5 Winners and 5 Losers from the World Championships

[joshmak10]

Men

Winner: Wang Chuqin
This one is obvious. After months of pressure and after the calamitous world cup he had, he looked absolutely unstoppable today and was crowned World Champion to grab his first title for the grand slam

Loser: Tomokazu Harimoto
There were high expectations after the draw that Harimoto could finally medal at the world championships for singles. Instead, a lowly R32 exit at the hands of Togami sums up a relatively disappointing world championships for Japans leader.

Winner: Hugo Calderano
Although he’ll be disappointed understandably about second place, so close yet so far, he should be proud of his performance, beating top quality players and looking like a real force since the world cup. History maker indeed

Loser: Lin Shidong
For a WR1 and China expectations, this was not a good championships for Lin Shidong at all. Not even a medal in singles, falling to Liang Jingkun in QF, and incredibly disappointing exits in both his doubles matches, leaving Doha with absolutely nothing.

Winner: Maharu Yoshimura
The inclusion of him and Matsudaira in Japans squad left many raising their eyebrows, particularly when considering Sora and Yukiya Uda were left behind. Safe to say Yoshimura in particular silences most of his critics with a respectable singles run, losing to Kallberg in R32 and most incredibly eliminating Lin/Kuai in the mixed doubles and going all the way to a silver medal with Satsuki Odo. Truly a great championships for big brother Maharu

Loser: Dang Qiu
I’m starting to wonder if Dang Qiu is nearing a huge downfall at this point. An extremely shaky first round win against Zeljko followed by a second round loss to Tom Jarvis summed up a pretty horrid world champs for the german.

Winner: Tom Jarvis
Jarvis was the Anders Lind 2023 of Doha. Following his win over Dang Qiu as mentioned earlier, he followed it up with an incredible slaughtering over Chirita before taking two games off of Liang jingkun in a 4-2 defeat. Amazing stuff from the young British man and hopefully a real challenger now to Pitchfords leadership.

Loser: Lin Gaoyuan
Are we nearing the end of Lin Gaoyuan’s time as a professional player? Unconvincing first round win was already looking bad for him, but we all thought he looked back to somewhat notmal after his second round. Then along comes gauzy and all of a sudden Lin chokes a huge Game 3 lead to be the world class choker we all know and hate. It’s sad to see but this is the guy that China sent over WR9 Xiang Peng

Winner: Shunsuke Togami
Lots of criticism always comes towards Togami for not being a good second string to Harimoto and his poor mental game. Well he definitely silenced many critics in my opinion with a win over his captain Harimoto, a heart stopping win over Jorgic, and came oh so close to a medal if not for Moregard turning it up a notch in the QF. Besides his wonderful singles performance, he even made history with Shinozuka to win Japan a gold medal in the world champs for men’s doubles, first in 64 years. Great great tournament from the Japanese man.

Loser: Felix Lebrun
I think for what the draw turned out to be, Felix had a disappointing tournament. Easy route up until R16, then came up against An Jaehyun instead of his brother. A came off a handful of nervy 4-3 wins in his previous rounds, and most expected Felix to win. Instead, Felix’s decider troubles continued with a 4-3 loss and failing to medal in the singles, along with losing in doubles to a relatively inexperienced doubles pairing of Lin Yun Ju and Kao Cheng Jui as the number 1 seeds.

I’ll do the women’s side a bit later, but let me know your thoughts and opinions

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Winner: Hugo Calderano
Although he’ll be disappointed understandably about second place, so close yet so far, he should be proud of his performance, beating top quality players and looking like a real force since the world cup. History maker indeed

I am almost certain he is not even a little disappointed with a World Championships Silver Medal.

 

[JackJohnson]

I agree with what you said. I was not expecting Lin/Kao to make it to the finals. The last time they played together was Singapore Smash this year. I’m not sure if they have played as a pair before that time but if not their partnership has been good so far. Togami/Shinozuka have played as a pair for ages.

 

[joshmak10]

Women

Winner: Sun Yingsha
The obvious one, Sha Sha just seems utterly unstoppable in the women’s game, reminding me of the dominance of Zhang Yining and honestly I feel like Sha Sha can do even better than the first ever double grand slammer. With Wang Manyu putting up a strong fight against her, Sha Sha shows her insane mental game and hangs in to win her second consecutive World Champs

Loser: Miu Hirano
One of the biggest talking points of the tournament was Miu Hirano’s early exit in the second round to Lea Rakovac. She was even in tears during the final few points of that match. Pretty much says that she is unsure about how this loss will affect her career and hopefully we will keep seeing her play and bounce back.

Winner: Mima Ito
The redemption story of Ito is one I personally would’ve never expected given Miwa and Hayata being so dominant of the best of the rest. From being excluded of the paris squad to getting her first world champs singles medal, with an unexpected 4-1 win over Wang Yidi as well, Ito truly seems to be back on the rise again.

