Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires

This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Dec 2010
3,779
4,569
16,162
Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of Kanak , his attitude , his perseverance and his love for the game. I have watched him grow in the last 6-7 years in the bay area and at some point he used to train on the next table ( 2-3 years back ) ... in fact a couple of months back he was training in the next table and it was a spectacle to watch his power and speed . We got chatting a little bit when he was doing his cool down exercises and he even complimented me on one particular point with my opponent where I got a spinny trickle on my far forehand back with an impromptu chop :) .. it was one of my happiest moments.. kudos to him and his parents .. he is still the same humble , soft spoken kid with limitless love for the game !! .. so don't count him out yet .. I saw some rude comments around him an decided to ignore them because most people like to play macho on the internet without any idea on how much work, sweat and tears these players put in behind the scenes ...

There should be no doubt around his mental toughness , for people who have not followed his matches, he has remarkable grit and stamina to turn the tables on the opponent .. if you have doubts check out his finals from Olympic qualification against Canada and the Nationals a couple of years back .. you will know what he is capable of mentally ...

Now, when you are somebody's supporter you want him to grow and become better .. and I have the same feeling . What I saw was that Kanak was going for blocks , and punches on the backhand for the entire game. I want to see him loop on the backhand more, somehow I feel he is seeing the ball a little late on the backhand and is taking it more on the left shoulder than the middle , I am sure his coaches would be working on this or I may be completely wrong on my assessment , what do we know of International Level Table tennis ? I just felt that if his idol is who he says, that is Chuang Chi-Yuan he should try to take a leaf out of his book and start playing more backhand close to the table loops. These juniors are only going to get stronger and in future he will have trouble if he cannot initiate attacks from the backhand more ..

Kanak was ranked #2, and has competed well against his peers on the junior circuit. People who focus think the ranking is biased underrated him but I never once doubted that his seeding was deserved. In the end, matchups matter and seeding based on performance reflects that.
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,272
17,728
44,267
Read 17 reviews
Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of Kanak , his attitude , his perseverance and his love for the game. I have watched him grow in the last 6-7 years in the bay area and at some point he used to train on the next table ( 2-3 years back ) ... in fact a couple of months back he was training in the next table and it was a spectacle to watch his power and speed . We got chatting a little bit when he was doing his cool down exercises and he even complimented me on one particular point with my opponent where I got a spinny trickle on my far forehand back with an impromptu chop :) .. it was one of my happiest moments.. kudos to him and his parents .. he is still the same humble , soft spoken kid with limitless love for the game !! .. so don't count him out yet .. I saw some rude comments around him an decided to ignore them because most people like to play macho on the internet without any idea on how much work, sweat and tears these players put in behind the scenes ...

There should be no doubt around his mental toughness , for people who have not followed his matches, he has remarkable grit and stamina to turn the tables on the opponent .. if you have doubts check out his finals from Olympic qualification against Canada and the Nationals a couple of years back .. you will know what he is capable of mentally ...

Now, when you are somebody's supporter you want him to grow and become better .. and I have the same feeling . What I saw was that Kanak was going for blocks , and punches on the backhand for the entire game. I want to see him loop on the backhand more, somehow I feel he is seeing the ball a little late on the backhand and is taking it more on the left shoulder than the middle , I am sure his coaches would be working on this or I may be completely wrong on my assessment , what do we know of International Level Table tennis ? I just felt that if his idol is who he says, that is Chuang Chi-Yuan he should try to take a leaf out of his book and start playing more backhand close to the table loops. These juniors are only going to get stronger and in future he will have trouble if he cannot initiate attacks from the backhand more ..
Kanak, out of all the players, had the best ranking on the junior tour based on activity on the junior tour. So he had the most relevant ranking if you looked at how juniors played vs juniors. The other players got their rankings more from their past WJTTC performances and their rankings on the senior tours.

My point is not to say that Kanak is the best player out of all the players. It is that sometimes, people should stop imagining what a good player looks like and have some faith in the fact that how you performed vs your peers will reflect how you will perform vs your peers at the junior level.

In a senior level tournament, Kanak would not have had the Same seeding and it would have been accurate for THAT tournament.

Kanak's strength is his touch and ball control. His weakness is his raw power. Unless he gets stronger that will be more exploitable as he gets more senior in the Same way as for CCY, who gets exploited in the same way. But at the current level, his play is adequate and I was just tired of people denigrating his level just because they feel that other juniors like Truls are better.

He had weaknesses like everyone else. But his strengths will take him a long way. There is only one ML and one FZD. Everyone else needs to work on their weaknesses.
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
Kanak, out of all the players, had the best ranking on the junior tour based on activity on the junior tour. So he had the most relevant ranking if you looked at how juniors played vs juniors. The other players got their rankings more from their past WJTTC performances and their rankings on the senior tours.

My point is not to say that Kanak is the best player out of all the players. It is that sometimes, people should stop imagining what a good player looks like and have some faith in the fact that how you performed vs your peers will reflect how you will perform vs your peers at the junior level.

In a senior level tournament, Kanak would not have had the Same seeding and it would have been accurate for THAT tournament.

Kanak's strength is his touch and ball control. His weakness is his raw power. Unless he gets stronger that will be more exploitable as he gets more senior in the Same way as for CCY, who gets exploited in the same way. But at the current level, his play is adequate and I was just tired of people denigrating his level just because they feel that other juniors like Truls are better.

He had weaknesses like everyone else. But his strengths will take him a long way. There is only one ML and one FZD. Everyone else needs to work on their weaknesses.

