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Hi guys I’m Fraser, ITTF’s new young commentator. I’m starting to do a table tennis blog here on TTD! I’m looking forward to meeting you all 
WHO IS THE BEST YOUNG PLAYER IN THE WORLD?
At 15, Walder was at the top tier of European table tennis.
At 16, Fan Zhendong won the German Open.
At 14, Harimoto won the Czech Open.
Who has the best chance of being the next Ma Long or Waldner?
These are the top 3 young players on the planet right now:
1. Wang Chuqin
2. Lin Yun Ju
3. Tomokazu Harimoto
Why?
All 3 of them have beaten Ma Long, the undisputed GOAT, 2 times or more on the International Stage
All three of them are ranked within the top 15 in the world (December 2020) Never have 3 players, all under the age of 21, been ranked in the world’s top 15 in the modern era of table tennis !
All 3, without question, would be the top player in any other national association (apart from China) in the world.
I remember once watching a Youtube video belonging to the channel of PingSunday EmRatThich.
The topic of discussion was around who was stronger as a player at 14 years old? Ma Long, or Tomokazu Harimoto?
I remember thinking at the time, "Well, surely Harimoto. Ma Long wasn't reaching the quarter finals of the World Championships at 13 years old" In fact, if you watch the video above, the player Ma Long looses to 4-0 is Lubomir Pistej, the man from Slovakia who Harimoto coincidently beat in the last 16 of the 2017 WTTC on his debut. Some wandered why on Earth Japan had put a 13 year old in Japan's Senior line-up for the World Championships!. After he did what he did, and lost in a close last 8 to Xu Xin, some even thought Harimoto had pulled a bit of a fluke despite a tremendous performance. But then when he went on to defeat Timo Boll in the final of the Czech open the same year, winning his first ITTF Tour title at age 14, people began to realise there was something remarkably special on the horizon. Since that time, Harimoto has beaten every main name in the Chinese national team on the world stage apart from only Xu Xin, Sun Wen, and Wang Chuqin (who I'll be talking about later). He has beaten the Dragon on a good few occasions. He is now world ranked at number 5 in the world and has established himself as biggest threat to the Chinese National Team in the last few years. His biggest achievements include winning opens such as the Czech, Bulgarian, Japan, Hungarian, and the Grand Finals. Did I forget to mention he has two Mens World Cup Medals, Bronze and Silver? His biggest regret, and the only thing that he won't have a chance to win now, is the Youth Olympics where he lost in the final to Wang Chuqin. However, it had become clear to that, after winning the World Junior Championships barely into his teenage years, even for one of the younger players in the under 18 category, he was the biggest fish in the most competitive pond. His focus was already aimed at the top of the world senior level, and boy has he gone on to show that! He is still only 17 years young and will be Japan’s number 1 star on home soil at the 2021 Olympic Games.
Secondly, we have Lin Yun-Ju. At age 19, he is a player who is a slightly later bloomer than Harimoto. It was at the Czech Open, the same tournament in which Harimoto beat Boll in final to win his first senior title, that I first noticed Lin Yun Ju. It was him against Calderano, and it was the thrill from Brazil that advanced 4-3. It made me think, “wow, maybe this is the lad that will lead the Taipei team once Chuang Chih Yuan retires”. It was when he beat Ovtcharov (a year after Ovtcharov had a dream season) in the round of 32 at the Austrian Open that he really entered my potential radar. Although I knew it was possible as I’d seen it with Harimoto, little did I know that only two years later the young assassin would be beating the likes of Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Boll and pretty much every other player in the world’s top 20. His achievements include winning the T2 Diamond Malasia, coming runner up in the T2 Diamond Singapore, winning the Oman Open and also the Czech Open. In the Youth Olympics though, he did loose to Harimoto 4-3 in the semi-final, but as I have said before to people, the legends of the game are defined by how good they were as seniors, not juniors. Lin is currently ranked only two places behind Tomokazu at number 7 in the world. He will be, as it stands, Taiwan’s number 1 player at the Tokyo Olympics. Lin Yun Ju participates in the T League, where he impressed as one of the most undefeated players (He beat Harimoto 3-0 last season). Due to his incredible rise, he was invited to participate in the Chinese Super League in the same team as Liang Jingkun, Zhou Qihao and other amazing Chinese National Team players. Young Lin helped his team reach the final, but Ma Long got his revenge on Lin from a couple of days before where the Silent Assassin beat the Dragon 3-1. As an extra talking point, do you see Lin Yun Ju playing in the Chinese Super League as smart? Would being exposed to the Chinese be more of an advantage, or disadvantage to Lin Yun Ju in the future? Harimoto doesn’t play it, so why do you think this is? I bet it’s because Harimoto and his father/coach/coaches don’t want the Chinese to get used to his playing style. Lin Yun Ju is growing in confidence, developing his power to match his control and consistency, and already looks as though there are little gaps in his game. And aren’t his serves just incredibly beautiful, especially the long one!
