China Open 2017

[Persistence TT]

Somehow I still find it weird that a guy apparently build like a rock is so injury-ridden. I mean look at those tree trunks he has for legs. Never judge a book by its cover.


Also I didnt quite see it but I think somehow Samsonov threw the ball behind his body while serving lol

muscles on the back are the most thin and slender ones if im expressing it correctly, no matter how well build up you are these muscles are always sensitive especially if your playstyle strains them.

Kreanga and boll had also chronic back injuries forcing them to give up a couple world champs and cups here and there

 

[Persistence TT]

Before China Open, ZJK attended at least three variety shows in a row. First one is the intense Amazing Race recorded aboard. Later when he attended the recording of a singing show, the staff said he had not rested for 30 hours. Not sure what he was doing for that 30 hours, but of course not playing TT. He attended another recording on 6/19 with Wang Tao and Guo Yue (wow) for some 5 hours before going to Chengdu for China Open. Is that how he got the hip injury?

well if he did not rest and the CNT knows that and lets him do all these shows it seems really weird. The whole handling of ZJK's body and mind the past years seems unprofessional to me, there also other examples of europe players with same or worse injuries that simply stopped playing for a while, rest full to get better and come back strong again.

What seems to be even more "Weird" is that after london when he clinched the title he was "ordered" to attend at various events, lowering his training time and consuming his energy, he said that in the one on one interview after the wttc 2013

So it makes you think which of these events are his own choice indeed if there is any occasion like that or that he is now treated as a pop star and not a tt player which is pathetic for us fans but its all business anyway

 

[rainneverever]

The shows he is attending now are not ordered by CNT. He has his own team of multiple people (agents, assistants and so on). He brought his team not only when attending the recording of the shows but also when going to Marvellous 12 and China Open. Nobody else of CNT has agents/assistants and brings agents/assistants when playing in tournaments.

BTW, have you seen the yellow towel he used in WTTC and China Open? It is for sale now, 445 CNY for a bundle of a face towel and a shower towel. Not from Anta or Li-Ning brand but from a company which was founded right before 2017 WTTC. The towels are limited in quantities (10,000) and now sold about 1/3, although there should be millions of ZJK crazy fans as we all know. I can post the shopping link if ZJK fans here are interested.

well if he did not rest and the CNT knows that and lets him do all these shows it seems really weird. The whole handling of ZJK's body and mind the past years seems unprofessional to me, there also other examples of europe players with same or worse injuries that simply stopped playing for a while, rest full to get better and come back strong again.

What seems to be even more "Weird" is that after london when he clinched the title he was "ordered" to attend at various events, lowering his training time and consuming his energy, he said that in the one on one interview after the wttc 2013

So it makes you think which of these events are his own choice indeed if there is any occasion like that or that he is now treated as a pop star and not a tt player which is pathetic for us fans but its all business anyway

 

[drunix80]

I think ZJK did not practice at all after WTTC. Wont be surprised if he escaped defeat by exaggerating his injury thing. May be, he felt his level is too low to continue and giving up was an easy way out. So, dissapointing for fans. It is a disgrace if he did so. If he is really injured , he needs to go to rehab till he is fully fine and get back. Would have rather loved to see Yan An or Shang Kun compete !!!

 

[TableTennisDaily]

Samsonov and Harimoto interview after the game:

 

[yoass]

These registrations were done months in advance - it will be interesting to see what will happen with the Australian Open.

I in no way meant anything disrespectful to a player as great as ZJK. What I meant to say was that it would probably be better to let the tournament go instead of trying see how far it goes playing injured. If only for the tournament's sake; that guy that now gets a walkover might have had to bring a serious game to the table against some player strong enough to qualify in the previous rounds. Even though ZJK was registered and given a spot in that round of 32, I don't see why such a spot could not be reused in such a way in case of sudden vacancy.

