Fan Zhendong equipment

says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
I know the goon squad will be after me in a few moments because I am not supposed to reveal this information. But that is actually part of the secret handshake! It is okay. Because the other parts are complicated enough that, without being initiated you could never get all the details.


Sent from TheSecretHideout using TheInfamousNSASpyPhone
 
  • Like
Reactions: Suga D
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
May 2015
69
71
308
Read 2 reviews
Off-top: why do those pro players press their rubbers with hands all the time? Is it because rubbers are boosted like hell and tend to peel off, or players just play for time this way?
This is just to massage their palm and to stretch their wrist. They can't boost its prohibited. And the $100+ h3 neo national bs is so awesome it doesn't need to be boosted...

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jan 2015
27
3
48
Read 3 reviews
The attached picture is from the 2015 Asian Championship.

fan1.jpg

The right side(black) was using by Fan. The logo should be "Stiga".
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jan 2015
27
3
48
Read 3 reviews
Fan and Xu Xin are both "Stiga" players and they should use "Stiga" for their blades.
This is business. And at their playing level or skills, they can change to any blades(brands) if they want.
 
Last edited:
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews

What you have to understand is that Stiga also says these guys are playing with Stiga rubbers which is definitely not true and Fan has been caught with Viscaria blades that have Stiga Infinity handles. Not just once. Many times. He has also played tournaments with a Viscaria that had a Viscaria handle.

I am not sure that recent photo looks like a Viscaria. But it is not a great photo. And it also doesn't look like an Infinity. And the darker ply DOES look like a composite ply rather than wood.

So people can say what they want. It is hard to say much except that the blade in Fan Zhendon's hand is most likely NOT a Stiga Infinity.

Logically, none of it makes sense. Why would he use a Viscaria with a Stiga handle when he could just go and get Butterfly to sponsor him? We don't know, but for several years he has definitely been doing that.

Is this a new blade that is not a Viscaria? It could be. The photo isn't good enough quality to say anything for sure. But it definitely looks like a composite blade.
 
Last edited:
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
Recent Photo:

attachment.jpg

I changed my mind. It really could be a Viscaria here too:

ViscariaLight008.jpg

And it is definitely not this:

timthumb.php.jpg

The wood ply is way thicker than the actual ply in the photo from the Asia Championships. The composite ply in the Asia games does not look as blue as the up close photo. But when you play with a Viscaria for a while those composite plies start looking darker.

I don't know what blade it is. But it looks more like the Viscaria than the Infinity.
 
Last edited:
says http://www.cornilleau-competition.com/EN/index.html
says http://www.cornilleau-competition.com/EN/index.html
Active Member
Mar 2011
792
232
1,295
Read 8 reviews
This is just to massage their palm and to stretch their wrist. They can't boost its prohibited. And the $100+ h3 neo national bs is so awesome it doesn't need to be boosted...

Sent from my MI 3W using Tapatalk

Hahahahahaha, nice try :p
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2013
910
1,174
2,593
Read 3 reviews
Recent Photo:

View attachment 8185

I changed my mind. It really could be a Viscaria here too:

View attachment 8183

And it is definitely not this:

View attachment 8184

The wood ply is way thicker than the actual ply in the photo from the Asia Championships. The composite ply in the Asia games does not look as blue as the up close photo. But when you play with a Viscaria for a while those composite plies start looking darker.

I don't know what blade it is. But it looks more like the Viscaria than the Infinity.

OK, in your first pic, I really can't tell from the darker ply. It looks too dark to be ALC, and the banding looks like the burnt spruce in the Infinity. But the detail isn't high enough for me, so impossible to say for sure. However, the ply visible in the end of the handle looks too thin to be the Infinity spruce, but again the detail is making it tricky.

Your second pic isn't a Viscaria. Is it the Viscaria Light? Regardless, I wouldn't use that as an ideal comparison.

Your third pic is 99% probably an Infinity. Yes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Suga D
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
What looked different to me from rackets that were definitely Viscaria with a Stiga Infinity handle was the thickness of the core. That could have been my memory. Frequently the ALC ply on an ALC blade, when it has been used a decent amount, gets darker and starts looking brown or blackish rather than keeping that blue/black weave. I am not sure why but perhaps the Arylite holds onto dust or dirt.

But you are right. I didn't realize that pic was a Viscaria Light. I was just looking for a good side view that showed the thickness of the core and that was the best one. My search was for Viscaria but that was in the search.

Here is Zhang Jike's blade:

zhang_jike.jpg

To me that one, the "Arylate" ply looks like a wood ply. This photo has been used to say that ZJK is actually using an all wood blade with a Viscaria handle. I don't know. It could be. It also could be an odd photo of the Arylate plies and how they are darker. That core on that blade looks a lot thinner to me though, than the core on the most recent photo of FZD's blade.

However, the dark ply on FZD's blade, does not look like wood no matter how you slice it.

I looked for a good side view of the plies of a Viscaria but couldn't find any. But, given the fact that FZD has been seen with Viscaria and with Viscaria that has a Stiga Infinity handle, it is pretty possible that this is a Viscaria.

I can't say much except that that Dark ply does not look like any wood ply I have seen.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2013
910
1,174
2,593
Read 3 reviews
What looked different to me from rackets that were definitely Viscaria with a Stiga Infinity handle was the thickness of the core. That could have been my memory. Frequently the ALC ply on an ALC blade, when it has been used a decent amount, gets darker and starts looking brown or blackish rather than keeping that blue/black weave. I am not sure why but perhaps the Arylite holds onto dust or dirt.

But you are right. I didn't realize that pic was a Viscaria Light. I was just looking for a good side view that showed the thickness of the core and that was the best one. My search was for Viscaria but that was in the search.