Last, but absolutely not least, is Mr. Firepower, Wang Chuqin. He shares the bad boy demeanour with Zhang Jike which I love, but also his willingness to learn. Despite being the eldest out of the three top youngsters at 20 years old, and the lowest ranked at 14, he is in my opinion better than Lin Yun Ju and Harimoto. First and foremost, lets talk about exposure. The Japanese, for example, have adopted a system where they introduce their junior players into the senior circuit because they belive it gives them the experience under pressure, and helps them learn about how to become a world class senior before they leave the junior age group. I must say, it seems to be working- just look at Harimoto, Yukiya Uda, and Shunsuke Togami as examples. They are already incredible senior players. On the other hand, China has a system where they prefer to train their young players up against the top seniors behind the scenes/walls of the CNT, and releases them at a slightly later stage. This also happens as the strength in depth is so immense in China, so its only the big 4, plus whoever is in sufficient form, who are selected to play world tours. It is because of these two reasons that Wang Chuqin is lower ranked than Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju, not because of his lesser ability. Just look at Wang Chuqin at the Youth Olympics, after hardly playing any junior world tours. He swept away everyone, including Harimoto in the final. Harimoto has never beaten Wang out of a few encounters, although Lin has once at the 2019 China Open in the pre rounds. Wang Chuqin has another world title that neither Harimoto or Lin possesses - a world doubles title. Despite not being selected to play the singles at the 2019 WTTC, China put their young Chuqin alongside Captain Long. It was Wang’s first event, and only so far, at a World Championship. Is it significant that Wang Chuqin was put with Ma Long? Yes I think so. I believe China have huge plans for Wang Chuqin. They want him to be the best thing since Ma Long. Although he is a World Cup Master, Fan Zhendong isn’t taking his chances at the World’s. I have a very big feeling Wang will be playing the singles next time, especially if he can further increase his ranking of 14, and the way he has been playing lessens the chance of Fan winning a title. I’m not sure if the world is ready for how crazy Wang will be playing at his World Championship debut. It may be now or never for Fan. Wang also plays in the same Super League team as Ma Long. Not a bad role model to train and compete with, ay? As long as he learns from throwing his racket and getting a 3-month ban, which I’m sure he will, it’ll be so hard to stop Wang Chuqin. Another factor which is worth considering is styles. Harimoto is a right hander, Wang and Lin are left handers. It’s a common conception that left handers are at a slight advantage. Left handers are rarer; therefore, they have more practice playing against right handers than right handers have against left handers. However, there hasn’t been a left-handed World Champion or Olympic Champion since I can remember, so perhaps the jubilant Japanese junior won’t be too worried about facing Wang and Lin for that reason. It’ll be interesting to see, however, if Wang Chuqin or Lin can break that trend. Is table tennis, it is sport, so of course it’s about who is better on the day. On the big stages, that’s mostly down to who the coolest is under pressure. All three of these players already have these qualities, so we will have to see who does the best in the long term.
Some of you may find the fact that I see Lin Yun Ju as more of a future prospect than Harimoto as controversial. These are my reasons:
· His serves are more varied and unpredictable
· He plays at a better distance away from the table than Harimoto.
· Harimoto can be too passive when moved around the table, especially on the forehand
· Lin has a better win/loss ratio. You can check ittf stats to see this
· Lin is better at creating space to return shots that are placed into his middle area.
· A bit less relevant, but Lin Yun Ju is a better doubles player than Harimoto.
In conclusion, I see Wang as the best young talent, Lin as the second best, and Harimoto as the third.
Thank you for reading my article! I have a few questions for you all. I’d love to see your answers
1. Do you agree with my choices and the order I’ve chosen?
2. Are there any players who I haven’t mentioned that you think should be in the top 3 young players?
3. Who is your favourite young player (let’s say who is 21 or younger) ?
And of course, if there’s any questions you’d like to ask me, fire away !