 

[TableTennisDaily]

Round of 16 Results

Ma Long vs Yuya Oshima (0-4 W/O)
Kristian Karlsson vs Dimitrij Ovtcharov (2-4)

Wong Chun Ting vs Kenta Matsudaira (4-0)
Jin Ueda vs Masaki Yoshida (0-4)

Xu Xin vs Tomokazu Harimoto (0-4 W/O)
Yuto Muramatsu vs Koki Niwa (3-4)

Timo Boll vs Omar Assar (4-2)
Donghyun Kim vs Fan Zhendong (4-0 W/O)

 

[ping fun]

I think ZJK did not practice at all after WTTC. Wont be surprised if he escaped defeat by exaggerating his injury thing. May be, he felt his level is too low to continue and giving up was an easy way out. So, dissapointing for fans. It is a disgrace if he did so. If he is really injured , he needs to go to rehab till he is fully fine and get back. Would have rather loved to see Yan An or Shang Kun compete !!!

so funny ...... come on do u think that CNT players are local players !!! A professional player like zhang jike never ever do this kind of dirty thing to run a way from an unknown player....unfortunately cnt force zjk to play while he's got injuries .. why ??? to bring fans . to make money . order him to participate in t.v shows .. if not all of t.v shows but almost 70 percent of them to promote table tennis . that what cnt and liu guoliang wanted most of the time . INJRURIES can get worse during the game . in double game he was ok . playing double needs not much energy and strenght like singles . but in single it was clear he had back injury and as it was told hip injury too ....


Look at this poor boy , he even cant pick the ball. how the hell can he play in some heavy games ... they are torturing him . cnt should give him rest , then he can start strongly .

 

[ping fun]

Fans leaving after zhang jike leaves the hall due to injury .... ( not a good scene at all )

 

[ttmonster]

@ping_fun : All your arguments are fair but I don't have a good feeling of how this is unraveling .... this is not the best timing ... I have all but given up on seeing Zhang Jike injury free and prime form ... of course the blame has to be on both the CNT management and partly on the player ... knowing how things work in China I doubt ZJK had much of a choice but the same people who have used him so far won't think twice about shelving him if it brings bad press to the team ...

 

[Persistence TT]

The shows he is attending now are not ordered by CNT. He has his own team of multiple people (agents, assistants and so on). He brought his team not only when attending the recording of the shows but also when going to Marvellous 12 and China Open. Nobody else of CNT has agents/assistants and brings agents/assistants when playing in tournaments.

BTW, have you seen the yellow towel he used in WTTC and China Open? It is for sale now, 445 CNY for a bundle of a face towel and a shower towel. Not from Anta or Li-Ning brand but from a company which was founded right before 2017 WTTC. The towels are limited in quantities (10,000) and now sold about 1/3, although there should be millions of ZJK crazy fans as we all know. I can post the shopping link if ZJK fans here are interested.

your logic about the millions of fans buying towels is hilarious. So if he has his own team then probably CNT does let him do what he wants which is really "interesting"


All LGL says in media is that ZJK is a core player and needs to find motivation after his grand slam bla bla bla, all this same jibberish talk is taking place for the past 2 years.

I find it very hard to believe that the CNT staff actually lets him do what he want without any profit (since prize money dont go 100 % to the players anyway so why would huge endorsements would? LGL himself said that their budget is small so they didnt buy nittaku balls for everyone in practice)

Who knows ...only the persons involved know what is happening maybe they try to increase popularity of the sport through ZJK, but if this is so they fail to realize that the fangirls are not interested in TT

 

[Persistence TT]

@ping_fun : All your arguments are fair but I don't have a good feeling of how this is unraveling .... this is not the best timing ... I have all but given up on seeing Zhang Jike injury free and prime form ... of course the blame has to be on both the CNT management and partly on the player ... knowing how things work in China I doubt ZJK had much of a choice but the same people who have used him so far won't think twice about shelving him if it brings bad press to the team ...

Exactly. ZJK is the only player who actually refused to play in the CTTSL and got away with it, a non grand slam player would go straight to the basement or provincial training with the kids , so when a player becomes a "pop star", even if its bad for as TT fans and is bad for the sport ... money are sweet I would do the same and take advantage of ZJK''s brand name to enhance whatever needs enhancement.


...or play the earnings to the casino !

 

[Baal]

I am looking at the way ZJK is picking up the ball. I have had back surgery once. That looks very very real to me. And if not hurt, he is hard to beat by any non-Chinese. The sport is better of with him in it, so I hope he is not done, but probably he is, at least for awhile. If he was from anywhere else he would have lots of time to get healthy. On CNT you are performing without a safety net and too many other people want you job and are capable of doing it. Who in Belarus is going to beat Vladi?

