or even earlier. His weakness in FH and footwork was clear, yet he still hasn’t been able to fix it. Especially when he keeps playing in tournaments, it’s hard to make major changes in technique. I thought Covid 19 was a good chance for him because there was no competition and he could concentrate on revamping and improving his technique but after a long period, he still looks the same, no change at all.

I also think Harimoto has stalled for the last 2-3 years while other players (young chinese players, Lin Jun Yu, even young european players) have improved a lot, that’s why Harimoto struggles so much now compared to a few years ago.

Harimoto is wasting his prime growth years training in Japan. He isnt being pushed, his technique isnt advancing. I think the Japanese coaches deserve a lot of fault for wasting the best years. They havent developed his forehand or his mid-range game at all in 3 years.Â

Originally Posted by iammaru

It’s not easy to change habits that you have had for more than 10 years. Possible? Yes. But very hard.

Many people questioned Harimoto’s technique and style 3-4 years ago or even earlier. His weakness in FH and footwork was clear, yet he still hasn’t been able to fix it. Especially when he keeps playing in tournaments, it’s hard to make major changes in technique. I thought Covid 19 was a good chance for him because there was no competition and he could concentrate on revamping and improving his technique but after a long period, he still looks the same, no change at all.

I also think Harimoto has stalled for the last 2-3 years while other players (young chinese players, Lin Jun Yu, even young european players) have improved a lot, that’s why Harimoto struggles so much now compared to a few years ago.

All true. Yet the fact that other young players (most of whom are a bit older than Harimoto) have been able to improve illustrates the point: namely that the thing that's "stalling" Harimoto's development isn't that he's too old. In other words, if others who are older than him (eg. Lin Jun Yu, Darko Jorgic, etc.) have been able to improve meaningfully after the age of about 20 then that suggests that, at 18, Harimoto still has plenty of time to develop. Of course, whether he actually does make the adjustments to technique/strategy/etc is another matter entirely. I hope so, because he is a fantastic player and it would be great to see him seriously challenging for the No. 1 spot at some stage.