Was it a mistake? Should Franziska have been picked for the Olympics?

[TTHopeful]

Franziska is hott from beating Fan Zhendong and now Dang Qiu 4-0.

Was it a mistake? Should Franziska have been selected for the Olympics?

 

[beeray1]

My opinion was that Timo Boll should just not be the pick. I get the fact he's a fan favorite, absolute legend, everyone wants him to play. We all love Timo Boll. But I feel like we've been hearing "one last shot for timo boll" for 15 years at this point. Patrick deserved to play and so did Dang Qiu.

 

[doppelmoral]

I have been upset for a while now that Franz was not nominated. And now that he has beaten Ma Long, Ovtcharov, Dang Qiu and FZD within the last 1-2 months, I am starting to become furious about the decision. It just does not make any sense other than politics. Clearly the nominating process was not based on results.

 

[Creek]

Dang + Franz for Singles, Timo for Team.
Dima is in such baaaaad shape since months, that it is just a joke, he has been picked for both, singles and doubles…

 

[Choosikick]

I repeat what I wrote in another forum thread yesterday.
Although I have more reasons to root for Dima, since he is from Ukraine, I believe that today Patrick plays at a higher level than Dima. And it is Patrick who deserves a place at the Olympics.

 

[NextLevel]

Franziska has come a long way, he is a guy from who great things were expected based on his promise as a junior but who has repeatedly underachieved. Definitely, he was slated for the team over Boll based on the European games and the fact that Patrick and Dima were practicing together for doubles with Qiu Dang as team ace. Not sure what changed, but my view is that Patrick has continued to underperform where he should be, though his ranking is not his fault entirely with limited national spots in European events. My view is that I still trust Timo and Dima over Patrick in big matches, but the selection criteria should be objective and followed.

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

not sure, but i think franziska is determined to make it seem like a big mistake.

 

[kindof99]

not sure, but i think franziska is determined to make it seem like a big mistake.

Hope he keeps making it bigger

 

[PaddyPolar]

Well this is why chinese also play better in olympics. Germany had pressure to play Timo, a fan favourite, but lower ranked than the other players, and gave in. But china had pressure to play Ma Long, a fan favourite, but lower ranked than the other players, and didnt play him.

Although its nice to end your career on a "high" generally we got to look at the stats and realise, that they gotta play the allround better player.

 

[NextLevel]

Well this is why chinese also play better in olympics. Germany had pressure to play Timo, a fan favourite, but lower ranked than the other players, and gave in. But china had pressure to play Ma Long, a fan favourite, but lower ranked than the other players, and didnt play him.

Although its nice to end your career on a "high" generally we got to look at the stats and realise, that they gotta play the allround better player.

Timo led a team with Duda in Sweden to the European Teams silver. Are you convinced that if Franziska replaced Timo that the team would have done better with Franziska?

This is not purely about pressure, this is partly about Franziska himself not being dominant. How many singles championships of Germany does Franziska have?

 

[Wrighty67]

Franziska has come a long way, he is a guy from who great things were expected based on his promise as a junior but who has repeatedly underachieved. Definitely, he was slated for the team over Boll based on the European games and the fact that Patrick and Dima were practicing together for doubles with Qiu Dang as team ace. Not sure what changed, but my view is that Patrick has continued to underperform where he should be, though his ranking is not his fault entirely with limited national spots in European events. My view is that I still trust Timo and Dima over Patrick in big matches, but the selection criteria should be objective and followed.

No, I don’t see this at all - Timo is 50/50 if he shows up and wins, and Dima has looked weary for a while. Franz on the other hand is probably playing the TT of his life - consistently too..

 

[Robin0910]

I don’t think anybody would want to replace Timo with Franziska. But Dima should be replaced by either Franziska or Qiu Dang because he’s been performing awfully for months now.

 

[longrange]

No, I don’t see this at all - Timo is 50/50 if he shows up and wins, and Dima has looked weary for a while. Franz on the other hand is probably playing the TT of his life - consistently too..