(I promised I wouldn't say anything else, but my comments about his fangirls are illustrated above).

 

[Persistence TT]

I think ZJK did not practice at all after WTTC. Wont be surprised if he escaped defeat by exaggerating his injury thing. May be, he felt his level is too low to continue and giving up was an easy way out. So, dissapointing for fans. It is a disgrace if he did so. If he is really injured , he needs to go to rehab till he is fully fine and get back. Would have rather loved to see Yan An or Shang Kun compete !!!

dude the guy beat apollonia having fever and played his heart out. what makes you think yoshida masaki is a formidable opponent enough for him to say "ok I quit". Quitters dont reach the top and then stay in it for 4 years.

Being objective is a tough cookie, imagine if ML actually meant what he said about quitting TT if he didnt clinch the title in suzhou, it would be easy for everyone to call ML a loser like most of ignorant fans did with wang hao, personally I dont take such jiberish talkseriously TT is their lives you dont just quit something you love and also have family depending on you.

p.s. on the other hand ML has years of experience and studies in economics he has a degree after all, so it wouldnt be hard for him to find a good job with such qualifications , in the end quitting would be a viable option for ML if he failed to win suzhou. just kidding of course.

 

[rainneverever]

I think we shall wait and see whether ZJK's fan power is influential on the China Open in the following days. Are we going to see a half-empty stadium from now on?

 

[rainneverever]

Have you seen ZJK and ML playing doubles earlier yesterday? Did you see his back pain?

I am looking at the way ZJK is picking up the ball. I have had back surgery once. That looks very very real to me. And if not hurt, he is hard to beat by any non-Chinese. The sport is better of with him in it, so I hope he is not done, but probably he is, at least for awhile. If he was from anywhere else he would have lots of time to get healthy. On CNT you are performing without a safety net and too many other people want you job and are capable of doing it. Who in Belarus is going to beat Vladi?

(I promised I wouldn't say anything else, but my comments about his fangirls are illustrated above).

 

[ttmonster]

I saw the doubles and I saw he was not moving / avoiding moving as much as possible ... Ma Long was doing most of the attacking , in the third set he switched to high toss serves to give ML more opportunities to attack the third ball and finish it , they did not get into any rallies with those kids ... to be honest when I was watching I was trying to make out a pattern if Ma Long is doing most of the ball picking ...

Have you seen ZJK and ML playing doubles earlier yesterday? Did you see his back pain?

 

[rainneverever]

Looking forward to your stat of picking balls. ZJK was able to bend and pick up the ball from the ground in the doubles but he was not able to bend in the singles. Do you think he injured himself during the doubles?

I saw the doubles and I saw he was not moving / avoiding moving as much as possible ... Ma Long was doing most of the attacking , in the third set he switched to high toss serves to give ML more opportunities to attack the third ball and finish it , they did not get into any rallies with those kids ... to be honest when I was watching I was trying to make out a pattern if Ma Long is doing most of the ball picking ...

 

[ajtatosmano2]

Come on guys! In China open we could see, that only XX/ML/FZD are the 'unstoppable' CNT players. And XX is get beaten more times than FZD/ML together.
Without injuries ZJK probably has a similar playing strength as XX.
As LGL said, ZJK won't just retire, other CNT players have to reach his level.
Everyone knows how strong ZJK was before his injuries. He isn't in his prime, but he isn't old either.
Why it's so hard to believe that LGL lets ZJK play (I am not speaking about the injury; in general), because he couldn't find a proper replacement? The coaches see the players day by day. They see who is more consistent, who is stronger. LJK and LGY are very strong, but they has problems with consistency (mental strength).
By the way, there are a plenty of great matches, why don't we speak about them instead of making tips about ZJK.

 

[ttmonster]

Did I say "I made out a pattern" or "I was trying to make out a pattern" ... there is a difference you know ... may be you don't

Looking forward to your stat of picking balls. ZJK was able to bend and pick up the ball from the ground in the doubles but he was not able to bend in the singles. Do you think he injured himself during the doubles?