ITTF WTTC Finals Doha 2025, 5/17-25

[NextLevel]

Anyone know when the Japanese civil war is scheduled?

they finally scheduled it. Lots of matches tomorrow so why this fast turn around for some players?

 

[zeio]

should tell the same to JNT ... come on , Kenji ???

Matsushima: Don't try me.

 

[JackJohnson]

should tell the same to JNT ... come on , Kenji ???

Makes no sense to select players that way by using trials. Both China and Japan need to stop selecting players this way. I really wanted to see players like XP, Sora, Hashimoto/Sato play.

It feels criminal that Hashimoto/Sato can’t play WD where I reckon they are No 1 ranked Japanese WD players. They did beat Odo/Yokoi last year at WTT Finals. I feel like JNT has something against them and never wants to select them. Hashimoto is also a great singles player as well and deserves more chances. She did beat Zhu Yuling in the final at Contender Taiyuan.

 

[crystalline]

Chinese fans were pretty loud after LGY's loss. Anyone know what they said?

They said “Gaoyuan best of luck in the doubles”, I think some of them are Lin’s fans in particular (as opposed to Chinese fans in general sense), they were shouting encouraging words to him during the match later stage

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Zeng has levelled up for this event. Clearly more consistent than before.

well, 2 thanks you to Taiwan.

1), trained in Taiwan for the buildup (the whole SG team).
2) Huang had 4 match points and didn't take it.

never the less, 2 x 4-3 marathon in a row.
well played!

 

[zeio]

RAKOVAC playing fearlessly against SUH Hyowon...

Now the pressure is on Odo to prove her WR and back up her WTT CS Montpellier 2024 title.

 

[jfolsen]

Two things:
1. Sweden-Germany doubles, the TTR system failed to identify an obvious edge and called it side
2. Not sure if it has been said, but Japanese television usually makes special arrangements for broadcasting with the tournament, that is why Japanese players are always on table 2. It was true in the Houston 2021 Worlds also.

 

[vvk1]

Losing big leads is always choking if we uae that angle, but why dont we also say that Quadri choked to give Duda a 9-3 lead? In reality, what shots did Duda not play that he could have played? Quadri hit a lot of winners so we need to be careful when we call any loss of a big lead choking. Maybe he let the lead go and relaxed too much, but he didnt juat start playing bad table tennis. I think Quadri keeping it close in game 6 was what swung it after losing terribly in that end of the table in prior games.

I've lost 9:3 leads and I'm sure you had as well. There is a reason why that is called choking - because the player with the lead tries to play it too safe, waiting for the other guy to make a mistake and so on. It never happens because the other guy suddenly remembers he can smash you off the table 9 times in a row.

At the level of experienced world-class players like Duda and Quadri the differences between winning or losing are tiny anyway so even the slightest drop of concentration or hezitation could be fatal. So players with that level of experience are expected be able to deal with it/find a way around it.

That's why I called it choking on Duda's part. Had Quadri lost that game 3:11, there is a very good chance he would have lost the next one too. And then I (or someone else) would have probably said that it was Quadri who had choked. But he did not, kept playing his game and that's why he won.

 

[Robin0910]

The taiwanese men’s doubles pair is insanely good. They’re very well synchronised

 

[Peter93]

CTTA gonna give Lin Gaoyuan the Old Yeller treatment after this performance.

 

[zeio]

MD R16
T1 Karlsson/Falck (14) 3-2 Duda/QD (11, 9, -11, -9, 7)

T3 KCJ/LYJ 3-2 HYZ/LJK (-3, 8, 11, -13, 4)
Same problem for Huang Youzheng, coupled with "doubles blackhole" LJK coined by CNT fans.

T4 Elbeiali/Abdelaziz 3-0 WY/Angelakis (8, 9, 7)

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Continuing the scheduling theme, Kanak shouldn't complain too much, some players are going to play two matches in one day tomorrow - play the morning schedule and if they win, return to play the evening schedule, sometimes against players who played the previous day and have rested if they don't have doubles...

Playing two matches in 1 day, if in the same hall, that is actually better than Kanak's example - which he had to endure additional logistic headache - which is wasting a lot of hours to be honest.

I know players would prefer this 2 matches on same day, so they can be on sight preparing, than late evening match and then am match.

overall, players health (and meals) isn't really factored in table tennis tournaments in the world as far as I have experienced.

 

[travelt123]

CTTA gonna give Lin Gaoyuan the Old Yeller treatment after this performance.

Nah, they're going to banish him off the team for sure since there's no hope for him. His whole career has consisted of choking, even making Hao Shuai look like a champion.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

he really is the GLOAT

 

[Infernal]

This Gauzy vs LGY match might actually be the most insane match I've ever seen. Gauzy is in full ridiculous Gauzy mode and it's beautiful to watch.

HE DID IT!

After so many close calls with Chinese team opponents, he beats LGY convincingly 4-1 playing as insane as possible.

Hi Michael-Mazed him.

 

[NextLevel]

I've lost 9:3 leads and I'm sure you had as well. There is a reason why that is called choking - because the player with the lead tries to play it too safe, waiting for the other guy to make a mistake and so on. It never happens because the other guy suddenly remembers he can smash you off the table 9 times in a row.

