Tahl Leibovitz (USA) Table Tennis Highlights

[UpSideDownCarl]

This is a video of my friend Tahl Leibovitz. He is a pretty amazing player. He is a handicapped player. A guy who coached him when he was a kid said of him: "Tahl has amazing talent. But the reason Tahl is so good is, he is a fighter. He is not afraid of anything and he will fight for every point. He has the true desire to win and that is why he has accomplished so much." Amoung other things, in 1996 he won a Gold Medal in singles at the Atlanta Paralympic games.

 

[ttmonster]

Wow !!! He is really good !! Whats his rating in USATT , 2200 + or more ? And who did he beat in the last game in the video , was it Dora ? she looked a little taller though but the penultimate rally was really awesome !!

 

[ttmonster]

Wow !!! He is really good !! Whats his rating in USATT , 2200 + or more ? And who did he beat in the last game in the video , was it Dora ? she looked a little taller though but the penultimate rally was really awesome !! Wow just checked its 2430 !!! He is something !!!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I would have to look at his current USATT rating, but he fluctuates between 2450 and 2550. I believe he has broken 2600 at some point.

 

[Johnny Pocket]

He's amazing!

Looks like a handicapped version of Waldner!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I got a chance to look. His highest rating was 2531 in 2002. There are a few other times where he is over 2500. Mostly he is I. The 2400 range but there are a few times where he drops into the 2300s and even 2200s. But I have seen him on good days play solid 2500-2600 level play.


And yes that is Dora Kurimay at the end of the video. I almost forgot to add that.


Yep, I think Tahl is an inspiration.

 

[Der_Echte]

Tahl knows theory and can apply it/teach it.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

If you noticed from the video, how often Tahl switches hands, he is really pretty good left handed. I had a chance to play against him today and in the last game he played left handed. He beat me easily with his left hand. Before me he played a friend of mine who is between 2000 and 2100 (USATT rating). In the last game against my friend, Tahl played left handed and was up 10-1 and won 11-3. But the two points he lost at the end, he was clearly goofing around. I think he could be over 2200 with his left hand.

The amount of touch he has when he plays is amazing. With a table tennis racket, it is really like he is an artist.

 

[Der_Echte]

Tahl is ALWAYS talking trash about defeating someone Lefty Penhold over at about.com TT forum... and I think he can back it up to a decent level. However, the only ones he directs such dialogue towards are the ones at about.com TT forum who are haughty, have a grossly over-rated view of their level, are aggressive in-your-face posters, or someone who rubs Tahl the wrong way. Sometimes Tahl is in a grouchy mood (or an exuberant one) and has a nice own rant no one saw coming. Tahl has got to work on his grouchiness to get to my level though. Even if I am not from NYC, I can appreciate the don't judge too quick & get off my back view of its citizens. Usually, it is someone who has no clue of elite amature TT workings trying to talk like they know it and are telling Tahl how to operate. Tahl seems to (rightfully) take a little pleasure in ribbing these kind of posters in a "keep it real" NYC style. It gets hilarious when Tahl gets in such a mode. Show Tahl this post and ask him what he thinks. maybe one day I visit NYC before I retire and link up with you, and maybe run into Tahl or some of your TT friends for a hit.

 

[Der_Echte]

When Tahl talks about being able to compete at 2500-2600 level and some about.com posters point out that his match results from his USATT history do not exactly support it, they are right on one level and stick it in Tahl's face, but what they do not know, since they never made it near Tahl's level, is that in certain periods, all the things a player needs to be top-notch match shape at certain times come together and you are playing a level or so better. Elite athletes strive for this to occur right at a tourney and call it "Peaking" for a tourney and do not give a crap about match results in warm-up tourneys, just that they work on and test/fine tune certain aspects of their game, not concentrating on practicing winning, they do that enough. The about.com posting crowd gives Tahl a lot of grief when he talks about these things, but Tahl is enough of a big boy to take it, and sometimes toss it in their face a bit.

One time, a year or two or three back, Tahl started a thread about "too extreme" where ironically, he had a match vs Dora K where he lost his temper just a bit and asked the forum about whether he was extreme or not. haha, that thread was solid LULZ as the about.com opened up vs Tahl on that thread. Tahl is a choir boy if you compare him to some of my Der_Echte moments from some of my matches in Korean clubs, not even tourneys. Haha, I just wanted to win too much. Tahl is a player our sport needs more of.