Rubbers / blades used by earliest choppers after sponge

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I was curious about rubbers & blades used by top choppers just after sponge arrived

I know John Hilton used anti one side & I think other side was long pips but do not know brands.

How about Eberhard Scholer, Zoltan Berczik, Liang Geliang, Englbert Huging, Norio Takashima etc etc

I know of some women choppers but not sure what they used
 
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John Hilton used anti on one side, inverted on the other. He twiddled heavily, and often stamped his feet when hitting the ball, masking the sound of the hit. I've seen him play in the early 80s, shortly after he won the European title. Most if not all of his opponents had learned to play him by that time; Sécretin had lost to him before, looking like a bumbling fool. Yet he utterly destroyed Hilton at that later venue. As did Šurbek, Douglas, Bengtsson (Ulf); I'm not sure about Potton.

I'd say the two color rule, introduced shortly after to counter Hilton's tactics, didn't make much of a difference, in the end. Little was gained at considerable expense there.
 
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scholer
i actually got coachng from scholer as a kid
i was not thinking of equipment at the time
I think he had thin green reverse on fh and pimples on bh
He did not twiddle
he was a beautiful mover and chopper of the ball with a lightening bolt flat drive from the back of the court. If you search youtube theres plenty of him plaing as a vet for his dusseldorf club
takashima
I saw takashima at birmngham 77 I filmed him make a 44 stroke rally with stellan Bengtssen. At the time he used butterfy plous a smooth allround rubber both sides. He was a fantastic mover and retriever and could attack both wings. In later worlds he used LP. You can find video (practice with Itoh) and articles by him if you search
Hilton
I had knock with Hilton months before he became EC
it was because I was also Black&Black twiddler at the time so it was a useful practice. we could both play all the strokes with either rubber and of course twiddle served so the rallies were weird. His control was outstanding but he was not particularly powerful or athletic. I would have been using feint and tackiness
and he was similar but I cant remember if his bh was LP or Fast antiloop. I would say his strengths were positive personality and strong tactcs
It was a surprise when he became EC
i am sure the 2 color rule was necessary.
the season following 77 birmingham was just ridiculous. Many talented players gave up the game in disgust.
what was infuriating was that if you played for a. team you had to learn how to play with and against it to help your team. Thats how I fell into it.But I always felt it unfair on those older players who found they had to practice 3times as much to maintain a decent level.
I gave up on B&B combi play as i didnt enjoy it and thought it unfair for lcal league play.
however modern lp is ok
 
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