China Open 2018

[Loopadoop]

I was quite sure it is going to be this way. Sorry but nowadays TT is about BH and playing close to the table. That is why LGL said 2 years ago that XX style is outdated. Of course he improved his BH but still he is one of the easiest chinese to beat.

Is XX reign on the CNT coming to an end ?

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

Is XX reign on the CNT coming to an end ?

Maybe it is time for ZJK to have his place back

Just kidding, but XX has always been a bit hit or miss, although not against foreign players. When he is flying, he is ridiculously good, as proved in WTTC this year.

Would be interesting to see whether ZJK can make a good enough impression to get himself back into the team/players list for next years WTTC. We will have to wait and see

 

[zeio]

Hectic schedule, indeed. Mental overload.

 

[ping fun]

Hectic schedule, indeed. Mental overload.

Pls put sub for mixed double interviews too . Thnks

 

[zeio]

Doing it right now...I'm afraid I'll drop dead at this rate...

 

[ping fun]

Doing it right now...I'm afraid I'll drop dead at this rate...

I appriciate your great work and I hope u dont die atleast till the end of china open but wait we have other opens coming

 

[Free bird]

When Fan goes Nitro, it is amazing to watch. You get short lulls followed by blinding table tennis (two-winged super looping) that mere mortals can only admire.

Fzd often brings out the best of his opponents but he still does it better. That’s why he’s matches are far more spectacular to watch than others. On the other end of spectrum is Ma Lin. He often makes his opponents disgusted with themselves for not playing at half their normal level. MaLong is kinda in between.

There were three or four killer shots in the second set only fzd can do it.
The young Korean player’s bh is as fast, if not faster, as strong, if not stronger, as fzd’s. But fzd’s unmatched bh-fh transition and two winged attacks are just too much for jy.

 

[usualsuspect]

Fzd often brings out the best of his opponents but he still does it better. That’s why he’s matches are far more spectacular to watch than others. On the other end of spectrum is Ma Lin. He often makes his opponents disgusted with themselves for not playing at half their normal level. MaLong is kinda in between.

There were three or four killer shots in the second set only fzd can do it.
The young Korean player’s bh is as fast, if not faster, as strong, if not stronger, as fzd’s. But fzd’s unmatched bh-fh transition and two winged attacks are just too much for jy.

Haha, I totally agree. But FZD still has a lot of room for improvement. Btw, Jeoung Youngsik only looks young. He's like 26 or 27 years old.

 

[CroneOne]

Calderano coughing again. Need Bobrow's overriding commentary to be able to watch his match against Pitchford.

 

[zeio]

Now mentally broken...

 

[Andy44]

Okay, I don't get it. Every time I see Pitchford play he seems like a solid top 20 player closing in on top 10. And Calderano seems like the talented but erratic player. And yet Calderano is 11 and Pitchford is 58.

 

[zzzuppp]

Okay, I don't get it. Every time I see Pitchford play he seems like a solid top 20 player closing in on top 10. And Calderano seems like the talented but erratic player. And yet Calderano is 11 and Pitchford is 58.

Andy, haven't you noticed that the ITTF changed the ranking system? the whole thing is a mockery now. Ma Long hasn't been number 1 since they introduced it, Ding Ning started off at #16 or something - and yes, Pitchford is ranked lower than his teammate Drinkhall who he consistently performs better than internationally.

 

[NextLevel]

Okay, I don't get it. Every time I see Pitchford play he seems like a solid top 20 player closing in on top 10. And Calderano seems like the talented but erratic player. And yet Calderano is 11 and Pitchford is 58.

Pitchford has done much worse in ITTF tour events than Calderano has. With the new ranking system, having one or two good matches is not as important as going deep in the draw. As far as I can remember, Calderano has had two strong ITTF tour results this year in the Hungarian and Qatar Opens. Or something like that. Liam Pitchford has basically failed to make the main draw just about every time he has played before this tournament.

The reason why Pitchford stands out is that he has had good matches at international team tournaments. But remember he choked against Bode Abiodun at the Commonwealth games team event. Then he lost to Achanta in the Singles event. Most people forget stuff like that and remember how good he looks against Fan Zhendong and Dima and Xue Fei and Calderano.

So trust me, when he starts consistently beating people and going deep in tour events, his ranking will match his reputation. Everyone sees the talent and everyone feels he is better than his ranking. But he has to earn the points. And in the new system he has to go deep in the draw to earn those points.

