WTT Champions Frankfurt 2023

says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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After European Games 2023 and ETTC 2023, Felix is roughly equal to Qiu Dang in MS and definitely higher in MT in Europe, but still slightly trails in MS in the World.
Is it WCT, QD or FL? Repeat or revenge? Find out tomorrow.
 
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I think you should be forward looking. It’s only a matter of time for Miwa.
I bet you here that she will be the one taking the third (team) spot for the olympics. Hirano had better secure that second singles spot else she’ll miss it again.
 
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Insane point Gauzy vs Lebrun

For so long Niwa, Gauzy and Xu Xin have made table tennis so enjoyable and entertaining.

Thanks Gauzy for the point 👍
Gauzy really is one of the most entertaining players to ever do it. If he were a consistent top 10 fixture instead of mostly bouncing around WR #20-50, he'd likely be much bigger of a fan favorite and a more pronounced 'face of table tennis' type figure.

I guess what people find 'entertaining' is subjective, but for a lot of fans it means longer rallies, more variety in shots, lots of footwork, and saving a lot of balls with good hustle and reactions. There might be an inherent limit to how successful a player can be with an entertaining style since demonstrating the things mentioned means not finishing the point quickly, being on defense often, and playing away from the table.

More over-the-table play might be one of the reasons why we don't often see Gauzy style play among the women players. One exception is actually Prithika Pavade who is really good at playing away defensive and offensive shots away from the table. She also happens to be Gauzy's former doubles partner and the influence is pretty noticeable imo.
 
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Ito beat reigning world champion Ding Ning during the Rio cycle and was selected for the third spot.

Hayata beat would be world champion Liu Shiwen in the Tokyo cycle and was denied a rightful third spot.

As impressive as Miwa is, she has only beaten Qian Tianyi and I don't think she has demonstrated the same level of threat that her seniors have when they were younger. I don't really see a reason to pick her over Ito who comprehensively beat Adriana and has the best win rate against non-CNT/JNT nor Hirano who has beat Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi.

That said, Hirano's consistent early round exits are disappointing. The Olympic spot is her's and Ito's to lose (or reject in Ito's case).
 
says Making a beautiful shot is most important; winning is...
says Making a beautiful shot is most important; winning is...
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Darko lost to Dang Qiu.


That's it! Kthxbye! I am switching channel and will be watching elderly gentlemen & ladies play petangue at another ESN sport channel nibbling on crumpets and sipping Earl Grey.
 
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Darko lost to Dang Qiu.


That's it! Kthxbye! I am switching channel and will be watching elderly gentlemen & ladies play petangue at another ESN sport channel nibbling on crumpets and sipping Earl Grey.
The coach and Dang worked out the tactics of playing with Darko very well. They didn't give a single chance to play Darko in his style.
 
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I do hope Miu Hirano gets that 2nd Olympic singles spot. And you're right that she did well at those selection points. However, she made it harder on herself by losing to Pyon Song Gyong at the Asian Games. She could really use those 10 extra points to separate herself from Mima ito further in the Paris 2024 race.

It would have been really nice if she had beaten Miwa today to help secure a spot in the WTT Finals. Now, she has to hope YXX loses to Han Ying. Also, making WTT Finals would not be a problem at all if she hadn't had strange losses earlier in the year to Pavade, Lily Zhang, and Bruna Takahashi. But the situation is what it is. I hope she makes it to WTT Finals.
It looks like Hirano has to keep an eye on Joo Cheonhui more than YXX. I missed that YXX has 280 points expiring next week so she would need to make the SF here to make it up which is unlikely with WMY in her quarter. However, Joo Cheonhui does not have any expiring results this year. She's 140 pts behind Hirano, and if she makes the QF here, that will more than make up the difference. The other ace up her sleeve is that she is the 4th seed at WTT Contender Taiyuan, but there are a number of Chinese players plus Miyuu Kihara in the tournament as well as a number of her S. Korean compatriots.
 
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I wanted to catch up on highlights because I missed the evening session yesterday and surprise, the audio is out of sync AGAIN. This happened recently in Lanzhou?
this might be an error from your side if you're trying to watch on youtube.... everything i have seen so far as worked fine. Try clearing your cache and trying again.
 
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this might be an error from your side if you're trying to watch on youtube.... everything i have seen so far as worked fine. Try clearing your cache and trying again.
No, every highlight, not full match has out of sync audio. People mention it in the comments.
 
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Batra takes a big win against DHK. I think this is the first time I've seen a match where her forehand looks deadlier than her backhand.
 
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