London 2012 Olympics (Singles)

[Tommy Lee]

New poster here. Have a question for everyone:

How secretive are the top Chinese players (Zhang Jike and Wang Hao) about what blade/rubbers they use? I have been searching this stuff in English and it seems like some of it only trickles out when people on the web find great close-up photos. Or are they players actively endorsing the products in China, and it's just hard to find details in English? (It's hard to tell how accurate/up-to-date the equipment listings are.)

Thanks!

As I know, Wang Hao :
BladeHS H-WH
Rubber: Forhand TG3 39/40, backhand hand SRIVER-L

 

[mgpyone]

wow .. first match becomes very competitive .. reach until Zhang JK 18 - 16 Wang Hao

 

[yurybarquero]

How I would have loved to see the final between Zhang Jike and Ma Long . Lucky Zhang Jike.

 

[Blackbird74]

Men's Singles Gold Medal match result:

ZHANG Jike [CHN] 4-1 WANG Hao [CHN] 18-16,11-5,11-6,10-12,13-11,-,-

ZHANG Jike [CHN] wins Gold

WANG Hao [CHN] wins Silver

 

[Giangt]

My prediction was right! Congrats to the olympic champion 2012 ZJK, but unfortunate for Wang Hao this was probably his last OL

 

[mgpyone]

Woa.. The GOLD MEDAL GOES TO ZHANG JIKE !!!

 

[Davott]

Congratulations to ZJK, he really does deserve it.

 

[Tommy Lee]

Wang Hao 3 olympics silver medals, what's a pity !

 

[joonpill]

Glad I got to watch the stream online, great match! Zhang Jike was too strong and consistent, simply amazing. I'm very happy for him, he is great fun to watch... was smiling a lot during this match, wasn't he? Like he was enjoying it. He has that funny smile when he leans down when ready to receive the serve that looks like he's thinking "bring it, come on".

I'm also happy that they were so respectful and nice to each other during (that edge ball, lol) and after the match, always good to see good sportsmanship. Wang Hao, great sportsman and amazing players, 3 Olympic finals in singles is QUITE a feat.

I don't see any chance of China not getting gold in team! Looking forward to some good matches there.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Zhang Jike, Gold Medal Winner: 4-1. In the 5th game he was down 1-6 and wins 13-11.

Final Match
ZHANG Jike CHNhttp://www.ittf.com/competitions/matches_per_player3.asp?P_ID=0&Competition_ID=2003
0 15:30 - 2/8/2012 - Table 1	4-1: ZHANG Jike
18-16,11-5,11-6,10-12,13-11,-,-
WANG Hao CHNhttp://www.ittf.com/competitions/matches_per_player3.asp?P_ID=0&Competition_ID=2003	http://www.ittf.com/competitions/ma...asp?competition_ID=2003&rnd=1&s_Event_Type=MS​

So Zhang Jike wins the World Championships, The World Cup and the Olympic Gold back to back to back and gets his Triple Crown faster than anyone has ever done it. And, he never had to face the only player he has trouble with, in any of those tournaments: Ma Long. But you cannot fault him for that. Ma Long's performance in the big tournaments had a lot to do with why Zhang Jike did not face him at any of those events.

And Zhang Jike clearly turns things up a notch in the big matches, whereas, sometimes, Ma Long seems to fall apart when the money is on the line. In the semi-finals at the World Championships, he was ripping Wang Hao apart and then Wang Hao used game tactics and slowed the pace down and Ma Long could not handle it.


Zhang Jike, Olympic Gold.

 

[strangeloop]

ZJK wins! As 52% of us predicted. Too bad people weren't selected on merit for participation in olympics. Robbed us of more great matches!

 

[scylla24]

dang impressive. Over the short span of only a year or so, ZJK has collected all three of the major titles in table tennis. He is the reigning champion in all three all at the same time.

Despite my belief that Ma Long is the better all around player, whether by bad luck on his part or good luck by ZJK, Ma Long now has a lot of catching up to do in terms of the big trophies.

Either way, major props to ZJK. He now knows an elite category of players to have won all majors at least once. He being only the 4th to do so in history.

 

[Tommy Lee]

next waiting for team match, it's a pity Ma Lin will not play...I miss his wonderful hitting...

 

[ttmonster]

Congratulations to Zhang Jike !!! He is the deserving winner and he played likea winner through most part of the final. BTW, since the commentary was really crappy I had turned it off to natural sound, can anybody enlighten me on what Zhang was claiming ( was it an edge) during the brief stop in play had in the 5th set or was it 4th ?

 

[Tommy Lee]

Zhang Jike think he hit the edge, but Wang Hao didn't think so. The point was awarded to WangHao

 

[YosuaYosan]

No shirt ripped, no pants ripped (like I hoped ).. Clear sign of maturity in Zhang Jike..

I am also amazed at his sense of destiny.. Now he has won a Grand Slam and he deserved it..
Never been I'm such a fan of a table tennis player in person, esp. Chinese players but I think for Zhang Jike I will give an exception..

Congrats, Olympic, World and World Cup champion, Grand Slammer Zhang Jike. You, Sir, totally deserved it.
I admire your greatness as a person and as a player..

Now go out there and do something for our dying sport in this dying world..

 

[jmillsy2]

at least he didnt take off his shirt this time lol
im so gutted for wang hao though, unfortunately i think he will now always be the 'nearly man' :/ despite having won the other two majors, i think eventually he'll be remembered as the man with 3 olympic silvrs rather than anything else, which is unfortunate as he is a great player and has truly revolutionized the penhold style...just like joo did with defence, he is a very important figure in the development of our sport, and lets not forget that!

 

[ttmonster]

Yosua ... if I am not wrong you wanted it the other way ... you hoped ZJK rips his pants and we had a little bit of fun with that ..... ... but yes he will remembered like Rod Laver , having achieved the grandslam consecutively almost like the first one to reach the everest summit.

And ... you need to have a sense of destiny and the lady luck to achieve such a monumental feat . I just thought Zhang Jike and Wang Hao holding the Chinese Flag at the end of the final was almost like telling the IOC and ITTF , you cannot stop us even if you let only 2 of us compete in the event !! I liked that ! I still feel that we were deprived of high quality matches and the real olympic final ( Ma Long vs Zhang Jike ) due to this ridiculous rule........... but anyways Zhang Jike rules !!

No shirt ripped, no pants ripped (like I hoped ).. Clear sign of maturity in Zhang Jike..

I am also amazed at his sense of destiny.. Now he has won a Grand Slam and he deserved it..
Never been I'm such a fan of a table tennis player in person, esp. Chinese players but I think for Zhang Jike I will give an exception..

Congrats, Olympic, World and World Cup champion, Grand Slammer Zhang Jike. You, Sir, totally deserved it.
I admire your greatness as a person and as a player..

Now go out there and do something for our dying sport in this dying world..

 

[TurboS1]

Can somebody share the 3rd place final ?

 

[Steven]

About the 3rd place match... It's so sad for Chuang. He has been in the top 10 in the world for such a long time but he never really won a prize at the big tournaments. You could see he gave everything he had for that medal because it would've been the crown on his career. But everytime he had problems when he's leading during the game. Against Wang Hao he was 1-1 10-8 up, and he lost that game 10-12. Same happened twice today against Ovtcharov.
Ovtcharov on the other hand is playing great at he moment. I think he's actually passing Boll right now. Not (yet) in the rankings, but I feel like Boll just can't keep up with him anymore.