Thank you!
WHO IS THE BEST YOUNG PLAYER IN THE WORLD?
At 15, Walder was at the top tier of European table tennis.
At 16, Fan Zhendong won the German Open.
At 14, Harimoto won the Czech Open.
Who has the best chance of being the next Ma Long or Waldner?
These are the top 3 young players on the planet right now:
1. Wang Chuqin
2. Lin Yun Ju
3. Tomokazu Harimoto
Why?
All 3 of them have beaten Ma Long, the undisputed GOAT, 2 times or more on the International Stage
All three of them are ranked within the top 15 in the world (December 2020) Never have 3 players, all under the age of 21, been ranked in the world’s top 15 in the modern era of table tennis !
All 3, without question, would be the top player in any other national association (apart from China) in the world.
I remember once watching a Youtube video belonging to the channel of PingSunday EmRatThich.
The topic of discussion was around who was stronger as a player at 14 years old? Ma Long, or Tomokazu Harimoto?
I remember thinking at the time, "Well, surely Harimoto. Ma Long wasn't reaching the quarter finals of the World Championships at 13 years old" In fact, if you watch the video above, the player Ma Long looses to 4-0 is Lubomir Pistej, the man from Slovakia who Harimoto coincidently beat in the last 16 of the 2017 WTTC on his debut. Some wandered why on Earth Japan had put a 13 year old in Japan's Senior line-up for the World Championships!. After he did what he did, and lost in a close last 8 to Xu Xin, some even thought Harimoto had pulled a bit of a fluke despite a tremendous performance. But then when he went on to defeat Timo Boll in the final of the Czech open the same year, winning his first ITTF Tour title at age 14, people began to realise there was something remarkably special on the horizon. Since that time, Harimoto has beaten every main name in the Chinese national team on the world stage apart from only Xu Xin, Sun Wen, and Wang Chuqin (who I'll be talking about later). He has beaten the Dragon on a good few occasions. He is now world ranked at number 5 in the world and has established himself as biggest threat to the Chinese National Team in the last few years. His biggest achievements include winning opens such as the Czech, Bulgarian, Japan, Hungarian, and the Grand Finals. Did I forget to mention he has two Mens World Cup Medals, Bronze and Silver? His biggest regret, and the only thing that he won't have a chance to win now, is the Youth Olympics where he lost in the final to Wang Chuqin. However, it had become clear to that, after winning the World Junior Championships barely into his teenage years, even for one of the younger players in the under 18 category, he was the biggest fish in the most competitive pond. His focus was already aimed at the top of the world senior level, and boy has he gone on to show that! He is still only 17 years young and will be Japan’s number 1 star on home soil at the 2021 Olympic Games.
Secondly, we have Lin Yun-Ju. At age 19, he is a player who is a slightly later bloomer than Harimoto. It was at the Czech Open, the same tournament in which Harimoto beat Boll in final to win his first senior title, that I first noticed Lin Yun Ju. It was him against Calderano, and it was the thrill from Brazil that advanced 4-3. It made me think, “wow, maybe this is the lad that will lead the Taipei team once Chuang Chih Yuan retires”. It was when he beat Ovtcharov (a year after Ovtcharov had a dream season) in the round of 32 at the Austrian Open that he really entered my potential radar. Although I knew it was possible as I’d seen it with Harimoto, little did I know that only two years later the young assassin would be beating the likes of Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Boll and pretty much every other player in the world’s top 20. His achievements include winning the T2 Diamond Malasia, coming runner up in the T2 Diamond Singapore, winning the Oman Open and also the Czech Open. In the Youth Olympics though, he did loose to Harimoto 4-3 in the semi-final, but as I have said before to people, the legends of the game are defined by how good they were as seniors, not juniors. Lin is currently ranked only two places behind Tomokazu at number 7 in the world. He will be, as it stands, Taiwan’s number 1 player at the Tokyo Olympics. Lin Yun Ju participates in the T League, where he impressed as one of the most undefeated players (He beat Harimoto 3-0 last season). Due to his incredible rise, he was invited to participate in the Chinese Super League in the same team as Liang Jingkun, Zhou Qihao and other amazing Chinese National Team players. Young Lin helped his team reach the final, but Ma Long got his revenge on Lin from a couple of days before where the Silent Assassin beat the Dragon 3-1. As an extra talking point, do you see Lin Yun Ju playing in the Chinese Super League as smart? Would being exposed to the Chinese be more of an advantage, or disadvantage to Lin Yun Ju in the future? Harimoto doesn’t play it, so why do you think this is? I bet it’s because Harimoto and his father/coach/coaches don’t want the Chinese to get used to his playing style. Lin Yun Ju is growing in confidence, developing his power to match his control and consistency, and already looks as though there are little gaps in his game. And aren’t his serves just incredibly beautiful, especially the long one!
