Benyamin Faraji 14 years old.

[NextLevel]

Maybe, but let's see what he does after this tournament first.

The WJTTC, usually my favorite event of the year, is in Sweden in late November. Faraji just raised the anticipation for the event.

 

[piligrim]

 

[d3nium]

He looks insanely talented, born to play table tennis.

 

[piligrim]

Lee Seungsoo did it!

 

[the-don]

Could be fake loses to pump up the kid.
A middle tier euro player had no problem with kid

I mean chinese top players having problems guessing the serve of the kid? Misjudjing underspin for sidespin? Makes you wonder...

 

[dingyibvs]

Could be fake loses to pump up the kid.
A middle tier euro player had no problem ith kid

I don't think fake losses, I think it's just the ball is something they're not used to. I play sometimes play at a club which uses a variety of balls and with a higher friction table. By far the most troublesome shot for me is the forward leaning drive as it requires a big swing and early commitment without time to look the ball in. When I use compact motions and focus more on spin, things usually go way better.

LSD has probably the most compact motion on the CNT with the least drive-based FH, which is probably why he was able to maintain his play level the best. His calling card though is his BH drive, which if you'll notice was very hit or miss this tournament and is probably the reason he wasn't as dominant as he has been recently.

Faraji is obviously a very good player, his rankings and almost winning this youth contender can attest to that, but I don't think he's quite as good as his performance in the ATTC might suggest.

 

[the-don]

I don't think fake losses, I think it's just the ball is something they're not used to. I play sometimes play at a club which uses a variety of balls and with a higher friction table. By far the most troublesome shot for me is the forward leaning drive as it requires a big swing and early commitment without time to look the ball in. When I use compact motions and focus more on spin, things usually go way better.

LSD has probably the most compact motion on the CNT with the least drive-based FH, which is probably why he was able to maintain his play level the best. His calling card though is his BH drive, which if you'll notice was very hit or miss this tournament and is probably the reason he wasn't as dominant as he has been recently.

Faraji is obviously a very good player, his rankings and almost winning this youth contender can attest to that, but I don't think he's quite as good as his performance in the ATTC might suggest.

It would be something every player has a problem with.
Yet many have beaten the kid easily.

 

[dingyibvs]

It would be something every player has a problem with.
Yet many have beaten the kid easily.

Right, every senior would have similar issue, but those with a less drive-based game would be less affected. That IMO explains the inordinate number of shocking results in the ATTC.

When he plays in a circuit where everyone is used to the ball, he comes back down to earth a bit, returning to being a very good and probably quickly improving junior, but not quite ready to challenge the top echelon of seniors yet.

 

[the-don]

Right, every senior would have similar issue, but those with a less drive-based game would be less affected. That IMO explains the inordinate number of shocking results in the ATTC.

When he plays in a circuit where everyone is used to the ball, he comes back down to earth a bit, returning to being a very good and probably quickly improving junior, but not quite ready to challenge the top echelon of seniors yet.

If that's the case the Chinese would have problems with all rivals.

They like to pump up kids....it's good for marketing.
The same exact thing happened with harimoto when he entered the scene.

Also coincidentally the new upsetting talents are all from NATO/Israel rivals.
The girl from North Korea.
The kid from Iran.

 

[NextLevel]

Could be fake loses to pump up the kid.
A middle tier euro player had no problem with kid

I mean chinese top players having problems guessing the serve of the kid? Misjudjing underspin for sidespin? Makes you wonder...

Kiril who is supposedly middle tier is actually a top tier Asian player who would be a top tier European player. He has played well in the German league for years and gained notoriety years ago by pushing Fan Zhendong to the limit in a match. This year he beat both Dima and Dang in a team match vs Germany at the WTTTC and lost because he lacked backup. He also has wins over Jorgic amongst others. He beat Dang again at the Olympics but stumbled against Omar Assar, who became a 2-time Olympics quarterfinalist on the back of that win.

Faraji has proven he is a very strong player and prospect, let's see how the ball thing plays out. Losing yo Harimoto and Gerasimenko is a really bad way to argue that someone's level is not that high.

 

[dingyibvs]

If that's the case the Chinese would have problems with all rivals.

They like to pump up kids....it's good for marketing.
The same exact thing happened with harimoto when he entered the scene.

Also coincidentally the new upsetting talents are all from NATO/Israel rivals.
The girl from North Korea.
The kid from Iran.

They did have problems with all rivals....

