Ma long not in Olympics Singles?

joo is a strong contender but i guess we all have our own favorite players i would like to see Boll win the olympics

YosuaYosan said:

See.. Ma Long won't play in the singles..
At least he could achieve one gold OLYMPIC medal for his country from the men's team..

A bit off topic..
I got the feeling that Zhang Jike won't win this one..
I am rooting for Joo though Hope he could prove something epic during his table tennis career..

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Exactly what I was saying. No individual singles for Ma Long..Do I really have to guess who do you think gonna win it for you Yosua? hahaha If jike plays like he played in WTTC, he'll get the gold. Anything less, I think it's gonna be Wang Hao. The guy is consistent.

My guess, China will send one CPen and one Shakehand for singles and the Shakehand should be Zhang Jike after the recent defeat of MaLong to the young Youth Olympic Champ.

Ma long can not play in singles of London. See this page.
Two qualified players with high rank at 2011 in one team can play in singles. Ma-long was a third place of ranking in chinese players in 2011. Ma-long can plays in team tournament in London. STEGER BASTIAN (Germany) and NIWA KOKI (Japan) also can not play in singles. We intorduce present 68 qualified players in our WEB site. The players with red back ground color can not play in singles. Here!

I'm just hoping that Wang Hao can pull himself together this time .

YosuaYosan said:

See.. Ma Long won't play in the singles..
At least he could achieve one gold OLYMPIC medal for his country from the men's team..

A bit off topic..
I got the feeling that Zhang Jike won't win this one..
I am rooting for Joo though Hope he could prove something epic during his table tennis career..

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Sorry to not be mainstream guys... But if Michael Maze plays, anything can happen. And I think we all know that

I have the feeling that Wang hao would win this title.

There are several players I am interested to see how they progress in the singles. Aside from the usual suspects, I will be rooting for Primorac, Weixing, Norshad and Saive.

Wang Hao vs Timo Boll/Joo Se Hyuk Final please

Anders said:

Sorry to not be mainstream guys... But if Michael Maze plays, anything can happen. And I think we all know that

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Very true! I think someone like Dima needs to toss out Wang Hao though, but then Maze could defenitely go to the finals. Then he will have a better trophy list than Boll hehe.

I love him , too , But I think Liu should give Wanghao one more chance to realize his dream, he also is very great player in the world!

All this love for Ma Long and disregard for how good ZJK and Wang Hao are is such a blinkered view. Ma Long has yet to win a World Championship or World Cup singles whereas both Wang Hao and ZJK have done both. In fact Wang Hao had to beat Ma Long at the last World Championships to set up the final with ZJK.

I don't think many people will argue against ZJK's inclusion because he has played relatively well over the last year, often being seen as the only person who can challenge Ma Long. However, he has some obvious weaknesses. His performances can sometimes be questionable even when he wins he seems to make hard work of it particularly against other top 10 players.

Wang Hao's form seemed to be missing since last year's World Championship but if you watch his play he seemed to be holding back. He wasn't moving as well and trying things which he normally wouldn't. However, when he wasn't only playing for himself he upped his game significantly like at Dortmund where he dropped only a few games and he destroyed a player he traditionally has had trouble against, Ryu Seung Min. Also in the Pro Tour Grand Finals when he was playing against Ma Long, he won two sets when his level suddenly reappeared but then he returned to form and eventually lost. What I'm saying in regards to Wang Hao is that he is a wise, experienced player and he has probably worked out that after the World Championships he would be playing in the Olympics so he just spent the last year re-moulding his game in preparation and he doesn't need to show it to the world until he's ready and he needs to. As we near the Olympics, notice his form beginning to return and he will hit his peak in London 2012.

A final word on Ma Long, I think that Ma Long's reputation has been overinflated by that incredible unbeaten run but it shouldn't be forgotten that only 5 or 6 players can actually challenge him but of those players only 2 or 3 have been in the right framework during that run. Wang Hao as I explained was biding his time, Timo was constantly pulling out of Pro Tours either through injury or working on his own game in Europe, Ma Lin was on a downward slide towards retirement, Xu Xin was still young and inexperienced (much like Ma Long before but is playing himself into maturity), Joo Se Hyuk had a few bright lights but in general he struggles against the Chinese players because of the amount of shot power they possess and finally ZJK who as I said has mental issues in his game that needs ironing out.

All in all, I'm not saying I'm unbiased (because I' not) but take a step back and look at the candidates more clearly. Ma Long is not as good as you might think. Just circumstances over the last year alongside the right motivation (fighting to go to the Olympics) has made him play and seem better.

Tadex said:

All this love for Ma Long and disregard for how good ZJK and Wang Hao are is such a blinkered view. Ma Long has yet to win a World Championship or World Cup singles whereas both Wang Hao and ZJK have done both. In fact Wang Hao had to beat Ma Long at the last World Championships to set up the final with ZJK.