When gauging a young player's potential, I like to observe his/her style and make analogy to mature players of similar style. Jha's style seems to be an allrounder. He focuses on touch and ball placement over raw power. Defensively, he's good at blocking and prefers to back away from the table. Right now, Jha is not too threatening over the table, but I think that's something he will definitely improve on.
This style is similar to Mizutani's. Obviously Mizutani is the evolved version of Jha. Mizutani is stronger over the table and has more powerful FH and BH. But the basic strategy is the same, focusing on ball control over raw power, using blocks and lobs as defensive methods. Only go for the kill when there's a good opportunity, or stay in the rally long enough for your opponent to make a mistake. Generally, this is the more passive style.
On the other hand, Wang Chuqin and Lin Yunju have a much more aggressive style. Both have solid fundamental skills, are powerful when attacking from both wings, threatening over the table, as well as away from it. This style is essentially how FZD plays. This is why I think Wang Chuqin and Lin Yunju have the potential to become much better players in the future than Kanak Jha (no disrespect to Jha or Mizutani. I think they are both excellent players and I like their style.).
Of course, this is all my personal opinion. I could be completely wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ttmonster
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,272
17,728
44,267
Read 17 reviews
When gauging a young player's potential, I like to observe his/her style and make analogy to mature players of similar style. Jha's style seems to be an allrounder. He focuses on touch and ball placement over raw power. Defensively, he's good at blocking and prefers to back away from the table. Right now, Jha is not too threatening over the table, but I think that's something he will definitely improve on.
This style is similar to Mizutani's. Obviously Mizutani is the evolved version of Jha. Mizutani is stronger over the table and has more powerful FH and BH. But the basic strategy is the same, focusing on ball control over raw power, using blocks and lobs as defensive methods. Only go for the kill when there's a good opportunity, or stay in the rally long enough for your opponent to make a mistake. Generally, this is the more passive style.
On the other hand, Wang Chuqin and Lin Yunju have a much more aggressive style. Both have solid fundamental skills, are powerful when attacking from both wings, threatening over the table, as well as away from it. This style is essentially how FZD plays. This is why I think Wang Chuqin and Lin Yunju have the potential to become much better players in the future than Kanak Jha (no disrespect to Jha or Mizutani. I think they are both excellent players and I like their style.).
Of course, this is all my personal opinion. I could be completely wrong.

I think your evaluation is biased by the relative power levels of the players. I think Kanak is simply playing to his strengths. He lacks the power to end the point with one shot consistently. What that means in the long term for his career will be interesting. But Lin Gaoyuan is #3 so there is clearly a future in that.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Aug 2017
383
269
898
Wang Chuqin's backhand power is ridiculous. Even Ma Long had a bit of trouble with it. I see a bright future for that kid.

On a side note, it seems to me that there are a ridiculous number of awesome players among the Chinese currently. How the hell are they going to decide who goes to Olympics next time?
 
This user has no status.
I think your evaluation is biased by the relative power levels of the players. I think Kanak is simply playing to his strengths. He lacks the power to end the point with one shot consistently. What that means in the long term for his career will be interesting. But Lin Gaoyuan is #3 so there is clearly a future in that.

You clearly have not seen LGY play in the Asian games. There were plenty of killer opening attacks and counters from LGY, many from BH. LGY's style is extremely fast and aggressive over the table. He is the evolved version of Harimoto, completely different from Mizutani.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Sep 2013
7,257
6,219
15,286
Read 3 reviews
Wang Chuqin's backhand power is ridiculous. Even Ma Long had a bit of trouble with it. I see a bright future for that kid.

On a side note, it seems to me that there are a ridiculous number of awesome players among the Chinese currently. How the hell are they going to decide who goes to Olympics next time?

Thats the sad thing of growing up as a TT star in China, Germany, Japan, Korea etc

imagine, US Swimmers only allowed to send 2 swimmers to the olympics
and only 2 athletes for track and field

if they want to limit TT to only 2, then they must increase the amount of discipline so more athlete can have some form of olympic dream
at the moment, migration is the easiest route - go play for another country to reach your olympic dream - that isn't an olympic spirit imo
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,272
17,728
44,267
Read 17 reviews
You clearly have not seen LGY play in the Asian games. There were plenty of killer opening attacks and counters from LGY, many from BH. LGY's style is extremely fast and aggressive over the table. He is the evolved version of Harimoto, completely different from Mizutani.

I clearly have. You are focusing on one thing and I and focusing on another. If you don't like my choice of LGY and think it must be Mizutani, fine. I could have used CCY or Niwa ro make my point without losing sleep. It's that lack of power still has a future in the game.
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2016
496
388
1,723
Can I just say, it's nice that we have next to 200 posts on a youth tournament related thread.

Also, as has been said it is a whole lot of pressure on HT's shoulders but he has already shown wonders (I liked the posts about how his style is already studied as a norm, as opposed to WCQ's - that in turn coming to hit him back).
Take any skill in life and people go through plateaux and even momentary regressions, but his overall line of progress has been far above what we're used to see. I can't see how he wouldn't go on to at least being a contender for the world top spot. Of course we've seen bigger fortune reversals but that'd feel unfair, and I am really hoping for him to reach the heights (if only for the sheer sake of diversity - no offence to the whole stellar generation at the CNT).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danny21312
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2013
98
67
222
What a great match will be Harimoto-Sgouropoulos in Round 16!
Ioannis has a gifted backhand, but he likes to play far from the table. That can be suicidal in this match.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Takkyu_wa_inochi

mrk

This user has no status.

mrk

This user has no status.
Member
Jul 2017
256
238
625
No Livestream from the team event, not even the final? This is a fail.
 
Top