Drinkhall getting serves faulted at China Open

[d3m0n14k]

Just curious on this, can anyone tell why Paul Drinkhall was getting faulted on serve in the third game of this match at the Harmony China Open? Something about the net post not being able to see the ball?

http://cdn.laola1.tv/ittf/iframe/pl.../2011/ittf_china/110824_DRINKHALL_vs_HENTE_t2

Looks to me like the normal inconsistent refereeing as his opponents arm was moving out of the way a lot slower than his arm was?

 

[harrybelafonte]

What an absolute complete bloody joke,the other guys serve was so much more illegal if any of them where illegal which they were not..i cant even imagine what was supposed to be wrong with Pauls serve. the ball goes vertical.at least a foot ,no arm hiding,he s behind theline..etc etc what acomplete farce...
the other guy was as the above post said slower to move his arm also the ball actually curve back towards his body...
What must the players think...you travel 10,000 miles to be faulted by some idiot who does nt understand the rules...who monitors these refs...

 

[Anders]

I simply cannot understand it! Is the umpire blind or something?

 

[d3m0n14k]

I'm impressed with the way Drinkhall handled it, he had a minor argument, then got on with it... he changed his action slightly for a while, then in the last game seemed to use the original action and wasn't getting faulted....

He even shook that referees hand after the match (he had won the match mind you)

 

[azlan]

I think Paul serves in the 1st set did curve into his body, and it was a little more exaggerated coz he started his serve with a full extended left arm. And when he made contact with the ball, it was close to his body. And since he didn't lean into his serve, the umpire deduced/interpreted that he had a curved toss.

As for the other guy's curved toss, his left arm was not extended as much, plus he took the ball rather early, or higher than Paul did, so his curved toss was not as obvious and he got away with it. But there's no doubt in my mind that some of his serves were fault too.

But, at the end of the day, I have to take my hat off to Paul. It took a lot of courage and good deal of experience and professionalism to get on with the match and to never let it bother him.

 

[moriguchi2]

the rule is during the service, t cant be hidden what so ever. when drinkhall threw the ball up, as it was coming down, he hid the service with his head, just barely but still a good call.

 

[harrybelafonte]

you must have good eyesight or related to the umpire

 

[azlan]

hahahaha Matt buddy, I think it's not so much the case that Paul was hiding the ball. As you can see, his opponent was standing diagonally to him, so obviously he can see the ball clear as day. Paul has to be a contortionist to be able to hide the ball with his head, or his opponent is 9ft tall.

The toss into the body is illegal now. Even I do it sometimes..it's just a hard habit to break after being so used to serving like that after playing TT over 20 years. Even top players do it sometimes, but some did get away with it. I just think Paul's serve was too obvious. As you can see, there wasn't any fault called on his serve when he was serving from the other side of the table, coz his back was against the service umpire. But with him standing facing the umpire, he called for his serve.

It took a heck a lot of confidence to change his serve, and I think he did extremely well. I don't think I could.

 

[Romina]

I could see sth in Drinkhall's service. When he impacts the ball, it is very near to his body, so he tends to cover the service (I was able to see that when he served looking the camera) but it's not on purpose and i don't know if that was the real reason why he was penalized . I also saw that the other guy covered his serves with his left hand all the time.

 

[Al de Man]

When he's faulted in the first game, you can hear the umpire saying, "You're hiding the ball with your face."

As a couple of people have already pointed out, he handles it well and doesn't allow the incident to cost him any more points, winning the next three. How many times have we lost the subsequent point(s) after a distraction, whether it be a moment of controversy or a lucky point for your opponent?

 

[azlan]

Really??? I didn't hear that. Well, this is the 1st time I heard covering the ball with a face. There you go kids, don't cover the ball with your face. hahahaha can't imagine what they'll come out with when it comes to ladies serving. Utterly ridiculous I think...covering the ball with your face.

 

[harrybelafonte]

watched it fifty times ,,no way is he hiding the ball at all...you can see the contact from behind so will be even clearer from other side..rubbish

 

[Spitfire]

What Time on the Video does the "Fault" Service Occur?

 

[Al de Man]

What Time on the Video does the "Fault" Service Occur?

The first is at 3:38, the umpire calls a let and says, "Mr Drinkhall, [unknown] you are hiding the ball with your face when you throw the ball up."

Then again at 11:05 and 12:22.

 

[moriguchi2]

Im glad im not the only one who heard that

 

[moriguchi2]

hahahaha Matt buddy, I think it's not so much the case that Paul was hiding the ball. As you can see, his opponent was standing diagonally to him, so obviously he can see the ball clear as day. Paul has to be a contortionist to be able to hide the ball with his head, or his opponent is 9ft tall.

The toss into the body is illegal now. Even I do it sometimes..it's just a hard habit to break after being so used to serving like that after playing TT over 20 years. Even top players do it sometimes, but some did get away with it. I just think Paul's serve was too obvious. As you can see, there wasn't any fault called on his serve when he was serving from the other side of the table, coz his back was against the service umpire. But with him standing facing the umpire, he called for his serve.

It took a heck a lot of confidence to change his serve, and I think he did extremely well. I don't think I could.

Its not just the opponent being able to see the ball, but it has to be visible for either corner of the table to see the ball. Imagine a right triangle... one corner being the service and the other two being the corners of the table. any place in that triangle the service must be visible.

Azlan i am not trying to say i dont like Paul or am i try to down grade his service. I love to watch Paul especially as a junior.