United States (US) Smash 2026, Los Angeles, California, USA 26 Jun - 5 Jul 2026

[NextLevel]

Really? I guess Nextlevel should step in here to ban someone talking like a 6 years old full of ego. Trust me, most people here understand math much better than you. And most importantly understand how this world works without thinking and talking like a 6 six years old and feeling that he is the only smart one.

If someone does something that you don't think belongs on the webboard, report them. Otherwise, we mostly just accept it as part of webboard functioning and try to be laissez faire. But if enough people report someone for being rude etc. at a certain point, hard choices need to be made.

 

[NextLevel]

The serve rules as they currently stand are stupidly inane. Rules say vertical toss, TTR gives you 30 DEGREES of freedom. Rules say arm and all obstructions must be removed immediately, that ball passing out of view at any moment of the serve is illegal, TTR only looks for if the moment of contact (from its viewpoint) was visible. How are we meant to adjudicate any of this at the amateur level??? We don't have TTR--the rules need to be clear and unobtrusive.

It's all silly but I guess they just don't have any good ideas on how to fix it. Pros looking for an edge will continue to try and cheat to the greatest degree possible and us amateurs will just be left scratching our heads because we can't tell our opponent their serve was 31 degrees instead of 30.

The two hidden service calls I saw looked at the ball throughout the toss, though the rule for some reason says any part of the ball must be visible throughout, which means partial obstruction at a point in the serve is permitted.

You are right that it is a terrible mess for the amateur game, and even worse for un-umpired game.

 

[M51]

 

[joshmak10]

Rules are rules, no matter how small you break the rule

 

[piligrim]

So what did Ma Long say about Harimoto playing Sidorenko? Curious....

Sidorenko is best non Chinese, non Japanese, non French and non Sweden player

 

[M51]

Sidorenko & Lind = DONIC POWER!

 

[NetProphet]

Really? I guess Nextlevel should step in here to ban someone talking like a 6 years old full of ego. Trust me, most people here understand math much better than you. And most importantly understand how this world works without thinking and talking like a 6 six years old and feeling that he is the only smart one.

I don't think I'm the only smart one.
But I seem to be the only one between you and me who can have a strong opinion while still respecting an opinion.
The service rules and the impact thereof have been debated for years in here and will continue to be.
You wanting differing opinions to be banned says a LOT about you and shows who the six yr old is in this instance.

 

[M51]

Rules are rules, no matter how small you break the rule

If we're gonna go pedantic, note that there is still at this time no such rule anywhere in the ITTF handbook that mentions a 30 degree angle.

The server shall then project the ball near vertically upwards

This is the letter of the law. The 30° nonsense is an arbitrary travesty.

 

[Sali]

I have been watching Sidorenko from some time, he was banned to play international stage due to war (he is russian). He play incredibly good, he has no fear and is very flexible. He also destroyed Duda few days ago. I think he is going to be top 20 soon.

 

[NextLevel]

Sidorenko is best non Chinese, non Japanese, non French and non Sweden player

Hugo...Dang... Hello (no that is not a player)....

But as usual, note the silence of the expert when his theory doesn't work out as well as expected.

The best thing about this experiment is that we get to see Truls play Vlad in a best of seven today.

 

[Metaxa]

The problem is Sun's forehand behind that annoying serve. Meshref has a beautiful classical topspin game (heavier rotation than pace) and a lefty advantage and that combo bothers some players more than others. But with Sun, if you cannot pressure the backhand, no chance.

Goda can certainly hold his own against Sun, though.
But almost all left-handers always have an advantage in one way or another.🤫

 

[Metaxa]

On a more serious note, it is sad that even with all the improved footwork and forehand that Harimoto has that he still doesn't want to win the games by going head to head from the start and keeps looking for cheap tricks to win points. He plays to the ranking of the opponent (though surely, the 3-0 victory by Sidorenko over Duda should have tipped him off)?

Hats off to Sidorenko. He turned Harimoto into a ball boy on many points.

It was written in the stars that it wasn’t going to work out against Sidorenko.

 

[kindof99]

I don't think I'm the only smart one.
But I seem to be the only one between you and me who can have a strong opinion while still respecting an opinion.
The service rules and the impact thereof have been debated for years in here and will continue to be.
You wanting differing opinions to be banned says a LOT about you and shows who the six yr old is in this instance.

I respect someone with strong opinions but still understanding what others people are talking about. But I don’t respect people that argue about stuff with words like’fxxx’, ‘shit’, ‘stupid’, ‘idiot’ when he does not understand something. Like nextlevel mentioned, this would be the last post I respond to you.

 

[kindof99]

I have been watching Sidorenko from some time, he was banned to play international stage due to war (he is russian). He play incredibly good, he has no fear and is very flexible. He also destroyed Duda few days ago. I think he is going to be top 20 soon.

Has the ban for Russians to play in the international events all removed? Can they play the next wttc or the coming Olympics?

 

[piligrim]

I have been watching Sidorenko from some time, he was banned to play international stage due to war (he is russian). He play incredibly good, he has no fear and is very flexible. He also destroyed Duda few days ago. I think he is going to be top 20 soon.

Is war finished?

 

[NextLevel]

If we're gonna go pedantic, note that there is still at this time no such rule anywhere in the ITTF handbook that mentions a 30 degree angle.

The server shall then project the ball near vertically upwards

This is the letter of the law. The 30° nonsense is an arbitrary travesty.

Arbitrary, sure. Travesty, I disagree

 

[M51]

Arbitrary, sure. Travesty, I disagree

Travesty is enforcing a rule that doesn't exist.

I'm not saying it shouldn't exist. Personally, I'd do away with the verticality requirement altogether and increase the height requirement a bit, perhaps even double it. This would would ensure it's tossed upwards and not sideways.

 

[job59]

The two hidden service calls I saw looked at the ball throughout the toss, though the rule for some reason says any part of the ball must be visible throughout, which means partial obstruction at a point in the serve is permitted.

You are right that it is a terrible mess for the amateur game, and even worse for un-umpired game.

Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate the ankle debate by just putting the throw clearly higher? And not in cm but over the head or something like that.
Next to eliminate for me is this hidden stuff. The ball has to be visible on the hand at start and also when you play the ball. A player cannot make something tricky to the ball, when it’s flying. m2c

 

[Kopp]

Harimoto is choking again. His forehand has improved but he still has this refusal to fight athletically vs lower rated opponents until he is in trouble. Sometimes, the only way out is *through*.

You mean against Vladimir Sidorenko? IMO he wasn't choking, Harimoto lost the match outright. Vladimir has been great so far in this tournament.

 

[NextLevel]

You mean against Vladimir Sidorenko? IMO he wasn't choking, Harimoto lost the match outright. Vladimir has been great so far in this tournament.

Everyone plays well when you don't put any pressure on what they like. If Harimoto had played the whole match like he played the last game when he was down, he would have done much better.