I don't think many people will argue against ZJK's inclusion because he has played relatively well over the last year, often being seen as the only person who can challenge Ma Long. However, he has some obvious weaknesses. His performances can sometimes be questionable even when he wins he seems to make hard work of it particularly against other top 10 players.

Wang Hao's form seemed to be missing since last year's World Championship but if you watch his play he seemed to be holding back. He wasn't moving as well and trying things which he normally wouldn't. However, when he wasn't only playing for himself he upped his game significantly like at Dortmund where he dropped only a few games and he destroyed a player he traditionally has had trouble against, Ryu Seung Min. Also in the Pro Tour Grand Finals when he was playing against Ma Long, he won two sets when his level suddenly reappeared but then he returned to form and eventually lost. What I'm saying in regards to Wang Hao is that he is a wise, experienced player and he has probably worked out that after the World Championships he would be playing in the Olympics so he just spent the last year re-moulding his game in preparation and he doesn't need to show it to the world until he's ready and he needs to. As we near the Olympics, notice his form beginning to return and he will hit his peak in London 2012.

A final word on Ma Long, I think that Ma Long's reputation has been overinflated by that incredible unbeaten run but it shouldn't be forgotten that only 5 or 6 players can actually challenge him but of those players only 2 or 3 have been in the right framework during that run. Wang Hao as I explained was biding his time, Timo was constantly pulling out of Pro Tours either through injury or working on his own game in Europe, Ma Lin was on a downward slide towards retirement, Xu Xin was still young and inexperienced (much like Ma Long before but is playing himself into maturity), Joo Se Hyuk had a few bright lights but in general he struggles against the Chinese players because of the amount of shot power they possess and finally ZJK who as I said has mental issues in his game that needs ironing out.

All in all, I'm not saying I'm unbiased (because I' not) but take a step back and look at the candidates more clearly. Ma Long is not as good as you might think. Just circumstances over the last year alongside the right motivation (fighting to go to the Olympics) has made him play and seem better.

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no disrespect to your opinion but for me he is as good as i think he is, he lost in the worlds and was not able to join the world cup because of this, everybody looses its unfortunate that he lost in the worlds and there is no excuse for that, but he was able to bounce out of it and has proven that he can win events, just my opinion though and im just a low level player and no expert in game analysis

sxTT said:

no disrespect to your opinion but for me he is as good as i think he is, he lost in the worlds and was not able to join the world cup because of this, everybody looses its unfortunate that he lost in the worlds and there is no excuse for that, but he was able to bounce out of it and has proven that he can win events, just my opinion though and im just a low level player and no expert in game analysis

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He absolutely is the best in the world right now, but I think what Tadex meant is that people tend to think he is like a legend, or like Waldner or Wang Liqin once were. In order to be that good he needs to win titles first. He has many years to do so, so it is very possible that it will happen. But at the moment it hasn't happened, so he's not that good yet. Everything goes in steps. For Ma Long the first step is to beat Japanese juniors Then he can look further

What WiWa said. Ma Long is a fantastic player but to say unequivocally that he deserves to go to the Olympics this year ahead of Wang Hao and ZJK is a little blindsided. If there were 3 singles places then there would be no doubt that all three would go. People just seem to think Ma Long deserves to go because of his recent form and forgetting how consistent Wang Hao has been over the last decade and how well ZJK has performed on the big stage. Ma Long's time will come.

WiWa said:

He absolutely is the best in the world right now, but I think what Tadex meant is that people tend to think he is like a legend, or like Waldner or Wang Liqin once were. In order to be that good he needs to win titles first. He has many years to do so, so it is very possible that it will happen. But at the moment it hasn't happened, so he's not that good yet. Everything goes in steps. For Ma Long the first step is to beat Japanese juniors Then he can look further

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well i do hope that they face each other again in the olympics, although im a big ma long fan im very impressed with the way koki niwa played, very smart game with fewer errors and ma long lost, no excuse for that it is what it is, actually i really like koki niwa, the way he also beat lin gaoyuan was amazing, and i also agree that that ML is one of the best if not the best ATM

Tadex said:

What WiWa said. Ma Long is a fantastic player but to say unequivocally that he deserves to go to the Olympics this year ahead of Wang Hao and ZJK is a little blindsided. If there were 3 singles places then there would be no doubt that all three would go. People just seem to think Ma Long deserves to go because of his recent form and forgetting how consistent Wang Hao has been over the last decade and how well ZJK has performed on the big stage. Ma Long's time will come.

