Top disappointments of the year (2024)

Merry Christmas TableTennisDaily and all the forum members! The year is almost over, and what a year for table tennis 2024 was. Loads of great moments took place this year, but also a lot of disappointments, whether it be a terrible 3-0 loss or a big lead choke. Here are a few of my notable disappointments this year

2024 ITTF World Cup MS F
Ma Long 4-3 Lin Gaoyuan

Lin Gaoyuan repeated his 2022 Champions ESS Performance, losing to Ma Long after being 3-0 up. Poor guy might lose his CNT spot to Xiang Peng or Xu Yingbin soon.

2024 Paris Olympic Games MS R32
Wang Chuqin 2-4 Truls Moregard

A huge upset and also a massive disappointment for many, this was one of the many upsets suffered by Wang Chuqin, and while I could put all of his upsets in this list, this olympic loss to Moregard was the crushing one.

2024 Paris Olympic Games MT SF
Tomokazu Harimoto 2-3 Anton Kallberg

Man, Tomokazu 2-0 up against Kallberg, about to send Japan to the Gold medal match, only to choke to the Swede. I was heartbroken to see him on the ground after the loss. What’s worse, Team Japan couldn’t even get the bronze.

2024 Saudi Smash WS R32
Manika Batra 3-1 Wang Manyu

This loss for Wang Manyu at the saudi smash was the reason she did not get the singles spot for olympics, added on the fact that Chen Meng won that whole tournament. Probably Wang’s most disappointing moment so far.

2024 Paris Olympic Games WS QF
Shin Yubin 4-3 Miu Hirano

3-0 down, Hirano did the impossible and came back to 3-3, only for all that to be for nothing as Shin Yubin won the decider. The heartbroken Hirano lost the chance for an all China+Japan podium at the olympics.

2024 U.S. National Championships MS QF
Kanak Jha 4-3 Darryl Tsao

This one is a real sleeper since most of you won’t watch US nationals, but you can find the livestream for this match. Tsao is one of US’s most promising youngsters, and he was 3-0 up against the best American man Kanak Jha. But unfortunately for Tsao, Jha came back to win 4-3 and ultimately win the whole US Nationals unsurprisingly. But imagine if Tsao just won one more game, then we could’ve saw a new face for the US national winner.

These are my disappointments of the year, let me know all of yours, and hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
 
Dissapointments???
Upset maybe but dissapointments…

Cheers
L-zr
It is definitely a disappointment but not necessarily an upset, like the ML-LGY match, SYB-Hirano match or the Tsao-Jha match.
 
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Merry Christmas TableTennisDaily and all the forum members! The year is almost over, and what a year for table tennis 2024 was. Loads of great moments took place this year, but also a lot of disappointments, whether it be a terrible 3-0 loss or a big lead choke. Here are a few of my notable disappointments this year

2024 ITTF World Cup MS F
Ma Long 4-3 Lin Gaoyuan

Lin Gaoyuan repeated his 2022 Champions ESS Performance, losing to Ma Long after being 3-0 up. Poor guy might lose his CNT spot to Xiang Peng or Xu Yingbin soon.

2024 Paris Olympic Games MS R32
Wang Chuqin 2-4 Truls Moregard

A huge upset and also a massive disappointment for many, this was one of the many upsets suffered by Wang Chuqin, and while I could put all of his upsets in this list, this olympic loss to Moregard was the crushing one.

2024 Paris Olympic Games MT SF
Tomokazu Harimoto 2-3 Anton Kallberg

Man, Tomokazu 2-0 up against Kallberg, about to send Japan to the Gold medal match, only to choke to the Swede. I was heartbroken to see him on the ground after the loss. What’s worse, Team Japan couldn’t even get the bronze.

2024 Saudi Smash WS R32
Manika Batra 3-1 Wang Manyu

This loss for Wang Manyu at the saudi smash was the reason she did not get the singles spot for olympics, added on the fact that Chen Meng won that whole tournament. Probably Wang’s most disappointing moment so far.

2024 Paris Olympic Games WS QF
Shin Yubin 4-3 Miu Hirano

3-0 down, Hirano did the impossible and came back to 3-3, only for all that to be for nothing as Shin Yubin won the decider. The heartbroken Hirano lost the chance for an all China+Japan podium at the olympics.

2024 U.S. National Championships MS QF
Kanak Jha 4-3 Darryl Tsao

This one is a real sleeper since most of you won’t watch US nationals, but you can find the livestream for this match. Tsao is one of US’s most promising youngsters, and he was 3-0 up against the best American man Kanak Jha. But unfortunately for Tsao, Jha came back to win 4-3 and ultimately win the whole US Nationals unsurprisingly. But imagine if Tsao just won one more game, then we could’ve saw a new face for the US national winner.

These are my disappointments of the year, let me know all of yours, and hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Dec-2024 some normal social game
Gozo 3 vs 4 U13 district champion

Gozo was leading 3-0 and in G4, Gozo was up 5-1. After the game, the father of the player came up to me and said, thanks Gozo for going easy on my kid. In my heart I was like, I tried my best to beat your kid but he got side coaching ( his dad is his side coach ) while I did not have any.
 
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It is definitely a disappointment but not necessarily an upset, like the ML-LGY match, SYB-Hirano match or the Tsao-Jha match.
indeed,
Tsao surely is disappointed for not winning that close encounter with a player that is much better than him.
can't say Tsao is upset about it, so disappointed is the right word.