I know some people don't like the new ranking system because it doesn't reward ability it rewards tournament performance. But to each his own. I still remember when we had the World Cup in the US and none of the Chinese top ladies came because it would not do jack to their ranking.

So I have no pity for Ding Ning and Ma Long. You need your top players to play to sell your product. And when Liam consistently goes deep and becomes a consistent top player he will get his ranking and due too.

 

[drunix80]

I have never seen XX play at such a shit level. Missed so many bread and butter FH loops.

 

[NextLevel]

I have never seen XX play at such a shit level. Missed so many bread and butter FH loops.

Ageing as a penholder is not fun.

 

[Andy44]

Pitchford has done much worse in ITTF tour events than Calderano has. With the new ranking system, having one or two good matches is not as important as going deep in the draw. As far as I can remember, Calderano has had two strong ITTF tour results this year in the Hungarian and Qatar Opens. Or something like that. Liam Pitchford has basically failed to make the main draw just about every time he has played before this tournament.

The reason why Pitchford stands out is that he has had good matches at international team tournaments. But remember he choked against Bode Abiodun at the Commonwealth games team event. Then he lost to Achanta in the Singles event. Most people forget stuff like that and remember how good he looks against Fan Zhendong and Dima and Xue Fei and Calderano.

So trust me, when he starts consistently beating people and going deep in tour events, his ranking will match his reputation. Everyone sees the talent and everyone feels he is better than his ranking. But he has to earn the points. And in the new system he has to go deep in the draw to earn those points.

I know some people don't like the new ranking system because it doesn't reward ability it rewards tournament performance. But to each his own. I still remember when we had the World Cup in the US and none of the Chinese top ladies came because it would not do jack to their ranking.

So I have no pity for Ding Ning and Ma Long. You need your top players to play to sell your product. And when Liam consistently goes deep and becomes a consistent top player he will get his ranking and due too.

It's not the new rankings that surprise me anymore (although I don't like how they handled the transition), it's exactly what you describe. Pitchford -- at least when I've watched him play -- seems too good to have as many subpar results as he's had. I've got to watch some of his bad losses to get a better idea of what's going on with his game.

 

[NextLevel]

It's not the new rankings that surprise me anymore (although I don't like how they handled the transition), it's exactly what you describe. Pitchford -- at least when I've watched him play -- seems too good to have as many subpar results as he's had. I've got to watch some of his bad losses to get a better idea of what's going on with his game.

Some of it is bad luck - in one tour event, he beat CNT back bencher Xue Fei 4-3, but then went on to lose to Bastian Steger 1-4. I think that was the one where I really felt for him.

I think LGL analyzed his loss to Fan Zhendong as a commentator and there is a translation online. That commentary gives you great insight into why Pitchford is hard to beat unless you know how to implement tactics that work against backhand players and players with a middle. He always looks open to attack on the backhand side but is never vulnerable there and he often looks like he can cover his forehand but that is where you have to go more often to surprise him. For someone like Calderano who wants to overwhelm you with his backhand, that is a bad matchup.

Probably the best place to start is to watch his loss to Mattias Karlsson at the World Teams and then compare it to his win here. That is to his credit. The thing though is that most of those losses are not always caught on camera so people do not remember them while the wins or the good matches are usually in memorable scenarios.

 

[zeio]

Corrections made to Hirano's interview, from contributions by mickd on Mytt.

 

[ttmonster]

great post ! I did not know this but when I was watching the only thing that was really intriguing to me was that Calderano could not simply find his body / pocket ! I will have to now find that match with LGL's commentary ...

Some of it is bad luck - in one tour event, he beat CNT back bencher Xue Fei 4-3, but then went on to lose to Bastian Steger 1-4. I think that was the one where I really felt for him.

I think LGL analyzed his loss to Fan Zhendong as a commentator and there is a translation online. That commentary gives you great insight into why Pitchford is hard to beat unless you know how to implement tactics that work against backhand players and players with a middle. He always looks open to attack on the backhand side but is never vulnerable there and he often looks like he can cover his forehand but that is where you have to go more often to surprise him. For someone like Calderano who wants to overwhelm you with his backhand, that is a bad matchup.

Probably the best place to start is to watch his loss to Mattias Karlsson at the World Teams and then compare it to his win here. That is to his credit. The thing though is that most of those losses are not always caught on camera so people do not remember them while the wins or the good matches are usually in memorable scenarios.

 

[ttmonster]

... who is staying up at night to watch the rock concert ?