Patrick sparks every now and then, but he's unreliable. Right now he can play as he pleases, there's nothing at stake, he has nothing to lose. Dima and Timo fight well exactly under pressure.

 

[Robin0910]

Patrick sparks every now and then, but he's unreliable. Right now he can play as he pleases, there's nothing at stake, he has nothing to lose. Dima and Timo fight well exactly under pressure.

And that pressure is destroying Dima whereas he‘s supposed to play his best under pressure

 

[NextLevel]

No, I don’t see this at all - Timo is 50/50 if he shows up and wins, and Dima has looked weary for a while. Franz on the other hand is probably playing the TT of his life - consistently too..

Okay, where are you getting the 50-50 impression from for Timo? How many titles has Timo won this year vs how many titles has Franziska won this year?

Dima, I would accept your case better, but the thing is this - some players play better when things are at stake and Dima is one of them. I struggle to remember a situation where Dima is down and he isn't clearly fighting to win - even when he is terribly outmatched. Look at the loss to Shinozuka for example - Shinozuka had to break Dima after multiple deuces. Franziska, who at this point should be a clearly better player than Dima, just doesn't reliably close in such situations. I am happy you are sure things have changed and this is a new normal, but the issue will return once he has to face players in matches where he is the favorite and the other player is presenting problems.

 

[NextLevel]

And that pressure is destroying Dima whereas he‘s supposed to play his best under pressure

So where has this pressure destroyed Dima that you are talking about?

 

[Attitude]

Patrick sparks every now and then, but he's unreliable. Right now he can play as he pleases, there's nothing at stake, he has nothing to lose. Dima and Timo fight well exactly under pressure.

The question is when does "every now and then" becomes "consistency".
Patrick performs well this year so far. Not so well last year and definitly not consistent before.
Dima on the other hand plays inconsistent for nearly 2 years since his injury while Patrick became better and better.

If i judge the past year it is Dima who played on the lowest level here.
Although i dont like him, i would nearly rate duda higher who btw performed outstanding in the last teamevent.

 

[Robin0910]

So where has this pressure destroyed Dima that you are talking about?

He keeps losing to non Chinese players recently. His years to date winning rate is 15% less than Franziska’s and 10% less than Qiu’s. Also, these 2 sometimes beat Chinese elites. The last time Dima beat an elite Chinese was FZD in 2022, way off how. The pressures lies in that he’s getting older came back from injury which made his performance suffer a ton and it’s not gonna get better in 2 months. Franziska on the other hand hasn’t have any injuries recently and can beat the Chinese times to times, more often than Dima and he’s young and has a better stamina and whatnot. Same with Qiu.

 

[Robin0910]

He keeps losing to non Chinese players recently. His years to date winning rate is 15% less than Franziska’s and 10% less than Qiu’s. Also, these 2 sometimes beat Chinese elites. The last time Dima beat an elite Chinese was FZD in 2022, way off how. The pressures lies in that he’s getting older came back from injury which made his performance suffer a ton and it’s not gonna get better in 2 months. Franziska on the other hand hasn’t have any injuries recently and can beat the Chinese times to times, more often than Dima and he’s young and has a better stamina and whatnot. Same with Qiu.

Timo managed to change his style and won an event beating Harimoto a couple months ago. Will Dima be able to do that in 2 months? I doubt and would not bet on it.

 

[NextLevel]

He keeps losing to non Chinese players recently. His years to date winning rate is 15% less than Franziska’s and 10% less than Qiu’s. Also, these 2 sometimes beat Chinese elites. The last time Dima beat an elite Chinese was FZD in 2022, way off how. The pressures lies in that he’s getting older came back from injury which made his performance suffer a ton and it’s not gonna get better in 2 months. Franziska on the other hand hasn’t have any injuries recently and can beat the Chinese times to times, more often than Dima and he’s young and has a better stamina and whatnot. Same with Qiu.

Why are you focused on just 2024 and not 2023? Events like WTTC etc. in 2023, why are they not in your analysis? Why just 2024?