Loser: Wang Yidi
That already mentioned 4-1 defeat to Ito is going to haunt Wang Yidi again, falling in the QF stage for a second year in a row. After a torrid world cup and With Chen Xingtong extending her advantage over Wang for that third spot on the CNT, this world champs is one Wang will want to forget.

Winner: Lea Rakovac
Rakovac did incredibly well to beat Miu Hirano, but also the incredibly tough defender of Suh Hyowon as well, only losing to high flying Satsuki Odo in the R16. From being relatively unknown before this tournament, she certainly made a name for herself after this performance.

Loser: Manika Batra
Batra has impressed me over the years with her extremely unorthodox style, but it seems like it’s getting figured out quite easily now. A straight games loss to teenager Park Gahyeon in the second round makes it a tournament to forget for the Indian number 1.

Winner: Shi Xunyao
I still find it extremely befuddling how WR5 Kuai Man did not get chosen for the singles and China instead sent Shi Xunyao, but I thought she still put up a respectable performance given many might’ve thought she would pull a Xue Fei. Getting through her first three round without dropping a game before losing a close 4-2 to Hayata in the R16 as the 5th chinese player is quite a decent tournament given the expectations.

Loser: Doo Hoi Kem
Do you remember the days not long ago when Doo Hoi Kem was a top 10 star and beating Wang Manyu 3-0 in the first round? Well it seems she is regressing even more, with a poor world champs performance losing 4-3 to Monfardini in the second round. Who will be there for Team Hong Kong now?

Winner: Satsuki Odo
A respectable singles performance to reach the QFs before losing 4-1 to Sha Sha, but what really made her tournament one to remember was her mixed doubles performance with Yoshimura, beating Lin Shidong and Kuai Man before securing an amazing and unexpected silver medal for Japan.

Loser: Anna Hursey
With the momentum Anna was having over the past few months, I would’ve never expected her to fall in the first round 4-3 to Amy Wang. Nonetheless, it’s still a rather disappointing result for her and probably a much earlier end to her visit than she and most others expected.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Loser: Anna Hursey
With the momentum Anna was having over the past few months, I would’ve never expected her to fall in the first round 4-3 to Amy Wang. Nonetheless, it’s still a rather disappointing result for her and probably a much earlier end to her visit than she and most others expected.

What was the momentum she was having that made you think it was impossible for her to lose to Amy?

 

[joshmak10]

What was the momentum she was having that made you think it was impossible for her to lose to Amy?

I never said it was impossible, but Anna has been on a tear this past few months, winning so many youth events, the european U21s, and the feeder in manchester. On that kind of form I would’ve never expected a first round exit from her. Nothing on Amy of course but she did not have such a good run of matches like Anna did.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

I never said it was impossible, but Anna has been on a tear this past few months, winning so many youth events, the european U21s, and the feeder in manchester. On that kind of form I would’ve never expected a first round exit from her. Nothing on Amy of course but she did not have such a good run of matches like Anna did.

You said you would have never expected her to fall to Amy Wang which is effectively the same thing. My point is, I think you underestimate the level of Amy and/or overestimate the level of the players Anna beat to win those accolades you mention. Don't forget that Amy is generally competitive with Bruna and Adriana in PanAm events, both of who I believe are top 20 World Ranked at the moment.

 

[joshmak10]

You said you would have never expected her to fall to Amy Wang which is effectively the same thing. My point is, I think you underestimate the level of Amy and/or overestimate the level of the players Anna beat to win those accolades you mention. Don't forget that Amy is generally competitive with Bruna and Adriana in PanAm events, both of who I believe are top 20 World Ranked at the moment.

Fair enough man

 

[ZFT]

Winner: TTR
Loser: Illegal servers

 

[NextLevel]

A part of me wants to push back on a 19/20 year old being called a disappointment for not winning a medal, but I have to agree, losing out in XD as the #1 seed and singles as the #1 seed is a bit much. Going out with Lin in doubles is what it is, he would probably have partnered with WCQ but they probably wanted to complete WCQ and reduced his events so he could focus on beating Hugo.

 

[NextLevel]

Winner: TTR
Loser: Illegal servers

I'm not so sure. There was a focus on serve contact visibility, but all the rules that are used to enforce it in the ITTF umpire manuals were often tossed aside, meaning that a lot of visibility evaluations were based on where the camera was and might not have agreed with what the receiver saw from where he or she stood.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Equipment:

Winner: Xiom J&H 57.5
Xiom Jekyll & Hyde 57.5 redefines modern offensive play—explosive speed, razor-sharp control, and massive spin potential. The Epsilon sponge and Elastro Futura topsheet fuse power with precision. A champion’s weapon, this rubber delivers confidence in every shot, rewarding bold attackers with elite performance. Truly engineered for dominating rallies - ChatGPT approves!

 

[ZFT]

I'm not so sure. There was a focus on serve contact visibility, but all the rules that are used to enforce it in the ITTF umpire manuals were often tossed aside, meaning that a lot of visibility evaluations were based on where the camera was and might not have agreed with what the receiver saw from where he or she stood.