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he had his chance to join the olympics as a singles players but he lost in WTTC so he was not selected, do i think he deserves to be in the olympics because of his recent form? absolutely yes, but do i think that he deserves to be in the olympics singles ahead of WH and ZJK no i dont, WH and ZJK had the opportunity and they held their ground and proven they are worthy of a spot in the olympics, if ma long had his great form earlier he definitely has a chance to join the singles, its a shame that they only allow 2 players per country in the singles though because i still think that he unequivocally deserves to go to the olympics

sxTT said:

he had his chance to join the olympics as a singles players but he lost in WTTC so he was not selected, do i think he deserves to be in the olympics because of his recent form? absolutely yes, but do i think that he deserves to be in the olympics singles ahead of WH and ZJK no i dont, WH and ZJK had the opportunity and they held their ground and proven they are worthy of a spot in the olympics, if ma long had his great form earlier he definitely has a chance to join the singles, its a shame that they only allow 2 players per country in the singles though because i still think that he unequivocally deserves to go to the olympics

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Well said. It is indeed the restriction of 2 players that makes us think 'why are players like Ma Long and Xu Xin not playing in the Singles'. They all deserve it, but only two can go. Players like Ryu, Koki, Süss/Baum/Steger will not participate as well.

A couple of things. First, I think the way the ITTF has organized the process for qualifying for the Olympics is really lame. I am not a Ma Long fan. This would go for any player and any country. A country that is loaded with talent but cannot send the player who has been ranked #1 in the world since October 2011 because he was coming off an injury in 2011 and therefore was not ranked high enough over a year before the Olympics (May 2011 Ma Long's ranking was 5th in the world and that was not high enough for him to qualify for the singles event), just says to me that ITTF has made rules that make no sense and are not good for the sport. If the current #1 ranking player in the world was blocked out of playing in the World Cup in the fall because of his ranking in May 2011, and is now also being blocked from playing in the singles event in the Olympics because of that same ranking from the same month of last year (May 2011), I personally think there is a problem.

Since August 2011, has Ma Long played better than Zhang Jike? YES.

Since August 2011, has Ma Long played better than Wang Hao? YES, YES, YES.

Do I care if he plays in the Olympics? Not really. But the idea that the guy who has been close to unbeatable for the last 8 months and has been ranked at #1 for the last 6 months, did not qualify because of his ranking (#5 in the World in May 2011) was not high enough a year ago and 14 months before the Olympic games begin, I have to say, if anything is stupid, THIS IS STUPID. And the people who will suffer is ALL OF US: EVERYONE.

THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR THE SPORT THAT THE CURRENT BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD CANNOT PLAY IN THE OLYMPIC SINGLES EVENT.

Should Wang Hao play in the singles event? YES.

Should Zhang Jike play in the singles event? YES.

Should Ma Long play in the singles event? YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES.

Should Wang Hao and Zhang Jike get the shot before Ma Long? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I personally thinK that everyone in the top 20 should automatically qualify no matter what country they are from. I think that, perhaps they should restrict the number of players that could play in a team event from one country. But, I don't think that the ITTF should block players from playing in the singles event based on such foolish criteria.

If the criteria was world ranking as of April 2012 instead of May 2011, then Ma Long would unquestionably qualify first.

ALSO, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SAID THAT MA LONG HAS BEEN PLAYING SO WELL BECAUSE HE WANTED TO QUALIFY FOR THE OLYMPIC SINGLES: IF THESE ARE THE RULES, HE HAS KNOWN SINCE MAY 2011 THAT HE CANNOT QUALIFY TO PLAY IN THE OLYMPICS SINGLES EVENT SINCE LAST MAY. SO HIS RUN THAT PUT HIM IN THE # 1 SLOT, CAME WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE COULD NOT DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY FOR HIM TO WIN AN OLYMPIC GOLD IN SINGLES THIS TIME AROUND AND WOULD HAVE TO, AS OF MAY 2011, WAIT FOR OVER 5 YEARS FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY FOR THAT TITLE.

He did not win the World Championships because he was not in form yet. He still was not in form in the summer of 2011 during the Chinese Super League. He only hit his form in August of 2011. That still had to do with an injury he sustained in 2010 that kept him out of action for close to 9 months (6 months, then he played a few tournaments, then another 3 months).

In the end, I hope that someone new and interesting wins the Olympic Gold. I might think that the finals will be Zhang Jike vs Wang Hao and that Zhang Jike will win again, just like in the World Cup and World Championships. But I will root for anyone NEW to win.

I also think it is a shame that a rising start like Koki Niwa will not get a chance to test his metal in the Olympic Singles event. I see many names in the top 20 who will not be able to play, and the world will be the worse for the fact that they did not qualify to play for reasons that do not have to do with SPORT OR SPORTSMANSHIP, but instead have to do with POLITICS.

And again, the people who suffer most from this are the fans and the sport. Because a SPORT that does not send its #1 ranked player to the Olympic Singles Event (a sport where the #1 player in the world is not qualified to play in the Olympic Singles Event) is not a sport that is presented to the public intelligently. The ITTF is the problem here. This is the kind of thing that cements the fact that Table Tennis is a marginal sport that will not get a great deal of Media Coverage. Stupid things like many of the rule changes, or the idea that they are going to change to a ball that is, once again, bigger, slower, and gets less spin, is an example of the same kind of bungling that the ITTF is famous for.

With these new rules that the ITTF has instituted, the Asian games and the World Championships, singles event, without question, have a higher level of play, then will be present in the Table Tennis Singles Event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Sorry, but this, to me is sad indeed.