Here is Zhang Jike's blade:

View attachment 8186

To me that one, the "Arylate" ply looks like a wood ply. This photo has been used to say that ZJK is actually using an all wood blade with a Viscaria handle. I don't know. It could be. It also could be an odd photo of the Arylate plies and how they are darker. That core on that blade looks a lot thinner to me though, than the core on the most recent photo of FZD's blade.

However, the dark ply on FZD's blade, does not look like wood no matter how you slice it.

I looked for a good side view of the plies of a Viscaria but couldn't find any. But, given the fact that FZD has been seen with Viscaria and with Viscaria that has a Stiga Infinity handle, it is pretty possible that this is a Viscaria.

I can't say much except that that Dark ply does not look like any wood ply I have seen.

OK, now that is a good picture. Are you sure that it's ZJK's? I ask because the dark ply which should be ALC seems to disappear at the end of the handle, almost as if it's the cross-cut section of a wood ply. If the ALC just gets darker over time, I'd expect it to be uniform. Unless it's sweat doing that, in which case maybe the ALC exposed at the handle end would stay light. Although, again, in your pic the ALC just doesn't seem to be visible at all at the end of the handle. Most strange.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
Yep. The stuff you say is why a bunch of people thought maybe ZJK is using an all wood blade. Instead of a Viscaria. But I have seen other Viscaria blades where it happened and there was no edge tape.

In any case, I really can't say anything except that the recent photo of FZD's blade looks like a composite and not an all wood blade. And that FZD has 100% been identified, in photos and by people who actually know him to use a Viscaria.

Is this a Viscaria? I don't know and it doesn't matter much to me. But I am pretty sure that dark, thin ply looks like carbon and it looks like there is an unevenness to it that a lot of those plies that weave to materials together seem to have.

Note: that weave look is also missing from the photo of ZJK's blade.


Sent from TheSecretHideout using TheInfamousNSASpyPhone
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Mar 2013
910
1,174
2,593
Read 3 reviews
I am more confused now than when I started. Not a good sign.

I just broke out my 1st gen Viscaria from the vault. It's battered, and as you say the ALC weave is a much darker blue than recent ALCs I've had, so I see the point about FZD's blade. And the thin ply in the end of the handle gives it away now.

I'm totally at a loss about ZJK now though. What is that all about?
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
I am more confused now than when I started. Not a good sign.

I just broke out my 1st gen Viscaria from the vault. It's battered, and as you say the ALC weave is a much darker blue than recent ALCs I've had, so I see the point about FZD's blade. And the thin ply in the end of the handle gives it away now.

I'm totally at a loss about ZJK now though. What is that all about?

I know. It is funny. I guess the best thing we can say is, never assume you know what the pros are using.

Why on earth would ZJK use an all wood blade with a Viscaria handle? I have no idea. Why would he use a Viscaria handle instead of one of the ZJK handles? I have no idea. [Edit: I am not saying anything about what ZJK is using. I am just saying, if that was a wood blade, why the Viscaria handle?]

Why would FZD play for Stiga when, 100%, for sure he has a Viscaria with a Stiga Infinity handle? Why wouldn't he just go to Butterfly if he wants to use a Viscaria? Or why wouldn't he get Stiga to make exactly what he wanted? Both FZD and Butterfly could make a lot off of that? None of it makes any sense. :)

hahahaha. It is too funny though. I wonder if this will be the subject of one of DTop Spirit's videos. :)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JulienB
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
Arguing that ZJK is using something designed to look like a Viscaria but which is actually all wood makes no sense to me. Btfly already markets a series of blades in his name (that he doesn't actually use but some other top players do). This includes a very nice ALC blade that is actually more like 2010-era Viscarias than the Viscarias they sell now. His name is not on the Viscaria. Obviously he does not care about the fact that it is a bit strange that he does not use one of the blades with his name on it, including the most expensive one. Many other photos of his blade show a pretty normal looking Viscaria.

I think this show that digital photography can make it very difficult to discern ply structure, especially once images are made smaller and posted on the internet. And that is why, while the Infinity that FZD is using looks a bit odd, and in my opinion COULD be a Viscaria with a Stiga handle, I am not 100% convinced of it. We hear it a lot. It would not surprise me. But I have not seen any photo on an ENglish language forum that makes a completely compelling case for it. The fact that he used to use that blade, convince me more than the pictures I have seen.

And also the fact that a Viscaria is a perfect blade for the way FZD plays.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: UpSideDownCarl
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
Yep. I am not going to say what any of these guys are using. All I can say is that there is more to what they are using than meets the eye.

It is also worth knowing that all these photos of players rackets during a match whether in the hand of the player or on the table, were taken by cameras very far away using super zoom lenses. That zooming process also distorts colors and other things. So it is always hard to tell exactly what you are looking at.

The thing that convinced me most for FZD's racket is two different people who said they know someone close to FZD and that his blade is 100% a Viscaria. But there are many photos where it definitely looks like a Viscaria.

But he could have changed to something else recently.

The bottom line is, without inside information, it is really hard for us to tell what those guys are actually using.
 
Last edited:
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
Here is a picture of an old Viscaria of mine taken from the side just now. Trust me, nobody took a wood blade and out Viscaria handles on this one!! It is an ALC blade but quite heavily used and not very new (black tag). Notice the handle, the ALC layer looks kind of brown, and if the edgetape came lower or the picture was from farther away, you would argue it is all wood.

old viscaria from side.jpg
 
Last edited:
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
Here is a picture of a newer Viscaria. Again, hard to see the blue in the ALC.

another viscaria.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Suga D and noob
Top