 

[piligrim]

Faraji lost in round 16 in Youth Contender Dubai to Korani who 137 in youth ranking

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Kiril who is supposedly middle tier is actually a top tier Asian player who would be a top tier European player. He has played well in the German league for years and gained notoriety years ago by pushing Fan Zhendong to the limit in a match. This year he beat both Dima and Dang in a team match vs Germany at the WTTTC and lost because he lacked backup. He also has wins over Jorgic amongst others. He beat Dang again at the Olympics but stumbled against Omar Assar, who became a 2-time Olympics quarterfinalist on the back of that win.

Faraji has proven he is a very strong player and prospect, let's see how the ball thing plays out. Losing yo Harimoto and Gerasimenko is a really bad way to argue that someone's level is not that high.

the kid lost this year to few Taiwanese juniors, who are not in Kiril's level or that of FZD or top Europeans and would probably play 4th division in Germany.

all you need to do is to look at his ittf win loss for 2024 and you can see.
he had a good run, but it doesn't mean he is that level yet, else he would have so much more wins against weaker players

 

[NextLevel]

the kid lost this year to few Taiwanese juniors, who are not in Kiril's level or that of FZD or top Europeans and would probably play 4th division in Germany.

all you need to do is to look at his ittf win loss for 2024 and you can see.
he had a good run, but it doesn't mean he is that level yet, else he would have so much more wins against weaker players

He can lose to Taiwanese juniors, Harimoto struggled to win some internal tournaments, what did it say about his overall level? Were those juniors 14 year old? Why is he top ranked for his age if so?

Looking at data is nothing without interpretation. Alexis was playing 2nd league in France and then beat CNT members and people still felt his level wasn't quite up there until it clearly was.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

players that beat Faraji this year
TANG Yiren
IWAIDA Shunto
SOIPHUANG Nimit
KUO Guan-Hong
CHAMBET-WEIL Remi
VARGA Botond
LIN Chin-Ting
LEE Hong An (Malaysian - GOZO!!!)
LAI Yong Han (Gozo!!!)
MOON Sunwoong
KURMANGALIYEV Alan
SKANDAROV Shokhrukh
DESAI Harmeet
STOYANOV Niagol
MANOLOPOULOS Efstathios Efraim

PS, so many juniors beat him

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Looking at data is nothing without interpretation.

ok

of the 8 points he has, 4 of them was from WTT youth Lebanon of which there was no one from outside the region other than egyptian juniors

of the 3025 points he has for U15 (making him no4), those 4 lebanon points are worth 1465

this sounds like what will happen with USA juniors, with the 5 WTT juniors at 888, and if only North American take part, that is going to be 1500~2000 points from 5 "US events" and make you top 10 in the world for U15

 

[piligrim]

Ht is now 177 in world with win/lose rate 76%. Its not bad for 14 years old. Lets see how he will do next tournaments

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Ht is now 177 in world with win/lose rate 76%. Its not bad for 14 years old. Lets see how he will do next tournaments

he mostly plays within his region (which isn't the strongest out there).

the win/lose is actually so not accurate due to that, but that doesn't take the performance against 2 top players away.
It will be interesting to see how he continues the rest of the calendar and next year, with the pressure of media on him

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

our wonder boy is playing in youth contender doha

U17, lost in final to Lee Seungsoo

in U19 loosing to AvatarAhmed KORANI in the R16

 

[NextLevel]

ok

of the 8 points he has, 4 of them was from WTT youth Lebanon of which there was no one from outside the region other than egyptian juniors

of the 3025 points he has for U15 (making him no4), those 4 lebanon points are worth 1465

this sounds like what will happen with USA juniors, with the 5 WTT juniors at 888, and if only North American take part, that is going to be 1500~2000 points from 5 "US events" and make you top 10 in the world for U15

Well you never answered the question, are the Taiwanese players who beat him 14 years old? You gave evidence, you moved to different evidence without closing out your original evidence. sounds to me like you are just trying to justify an already accepted conclusion. Kind of like saying Hugo was overrated because he didn't play in Europe or Asia, when he placed in the Olympics exactly where his world ranking said he would place.

The WJTTC is at the end of November, let's see how it plays out. Iran has good players, they wouldn't throw out a 14 year old boy for fun unless they felt he was one of their best players. Juniors often play with variable level, but very few juniors can give the players he competed with any level of competition and trying to say that because he can lose to lower rated players that his level is not there is obviously true, but annoying uninsightful. How many juniors can beat Wang Chuqin even with a tail wind? Anyone who saw the LSD match cannot pretend the boy is just another junior. You keep pushing this narrative whether it is about Truls or Hugo or other players. Push it about Taiwanese players, please.

Here is an article for 2023 WTT Youth contender Almaty where they say he beat quite a few juniors from Chinese Taipei.

Benyamin Faraji Wins Gold at WTT Youth Contender Almaty

kayhan.ir