Hopefully Darryl can become even stronger. His summer vocation in Taiwan has helped him greatly I believe.
 
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Watching how Chen Meng won Paris, but got booed and disrespected by the crowed and also not seeing any real cheer for her from the coaches and teammates (yes there were some claps, but didn't look like cheers).

That to me, is probably the saddest and disappointing moment of table tennis in 2024 and to make it worst, it was broadcasted live to probably one of the most audiences of the year too.

for those that not in table tennis - it sure is a very terrible image to show that there isn't any olympic spirit in celebrating your team mate, or victory from one of the athletes for your country.
 
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Watching how Chen Meng won Paris, but got booed and disrespected by the crowed and also not seeing any real cheer for her from the coaches and teammates (yes there were some claps, but didn't look like cheers).

That to me, is probably the saddest and disappointing moment of table tennis in 2024 and to make it worst, it was broadcasted live to probably one of the most audiences of the year too.

for those that not in table tennis - it sure is a very terrible image to show that there isn't any olympic spirit in celebrating your team mate, or victory from one of the athletes for your country.
If this is the case, I am wondering why is CM still in CNT? I am sure she can demand anything she wants as a player or coach in another country. She would be welcomed with open arms and red carpet.
 
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If this is the case, I am wondering why is CM still in CNT? I am sure she can demand anything she wants as a player or coach in another country. She would be welcomed with open arms and red carpet.
Chen Meng is a salaried employee firstly, and would have a contract to fulfill.
There have been over the years, some that left with no fight, and some moved abroad to continue a TT career as a player or coach.
I guess it all lies with the player and what he or she wants.

Chen Meng has been playing for 90% of her life. I can relate if she doesn't want to have the trouble of immigrating and continue playing internationally.

She would also likely get a golden handshake from CNT in return for a peaceful retirement (just like so many western corporate in the world would offer employees, including signing a NDA)
 
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For me WCQ loss to Moregard was one of best things to happen for TableTennis this year (unless you are WCQ). I think it made Olympic tournament much more interesting, I think FZD vs Truls final also avoided any risk of the “wrong” player winning, so everybody was happy with the gold medal, (unless you’re European).
 
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If this is the case, I am wondering why is CM still in CNT? I am sure she can demand anything she wants as a player or coach in another country. She would be welcomed with open arms and red carpet.
Maybe true 20 years ago. They make so much in China now (even after retirement from international competitions) that Europe and the rest of the world are not attractive anymore.
 
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Watching how Chen Meng won Paris, but got booed and disrespected by the crowed and also not seeing any real cheer for her from the coaches and teammates (yes there were some claps, but didn't look like cheers).
I love watching Chen Meng play, for me I think she shows a lot of intelligence, she’s constantly changing the problems that she poses her opponent with her subtle variations of placement, spin and speed + she has the power to blast winners when the time is right.
 
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My biggest disappointment of 2024: My favorite female player Wu Yangchen retired from CNT. Side note: Strangely, she was seated in the Olympics women's final between CM and SYS right next to her former coach Ma Lin and his staff, whose faces all froze after the victory of CM.

 
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My biggest disappointment of 2024: My favorite female player Wu Yangchen retired from CNT. Side note: Strangely, she was seated in the Olympics women's final between CM and SYS right next to Ma Long's squad.

i think being a penholder has very little value in the women's team. unlike men's team, you could be a very high in demand Felix clone practice partner.
quite a few womens retired this year, WYC is the youngest if I am correct.
 
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Most matches in the OP's list are rightfully disappointments rather than upsets if you compare the H2H between the players.

ML (WR4/Seedless) vs LGY (WR8/Seedless)
7 H2H 2 before World Cup 2024

The best and likely the last chance for LGY to win a World Title.

WCQ (WR1/Seed #1) vs Moregard (WR26/Seed #19)
8 H2H 0 before Paris 2024
(9 H2H 1 now)
Definitely "a huge upset and a massie disappointment for many", especially Prince's Mom.

Harimoto (WR9/Seed #6) vs Kallberg (WR25/Seed #18) in MT SF
4 H2H 4 before Paris 2024
(5 H2H 5 now), ignoring Harimoto 2-1 at XTwC 2023, which is not counted by ITTF
As one Tieba user pointed out, Harimoto has always had a hard time playing Kallberg.

Batra (WR39) vs WMY (WR2/Seed #2)
0 H2H 5 before Saudi Smash 2024

Another upset and disappointment. The match that cost WMY the WS spot for Paris 2024 (CM: I owe you one, Batra).

SYB (WR8/Seed #4) vs Hirano (WR13/Seed #8)
1 H2H 1 before Paris 2024

As Tieba users pointed out, had Hirano gotten 1 of those 2 match points, she could've won the bronze medal at a minimum given Hayata's injured hand. What's much less explored is that she could've given CM a serious challenge as she had come close to winning twice at WTTC 2021 and Asian Games 2022, where Hirano had the lead both times.
 
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as a fan of togami it was disappointing to see him lose to karlsson in the olympic teams match. if he won that game japan make it to the final, with no need for harimoto to do all the heavy lifting as usual.

he had beaten him 3-0 earlier in the year at wtt doha but it seems the trajectory of the matchup has changed as togami lost again last week 3-1 in the bundesliga.
 
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