26th Asian Table Tennis Championship

[NextLevel]

What a great match and performance.

CNT coach will have a really hard choice to make about which top 2 players get singles at Olympics.

I know they made this rule to allow more countries to participate...but I feel it stole a lot of elite matches and potential stars from the sport. I'm against this rule. Miu Hirano might've shown a great performance, but got punished by the rule.

I'm worried WCQ will miss the Olympics, and we will be robbed of potential great performance out of him.

ML is really trying to make sure that LJK doesn't get the third spot, unless WCQ has multiple Tanaka level meltdowns, no way ML is replacing him.

 

[NextLevel]

I hate Joola balls as well. I’m quite sure they weren’t butterfly balls because their quality is so bad that they haven’t been used in years in international tournaments. It’s either DHS or Double Fish ball.

The balls are all made in the same factories nowadays, it is just a matter of branding. Even a crappy brand can be made better by better Quality control for a specific tournament.

 

[gordonluvsu]

I think it was Butterfly Balls,
Also I saw the players throw the balls up regularly before they serve to check for soemthing ( idk for what).

 

[NextLevel]

I think it was Butterfly Balls,
Also I saw the players throw the balls up regularly before they serve to check for soemthing ( idk for what).

Maybe air conditioning in the playing hall affected play in a way that is hard to see on camera.

 

[NextLevel]

Changing topic somewhat, Wang Manyu and Fan Zhendong are often called players not respected for their doubles play, despite being World Championship winners in doubles (the titles are often attributed to the impact of their great partners). Do their titles here affect that assessment or is it still unchallenged?

 

[Robin0910]

No, he wasn't, he lost the 2011 WTTC semifinals to Wang Hao and ended up being ranked below Wang Hao, 2009 World Champion. And no one was going to not send the defending 2011 World Champion ZJK so Ma Long had to sit at home. As much as I like ML, no one can say he was robbed in 2011/2012, he lost the matches he had to win.

I was comparing his situation to WQC’s situation because both lost to foreigners close to the OG, both were/are younger than their counterparts and both had a better H2H in singles against their older counterparts. So if you think that WCQ can be robbed then from this point of view ML was also robbed. I know the reasons why ML wasn’t chosen: what are mentioned by you and what is mentioned here.

 

[Robin0910]

The balls are all made in the same factories nowadays, it is just a matter of branding. Even a crappy brand can be made better by better Quality control for a specific tournament.

Yeah if they are from the same country. For instance, some Butterfly balls are made in Germany whereas all Chinese balls are made in China.

 

[NextLevel]

I was comparing his situation to WQC’s situation because both lost to foreigners close to the OG, both were/are younger than their counterparts and both had a better H2H in singles against their older counterparts. So if you think that WCQ can be robbed then from this point of view ML was also robbed. I know the reasons why ML wasn’t chosen: what are mentioned by you and what is mentioned here.

Ah okay, the selection processes were very different (WH and ZJK were selected a full year before the games) so I don't think the comparison works. That said, I better understand what you are trying to do now.

 

[Kopp]

ML is really trying to make sure that LJK doesn't get the third spot, unless WCQ has multiple Tanaka level meltdowns, no way ML is replacing him.

Being the continent's champion and ranked inside the top 15 in the world, I thought that ML had secured a spot in the Olympics, right?

 

[NextLevel]

Being the continent's champion and ranked inside the top 15 in the world, I thought that ML had secured a spot in the Olympics, right?

That happens at the Asian Games if it still happens at all.

 

[Kopp]

That happens at the Asian Games if it still happens at all.

It will be unfair to ML if he is not selected. Or is he already automatically secured the spot? All the criteria are met by him.

At France 2024, according to olympics.com, “There are four ways for NOCs to secure quotas for the singles events.

1. Team quota place - 32 athletes (from 16 team quota places)
Each NOC with a qualified team through the Team Qualification pathway obtains two quota places for the single events.

The top two highest-ranked athletes from each NOC with a qualified team in the World Ranking of week 25 in 2024 (Tuesday 18 June 2024) will be listed as qualifiers for singles.

2. Continental Qualification Event or Singles World Ranking - 22 athletes
As determined by each continent, 22 athletes will obtain a quota place either through a Continental Qualification event or via the Singles World Ranking.

The number of singles quota places that each Continental possesses is:

Africa: four quotas, Asia: six quotas, Europe: six quotas, Pan America: five quotas, Oceania: one quota.

3. Singles World Ranking - up to 15 athletes
Up to 15 athletes will obtain one quota place through the Singles World Ranking of week 25 (Tuesday 18 June 2024), respecting the maximum quotas allowed per NOC and the above-mentioned Continental quotas places.

*The maximum quota will be 15, depending on the number of quotas available after the distribution of the mixed doubles quota

4. Universality Place - one athlete
One Universality place will be allocated to an eligible NOC.

For Universality quota places, athletes must have appeared on any ITTF Ranking list from 1 July 2023 to 23 June 2024.

 

[NextLevel]

It will be unfair to ML if he is not selected. Or is he already automatically secured the spot? All the criteria are met by him.

At France 2024, according to olympics.com, “There are four ways for NOCs to secure quotas for the singles events.

1. Team quota place - 32 athletes (from 16 team quota places)
Each NOC with a qualified team through the Team Qualification pathway obtains two quota places for the single events.

The top two highest-ranked athletes from each NOC with a qualified team in the World Ranking of week 25 in 2024 (Tuesday 18 June 2024) will be listed as qualifiers for singles.

2. Continental Qualification Event or Singles World Ranking - 22 athletes
As determined by each continent, 22 athletes will obtain a quota place either through a Continental Qualification event or via the Singles World Ranking.

The number of singles quota places that each Continental possesses is:

Africa: four quotas, Asia: six quotas, Europe: six quotas, Pan America: five quotas, Oceania: one quota.

3. Singles World Ranking - up to 15 athletes
Up to 15 athletes will obtain one quota place through the Singles World Ranking of week 25 (Tuesday 18 June 2024), respecting the maximum quotas allowed per NOC and the above-mentioned Continental quotas places.

*The maximum quota will be 15, depending on the number of quotas available after the distribution of the mixed doubles quota

4. Universality Place - one athlete
One Universality place will be allocated to an eligible NOC.

For Universality quota places, athletes must have appeared on any ITTF Ranking list from 1 July 2023 to 23 June 2024.

Usually, the continental "Games" is the event associated with the Olympics, not the continental Table Tennis Championship. And it has to be specified as a qualification route. The problem ML has is twofold - qualification spots belong to countries, not to individuals, and there are other people from his country who can and will qualify as well, so it is up to China to decide, not to him. That said, China has specified the qualification criteria and the events that will score points as well as the points system. Ma Long is currently third. There is still a lot of time left.