Saudi Smash 2024

[NextLevel]

I love the honesty of WCT and DHK - paraphrasing roughly, WCQ and SYS are at a super level so we learn a lot from them.

 

[NextLevel]

Did I count wrong? Patrick had 5 lucky points on 5th set include 2 very important points at 10-8?

You are over thinking this, he won, that is all that matters. And no, you did not count wrong.

 

[quanghuysk]

dont get me wrong, he deserved the win but lucks were really favoured him today.
I had, not 1 but 2 times in the similar cases in my league match, worked f*cking hard on final set but opponent just got more lucks, you know how frustrate it was.
Feel sorry for FZD

You are over thinking this, he won, that is all that matters. And no, you did not count wrong.

 

[NextLevel]

dont get me wrong, he deserved the win but lucks were really favoured him today.
I had, not 1 but 2 times in the similar cases in my league match, worked f*cking hard on final set but opponent just got more lucks, you know how frustrate it was.
Feel sorry for FZD

Unless you have it on video, it is hard to be objective, memory tells self-serving stories. I felt equally effed in state champs but again, I didn't record it, I might just be remembering his nets and forgetting mine.

But yeah FZD is a hard luck man. Alexis edge on match point and this - sux!

 

[quanghuysk]

Unless you have it on video, it is hard to be objective, memory tells self-serving stories. I felt equally effed in state champs but again, I didn't record it, I might just be remembering his nets and forgetting mine.

But yeah FZD is a hard luck man. Alexis edge on match point and this - sux!

Checked and I had both 2 recorded.
1st one, my opponent even said "all my family say sorry to you" after his 5 or 6th lucks, we both laugh but I laughed bitterly. But that set, I ... won 13-11 and won the match
2nd one, I got 10-7 final set then lose 11-13.
That was really bitter man, that why I feel sorry for Fan today

 

[Egon]

Lately, looking at Fan, I get the impression that he is very tired of this race and wants to at least rest, and at most just live an ordinary life. And you can understand him, because he is still so young, and at the same time he is already rich and famous. Now, in a moment of fatigue, Fan is ready to give up his place to younger players. The question is, can they take this place?

 

[kindof99]

Lately, looking at Fan, I get the impression that he is very tired of this race and wants to at least rest, and at most just live an ordinary life. And you can understand him, because he is still so young, and at the same time he is already rich and famous. Now, in a moment of fatigue, Fan is ready to give up his place to younger players. The question is, can they take this place?

There was no fire in FZD's eyes, only cluelessness and carelessness.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Going by the rankings, going by the results, is it safe to say that Harimoto is NOT "best non-Chinese" anymore?

Does Lebrun deserve this title yet?

Or does Harimoto still deserve that title based on a single performance from 2022?

 

[TensorBackhand]

There was no fire in FZD's eyes, only cluelessness and carelessness.

I think this is the most vulnerable CNT has looked going into Olympics

 

[FIXPOINT]

 

[FIXPOINT]

 

[Jslick89]

Lately, looking at Fan, I get the impression that he is very tired of this race and wants to at least rest, and at most just live an ordinary life. And you can understand him, because he is still so young, and at the same time he is already rich and famous. Now, in a moment of fatigue, Fan is ready to give up his place to younger players. The question is, can they take this place?

How rich is Fan really? enough to retire already? Might be hard since he's still so young. Unless he wanted to join corporate china or something? But who would want to do that when you can play TT for living. Nothing wrong with being second best and being rich and famous lol.

 

[igorponger]

o

All the environment, with the only exception for the ball, is coloured in dismal black. Some insane vision innate to insane mind, indeed. This all looks like chronic mental perversion by WTT. Sorry.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Or does Harimoto still deserve that title based on a single performance from 2022?

what single performance are you referring to?

 

[turbozed]

what single performance are you referring to?

Probably means the day he beat FZD and WCQ in Chengdu.

Apparently being consistently a top player and beating nearly all of his non-Chinese opponents since then doesn't count. Or beating FZD in 2023. Only one day in 2022 should be acknowledged.

 

[blahness]

Felix Lebrun vs Harimoto was funny. When Harimoto served underspin or no spin, Felix put so much underspin in his long pushes and surprisingly Harimoto just couldn't lift the ball (??!!). And this forced Harimoto to serve sidetopspin, and Felix just did a very strong RPB chiquita (because he already knew it was sidetop) to pretty much win the point. Meanwhile Harimoto missed like 100 loops against Felix's long sideunderspin serves. I wonder how spinny they really are? I never seen Harimoto struggle that bad with opening loops vs fast long underspin lol.