At the level of experienced world-class players like Duda and Quadri the differences between winning or losing are tiny anyway so even the slightest drop of concentration or hezitation could be fatal. So players with that level of experience are expected be able to deal with it/find a way around it.

That's why I called it choking on Duda's part. Had Quadri lost that game 3:11, there is a very good chance he would have lost the next one too. And then I (or someone else) would have probably said that it was Quadri who had choked. But he did not, kept playing his game and that's why he won.

My point still stands that did Quadri choke to give Duda the 9-3 lead? Getting a lead depends on many things and it isnt always in the control of the player like we tell stories to believe. I like to look at specific decisions or choices of the player or certain points to infer choking. It is always possible to lose to someone who starts making shots they were missing prior or who starts hitting thr ball harder because they have no othe options left. Is that choking? No, the other olayer raised their game and you couldn't adjust. Now if Duda missed a few shots under pressure, that is choking. For the whole match, Duda won more points than Quadri epaecially because of game 2. Quadri juat won the critical ones at the right time including the comeback in game 5.

So I get your position but I think the choking claim for losing a big lead is too often used to cover up an absence of analysis. With true choking, mindfulness needs to make you play worse and your opponent needs to not have played that well to win. Neither was the case for Duda or Quadri in my opinion but there is a reason these things are subjective

 

[NextLevel]

Some of the US East coast players may have noticed that Quadri was being coached against Duda by Fanny Kokou of Togo who plays and coaches at the Westchester TT club in New York. Congrats to him on a great job.

 

[zeio]

Makes no sense to select players that way by using trials. Both China and Japan need to stop selecting players this way. I really wanted to see players like XP, Sora, Hashimoto/Sato play.

It feels criminal that Hashimoto/Sato can’t play WD where I reckon they are No 1 ranked Japanese WD players. They did beat Odo/Yokoi last year at WTT Finals. I feel like JNT has something against them and never wants to select them. Hashimoto is also a great singles player as well and deserves more chances. She did beat Zhu Yuling in the final at Contender Taiyuan.

CTTA has been selecting players for WTTC this way since 2006. The issue this year is the late timing and so it was very rushed, as the entry deadline was the day after World Cup 2025 ended, IIRC. KM didn't even have time to rest while WYD, CXT and LJK were exempt. Instead of the typical RR, it was double elimination on the same day, KO 1 in bo5, KO 2 in bo3.

KO 1:
QF
LGY 3-2 Sun Zheng
ZQH 3-1 HYZ
XYB 3-2 CYY
XP 3-0 XF
SF
LGY 3-2 ZQH
XP 1-3 XYB
F
LGY 3-1 XYB to win the 4th spot

KO 2:
QF
Bye for XYB
Sun Zheng 2-0 ZQH
CYY 2-1 HYZ
XF 2-0 XP
SF
Sun Zheng 2-0 XYB
XF 2-1 CYY
F
XF 2-0 XP to win the 5th spot
(Click the first Tieba link for detailed scores.)

For JTTA, Miki House, where Shibata/Sato/Hashimoto were formerly under and Odo/Yokoi are now the leading figures, is to blame for the current selection system. They filed a complaint (last link below) against the JTTA over the WTTC 2015 WD selection, where Fukuhara/Wakamiya (who didn't enter that year's All-Japan TTC because of the rule that both must have the same affiliation) and Ito/Hirano were selected over Ishikawa (used to be under Miki House before switching to Zennoh)/Hirano Sayaka. Their rationale was that Ishikawa/Hirano Sayaka were the reigning and back-to-back All-Japan WD Champions and so called for the selection system to be reformed with more transparency. Ever since then, JTTA could only form doubles pairs based on the eligible singles players (4 ineligible players in total allowed across MD/WD/XD events for WTTC 2025). For WTTC 2025, the ATTC 2024 selection trial determined 1 singles spot, and the WR 2 weeks ahead of the entry deadline determined another singles spot. In both cases, Hashimoto and Sato lost to Odo and Ito, respectively. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/wtt-contender-taiyuan-2025.36976/post-518769

Nope, the full lineups were announced last month, but it was a done deal way before then when Hashimoto and Sato missed the ATTC 2024 after both of them failed to beat Odo in the selection trial and their rankings were below that of Ito. If Sato beat Odo in F (Hashimoto lost to Odo in SF) and got the WS spot, then Hashimoto would've been selected for WD, just like Yokoi got selected for WD because Odo got the WS spot.

ミキハウスが平野・石川組の代表落選で抗議文を提出予定
https://world-tt.com/ps_info/ps_report_detail.php?bn=000001&pg=HEAD&page=BACK&rpcdno=1691#1691

 

[JesperStef]

With this win Simon Gauzy has now beaten Chinese players in TWO different World Championships in the Men’s singles event! 🏓💪😀

Which other non-Chinese players have done this since Waldner (and possibly Persson?) in the 80s and 90s? 🤔

Boll beat Chen Qi in 2011 and Zhou Qihao in 2021, but apart from him, I’m not sure that we can find anyone else since the 90s? 🔎

 

[Persistence TT]

Big win for gauzy, but I must say I am totally disgusted and appalled by his total lack of fair play.

He definitely does it on purpose, it cannot be a coincidence, whenever he gets awarded a point unfairly, he instantly acts like he deserved it and starts debating if the sky is blue or not.

Congrats for his performance, but what a f***ing clown he is.