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I read the whole thread and now I think I have to hand out my opinion.
This WTTC will be very exciting!
My prediction:
Ma Long: 30 %
Zhang Jike: 35 %
Fan Zhendong: 14 %
Xu Xin: 20 %
rest: 1 %
Ma Long:
Everyone knows his potential and his relentless topspins from every corner of the box. But will he break through and become a World Champion?
I don't think a non-chinese player can beat him but the competition within the chinese team is very fierce. I can not even say who would be his favourite opponent in the semifinal? Maybe Xu Xin or FZD? Most of the times he wins against them but it's always a very tough battle. If the opponent is on fine form he will have rough trot. It's no clear win.
Against Zhang Jike it will be a very close battle, 45% to 55%. A very close defeat at the 2014 World Cup and a win in the decider at the German Open. I hope the German Open showed him(self) he is able to and can win against Zhang Jike in tight matches.
I pray Ma Long will win this WTTC ... he deserved it and it will save his spot for the olympics in the singles. And I am the biggest Ma Long fan. Watch my Youtube channel. Around 6 Ma Long tributes
Zhang Jike:
The man of the big moments. But can he repeat it in Suzhou? In my point of view he only has two "real" opponents: His head (Does he really want it? Will he be hungry enough?) and Ma Long.
Against Xu Xin and FZD he will relatively clear (4-1 or 4-2). I remember the match against Xu Xin at 2013 WTTC. Xu Xin was in top form but Zhang Jike just overpowered him. Instead of Ma Long (more forehand orientated), Zhang Jike is too allround for Xu Xin. I can imagine how Zhang just stands there and block XX to hell.
Against Fan Zhendong it's almost the same. If Zhang Jike wants to he wins against him. Period.More experience and somehow his playing style suits against FZD.
Against Ma Long I expect a tight battle. Form of the day, luck, the right decisions on serve and receive and mental toughness will decide this match. Slightly advantage on ZJK
Losing against a non-chinese player is unlikely.
Fan Zhendong:
For me he can be the dark horse of the Top 4. His favourite opponent in the semifinal is propably Ma Long. He won quit a lot against him in the last time. But he will be the underdog in this match up.
Against Xu Xin he made some bad experiences in the past. Winning at Pro Tours but osing in the final at the Asian Games and Asian Cup. He will be in the psychological disadvantage against him and Xu Xin knows how to use it.
Match up against Zhang Jike? I just can not imagine a win of the youngster.
For me he is the most likely to lose against a non-chinese player. He just has some ups and downs in his perfomance because he is so young. He lost two matches in the team event of the Asian Games against unknown players. Boll, Freitas, Dima can beat him.
But maybe he can give the lie to me and destroy all my doubts.
Xu Xin:
He can't lose to non-chinese players. When did it happen the last time? I can't remember. But against chinese players? It looks very different.
He has an advantage against FZD, disadvantage against Ma Long and almost no chance against ZJK. You can read more about him in the parts of the other players.
Captain Long to the win!
(I would be proud if just one person will read my text.)
Greets,
BollForte94
So you just want ZJK to lose this one?Also, ZJK and FZD are really using certain techniques that nobody else can do as well. Technically FZD may end up to be even better than ZJK but ZJK seems to have more sheer power and spin than anyone else.
I like watching Ma Long better because he is playing a flashier game that is more fun and entertaining to watch with those gigantic forehands. And only time will tell if he has the technique to handle ZJK and the way ZJK uses his backhand over the table from everywhere and then controls the points from the backhand side of the table. I hope he has. But until I see it, I will be afraid to be upset by watching ZJK win another WTTC.
I do hope someone, anyone, aside from ZJK can win and it would be nice if it was Ma Long.
So you just don't want ZJK to win this one?
May i ask what is your problem with him?
I hope -and i'm sure- ZJK or ML will win the title.
Both of them deserve it: ML, because he always puts his heart in the game. ZJK, because he is fantastic to watch when he is on top form.
It doesn't really make a different for me whether ZJK or ML win the title.
Well, I think, plain and simple, ZJK is better than everyone else but he usually does not show the sport much respect. I don't care about things like kicking signs. But I care that most tournaments he goes to, he doesn't even play half on. He plays worse against worse players and it looks like he is being disrespectful to them. He will be standing up instead of ready before the serve. It will look like he isn't paying attention. Sometimes it looks like he is going to fall asleep any minute. It is as if he is saying the other player doesn't even warrant his paying attention in the matches.
Being honest, I don't really care who wins, but if someone who wasn't from China could win it would be very cool and very good for the sport.
To compare Ma Long's attitude with Zhang Jike's: Ma Long always tries his hardest and plays his heart out no matter who he is playing and no matter whether he is on or off.
I don't like a lot of Ma Long fans. But I like Ma Long. Even though I don't think he is quite good enough, I still hope he is.
Being disrespectful to other players is very rude and of course I do not supporters the players who do it. But it is not only ZJK check the Xu xin matches in last sweden open while playing with lundqvist, he was playing more attention to other table even when he Lost two sets
I always think ZJK is the smarter guy among the top players. That is all too important a factor in shaping today's Grand Slam Champ. Not just out smart your opponent during the game but all the build up to big tournaments that counts. I can't help thinking ZJK was there to push ML to his limit in their last encounter for the sake of getting a fuller picture of his game, while ZJK was not revealing much of himself. I bet ZJK is developing a better plan just like how he developed a game to beat WH when WH was king. On the other hand ML is bearing all the pressure now. He had beaten ZJK with a strong heart to come back 1:3. No one expect him to lose this time. Let's hope they will meet in the final and making history.
I read some old threads here and there was a very nice analysis of how Wang Hao vs Ma Long in the 2013 WTTC was not some kind of mental breakdown on the part of Ma Long.
Here is the post http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/f...y-Ma-Long-vs-Hao&p=58259&viewfull=1#post58259
I believe that was my analysis. Do me a favor. Go back and watch the 5th game of the German Open final. Note particularly the first 6 or 7 points and ML's body language which reveals he had lost hope at that point in the match. He gave ZJK several free points. The score was 1-4. And then ZJK started hitting these crazy shots that miss by 2, 3 and 4 feet. It was on shots that were easy, they were right to him and he had the table open. He gives ML a bunch of free points as early in the point as possible: before ML could mess up and give the points away which he really was doing at that point in the game.
I actually think that ZJK may have thrown that match after knowing he had ML mentally out of it. I think ML started to play way better after things got tied up. But he was playing terribly at the beginning of that 5th game. I also think, once ML started playing better, ZJK played him straight up, head to head and hard, as though he was trying to win. But he wasn't doing a lot of the stuff he did in games 1-4 that gave ML so much trouble and had ML down 1-3 in the 5th.
In other words, after ML woke up half way through the 5th, ZJK started playing hard but right into ML's strengths.
Why would he do this? 1) I think he likes to be underrated, especially going into a big tournament like the one coming up. I think he likes when the whole world thinks he doesn't have a chance. 2) I think in his head, he could do anything he wants against ML so what is the harm in having ML walk into the WTTC with some false confidence. And false confidence always messes people up.
Now, I could be wrong. Maybe he really lost that game. But if you really watch that 5th game, both guys are playing like they shouldn't be in the top 50 in the first 10-12 points. Other parts of the match are different. But any top pro, up 3-1 in games and 4-1 in points, with ML visibly self-destructing, missing the table by being indecisive about whether he should push or attack, giving away free points on pushes, would see ML self-destructing and would not get in the way of him falling apart and would win that 5th game easily.