It really shouldnt be that difficult for a player of his level.

 

[NextLevel]

Going by the rankings, going by the results, is it safe to say that Harimoto is NOT "best non-Chinese" anymore?

Does Lebrun deserve this title yet?

Or does Harimoto still deserve that title based on a single performance from 2022?

Felix Lebrun deserves the title for a year now. But Harimoto has been the best player outside the Chinese for the last 5 years even while he has disappointed quite a few times. That's juat backed up by statistics.

 

[NextLevel]

Probably means the day he beat FZD and WCQ in Chengdu.

Apparently being consistently a top player and beating nearly all of his non-Chinese opponents since then doesn't count. Or beating FZD in 2023. Only one day in 2022 should be acknowledged.

He has had his failures for sure (losing in the first round to Dyjas in Houston is the biggest one and then to Jorgic and An Jaehyun in the round of 16 at the Olympics in Japan and the WTTC in 2019), but the only real competition he has are LYJ, Dima, Boll and Calderano and if you just look at the records of all these players across all events, you just easily accept that Harimoto has been the best even with the failures. He lead Japan to bronze medals at the Olympics in men's teams and at the WTTC in Chengdu. He was a quarter finalist in the WTTC in Durban. He had some continental cup wins.

For some reason TBH has yet to realize and accept this and just wants to focus on Harimoto as a failure. No doubt, Harimoto may never get to where it was expected he would get to and Lebrun looks like the real deal. What I keep reminding people who write off Harimoto, Truls etc. Is that while you may be right, it is not smart to write hard working people off at young ages.

We didn't hear anything from TBH when Lebrun was beating LYJ equally badly. The Olympics will be Lebrun's first big test and I wish him the best. But so far, he has been definitely more consistent than Harimoto and in some what's equally if not more impressive in that he doesn't have the bad losses in events that Harimoto had vs European players playing with high risk.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Probably means the day he beat FZD and WCQ in Chengdu.

Apparently being consistently a top player and beating nearly all of his non-Chinese opponents since then doesn't count. Or beating FZD in 2023. Only one day in 2022 should be acknowledged.

still waiting for this "one performance" statistics from TB, since before it was zero performance, so it is some improvement in terms of maths skills

 

[turbozed]

He has had his failures for sure (losing in the first round to Dyjas in Houston is the biggest one and then to Jorgic and An Jaehyun in the round of 16 at the Olympics in Japan and the WTTC in 2019), but the only real competition he has are LYJ, Dima, Boll and Calderano and if you just look at the records of all these players across all events, you just easily accept that Harimoto has been the best even with the failures. He lead Japan to bronze medals at the Olympics in men's teams and at the WTTC in Chengdu. He was a quarter finalist in the WTTC in Durban. He had some continental cup wins.

For some reason TBH has yet to realize and accept this and just wants to focus on Harimoto as a failure. No doubt, Harimoto may never get to where it was expected he would get to and Lebrun looks like the real deal. What I keep reminding people who write off Harimoto, Truls etc. Is that while you may be right, it is not smart to write hard working people off at young ages.

We didn't hear anything from TBH when Lebrun was beating LYJ equally badly. The Olympics will be Lebrun's first big test and I wish him the best. But so far, he has been definitely more consistent than Harimoto and in some what's equally if not more impressive in that he doesn't have the bad losses in events that Harimoto had vs European players playing with high risk.

Agree with you here. And I think you mean LYJ beating Lebrun pretty badly recently. Also lost to Alexis in the ETTU event.

These players play so often and there are so many events that unless you are rock solid like the very top CNT players, there will always be losses on the record. And if you're inclined to want to believe one player or another is overrated, you will find vindication every few months when they eventually lose (unless that player is WCQ or SYS).
Consistency is still strangely underrated as an attribute for players though arguably it's equally as important as the upper bounds of playing talent. And maybe post-internet short term memory and attention span is even more attuned nowadays to focusing on the latest rising talent.

For anyone who wants to consider HT overrated as the big foreign threat, they will also have to present a viable alternative. So far the only one who fits that bill recently is Felix. But potential doesn't mean much if Felix doesn't add more scalps against the CNT. Objectively speaking, HT has accomplished more on that front in the past couple of years. Even in the past year, they both only have one big win against CNT core players (unless I'm forgetting some matches).

Edit: had a brainfart forgetting the results.