Really liking the plot twist how you start with ‘not so sure’ and end up writing a promo for why TTR is necessary

 

[Rao01]

Thanks, I think the list presented here is a fair assessment of the top players and their outing / performance in the world championships.

But one thing that is still nagging me is Lin Shidong's match against LJK. Right from the way he started playing to the way the match ended, he was just not in his elements. I myself thought it would be a cake walk for LSD against LJK. Somehow, I have a nagging feeling that LSD was forced to lose against LJK rather than Hugo and that the Chinese team felt LJK had a better chance of beating Hugo than LSD and hence asked him to throw the match. This might all be a figment of my imagination, but that's what I felt.

 

[NextLevel]

Really liking the plot twist how you start with ‘not so sure’ and end up writing a promo for why TTR is necessary

Obviously TTR was important - see Franziska vs Cho. But some dodgy servers were given favorable treatment so the devil is in the details.

 

[joshmak10]

Thanks, I think the list presented here is a fair assessment of the top players and their outing / performance in the world championships.

But one thing that is still nagging me is Lin Shidong's match against LJK. Right from the way he started playing to the way the match ended, he was just not in his elements. I myself thought it would be a cake walk for LSD against LJK. Somehow, I have a nagging feeling that LSD was forced to lose against LJK rather than Hugo and that the Chinese team felt LJK had a better chance of beating Hugo than LSD and hence asked him to throw the match. This might all be a figment of my imagination, but that's what I felt.

Maybe it was the fans that irked him a lot. He seemed annoyed and frustrated the whole match, though that could also be because Liang was playing better and Lin was not hitting a lot of his best shots

 

[Walalang]

I think people kinda have too high of expectations for Lin Shidong rn. Although he is WR 1, he is still 20 years old with pretty limited experience. (except mixed doubles). One match that was actually disappointing to me was LGY's loss to Simon Gauzy

 

[zeio]

Loser: Lin Gaoyuan
Are we nearing the end of Lin Gaoyuan’s time as a professional player? Unconvincing first round win was already looking bad for him, but we all thought he looked back to somewhat notmal after his second round. Then along comes gauzy and all of a sudden Lin chokes a huge Game 3 lead to be the world class choker we all know and hate. It’s sad to see but this is the guy that
China sent over WR9 Xiang Peng

Winner: Shi Xunyao
I still find it extremely befuddling how WR5 Kuai Man did not get chosen for the singles and China instead sent Shi Xunyao, but I thought she still put up a respectable performance given many might’ve thought she would pull a Xue Fei. Getting through her first three round without dropping a game before losing a close 4-2 to Hayata in the R16 as the 5th chinese player is quite a decent tournament given the expectations.

LGY and SXY won the selection trial.

Loser: Felix Lebrun
I think for what the draw turned out to be, Felix had a disappointing tournament. Easy route up until R16, then came up against An Jaehyun instead of his brother. A came off a handful of nervy 4-3 wins in his previous rounds, and most expected Felix to win. Instead, Felix’s decider troubles continued with a 4-3 loss and failing to medal in the singles, along with losing in doubles to a relatively inexperienced doubles pairing of Lin Yun Ju and Kao Cheng Jui as the number 1 seeds.

The curse of winning WTT Champions in Europe, manifesting as poor win rate the next year.

Loser: Doo Hoi Kem
Do you remember the days not long ago when Doo Hoi Kem was a top 10 star and beating Wang Manyu 3-0 in the first round? Well it seems she is regressing even more, with a poor world champs performance losing 4-3 to Monfardini in the second round. Who will be there for Team Hong Kong now?

In case you didn't know, DHK's focus was on the XD. She mulled retirement at the end of 2023 over her golfer's elbow and dystonia and even suggested to the team that they scout for a lefty partner for WCT, but the WS bronze (3-2 SXY in R32, 3-2 Li Yu-Jhun in R16, 3-1 SYB in QF) and WT bronze at ATTC 2024 gave her the drive to continue.

A warm welcome back home with XD bronze
https://news.tvb.com/tc/sports/68344a529c4284cb2f47586b/體育-乒乓黃杜配世錦賽混雙奪銅凱旋-期望日後有更好成績

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

You said you would have never expected her to fall to Amy Wang which is effectively the same thing. My point is, I think you underestimate the level of Amy and/or overestimate the level of the players Anna beat to win those accolades you mention. Don't forget that Amy is generally competitive with Bruna and Adriana in PanAm events, both of who I believe are top 20 World Ranked at the moment.

Imo Anna is probably a higher level than Amy and she is still only 18
she had quite a few good WTT, WTT Youth, ETTU U21 and Bundesliga (ranked 4th) wins.
Probably half burnt with the amount of matches and traveling leading to Doha.

It will be difficult for Anna to be ranked high in Europe, and many of her tours are still youth. Need to fully move over the seniors to get better ranking points. But already good wins against pretty strong opponents.
Anna shouldn't worry about 2025 WTTC, she still has her best years ahead and she should take this loss in and learn

 

[jammmail]

Good tourney for An Jaehyun also - needs a mention