Last, but absolutely not least, is Mr. Firepower, Wang Chuqin. He shares the bad boy demeanour with Zhang Jike which I love, but also his willingness to learn. Despite being the eldest out of the three top youngsters at 20 years old, and the lowest ranked at 14, he is in my opinion better than Lin Yun Ju and Harimoto. First and foremost, lets talk about exposure. The Japanese, for example, have adopted a system where they introduce their junior players into the senior circuit because they belive it gives them the experience under pressure, and helps them learn about how to become a world class senior before they leave the junior age group. I must say, it seems to be working- just look at Harimoto, Yukiya Uda, and Shunsuke Togami as examples. They are already incredible senior players. On the other hand, China has a system where they prefer to train their young players up against the top seniors behind the scenes/walls of the CNT, and releases them at a slightly later stage. This also happens as the strength in depth is so immense in China, so its only the big 4, plus whoever is in sufficient form, who are selected to play world tours. It is because of these two reasons that Wang Chuqin is lower ranked than Harimoto and Lin Yun-Ju, not because of his lesser ability. Just look at Wang Chuqin at the Youth Olympics, after hardly playing any junior world tours. He swept away everyone, including Harimoto in the final. Harimoto has never beaten Wang out of a few encounters, although Lin has once at the 2019 China Open in the pre rounds. Wang Chuqin has another world title that neither Harimoto or Lin possesses - a world doubles title. Despite not being selected to play the singles at the 2019 WTTC, China put their young Chuqin alongside Captain Long. It was Wang’s first event, and only so far, at a World Championship. Is it significant that Wang Chuqin was put with Ma Long? Yes I think so. I believe China have huge plans for Wang Chuqin. They want him to be the best thing since Ma Long. Although he is a World Cup Master, Fan Zhendong isn’t taking his chances at the World’s. I have a very big feeling Wang will be playing the singles next time, especially if he can further increase his ranking of 14, and the way he has been playing lessens the chance of Fan winning a title. I’m not sure if the world is ready for how crazy Wang will be playing at his World Championship debut. It may be now or never for Fan. Wang also plays in the same Super League team as Ma Long. Not a bad role model to train and compete with, ay? As long as he learns from throwing his racket and getting a 3-month ban, which I’m sure he will, it’ll be so hard to stop Wang Chuqin. Another factor which is worth considering is styles. Harimoto is a right hander, Wang and Lin are left handers. It’s a common conception that left handers are at a slight advantage. Left handers are rarer; therefore, they have more practice playing against right handers than right handers have against left handers. However, there hasn’t been a left-handed World Champion or Olympic Champion since I can remember, so perhaps the jubilant Japanese junior won’t be too worried about facing Wang and Lin for that reason. It’ll be interesting to see, however, if Wang Chuqin or Lin can break that trend. Is table tennis, it is sport, so of course it’s about who is better on the day. On the big stages, that’s mostly down to who the coolest is under pressure. All three of these players already have these qualities, so we will have to see who does the best in the long term.
Some of you may find the fact that I see Lin Yun Ju as more of a future prospect than Harimoto as controversial. These are my reasons:
· His serves are more varied and unpredictable
· He plays at a better distance away from the table than Harimoto.
· Harimoto can be too passive when moved around the table, especially on the forehand
· Lin has a better win/loss ratio. You can check ittf stats to see this
· Lin is better at creating space to return shots that are placed into his middle area.
· A bit less relevant, but Lin Yun Ju is a better doubles player than Harimoto.
In conclusion, I see Wang as the best young talent, Lin as the second best, and Harimoto as the third.
Thank you for reading my article! I have a few questions for you all. I’d love to see your answers
1. Do you agree with my choices and the order I’ve chosen?
2. Are there any players who I haven’t mentioned that you think should be in the top 3 young players?
3. Who is your favourite young player (let’s say who is 21 or younger) ?
And of course, if there’s any questions you’d like to ask me, fire away !
Thank you!
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