WTT Champions Macao 2024, 9/9-15

[rpb23]

For those buying tickets….
102~105 and 201~205 were all very upset

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Feel sorry for audience on the camera blocking sections. They should demand a refund.

Unless you have a close to the table seat, I always feel TV viewing is way better if the camera angle is set right.

 

[rpb23]

Equipment check: Butterfly is advertising Miwa as using Harimoto Super ALC plus Dignics 09c plus Dignics 05. And Tomo as using Harimoto ALC plus 2 Dignics 05. Thoughts?

It's obvious which sibling Butterfly is betting on: Super ALC vs just ALC.

 

[dingyibvs]

Against WCQ LSD was really quiet, but against Dang he is ho he hoing on every serve, receive and point won. Do they get taught to do that? I can't listen to it anymore.

He probably does it for the same reason Harimoto does his chos, to relieve stress. He probably was a lot more stressed playing against a foreigner in the finals as the favorite than playing against a teammate as an underdog.

 

[NextLevel]

He probably does it for the same reason Harimoto does his chos, to relieve stress. He probably was a lot more stressed playing against a foreigner in the finals as the favorite than playing against a teammate as an underdog.

And he admitted as much during both after match interviews but in different ways. The final was a really good match, the scorelines reflect his dominance but don't reflect his effort. The boy is flat out amazing with his ability to keep the ball on the table with quality, his superpowers made Qiu Dang's superpower look ordinary.

 

[Shine]

Miwa definitely doesn't have a better forehand than Sun, arguably no one does in the game, Her FH is just very unpredictable which often catches Sun by surprise unlike CNT's forehand drills and go-to strategies on attack.

 

[blahness]

Lin Shidong has the same Fan Zhendong style topspin rally supremacy that very few players are able to match. Going forward, WCQ might have a huge problem on his hands as he is clearly outclassed in the topspin rally battle against both these players and has to rely increasingly on tricks and serve + 3rd ball nonsense to win. If Lin Shidong figures all these stuff out even in the future, WCQ just wont be able to cope with both Fan Zhendong and mini Fan Zhendong (Lin Shidong).

However, Harimoto really likes to play against fast topspin rally oriented players like Lin Shidong so he will like this development for sure.

 

[blahness]

It's safe to say after this match that SYS can't come out on top in FH rallies now that she has consistently turned to BH to contain Harimoto since WTT F Nagoya 2023. Provided Harimoto scales this wall, the threat she poses to the CNT will be unprecedented, which is 硬橋硬馬真功夫/real kung-fu backed by solid fundamentals, unlike Hirano (topspin game better than backspin game, FH-BH imbalance from lack of reach and hence focus on BH side) and Ito (inherent weakness of shortpips, reliance on serve-and-attack also from lack of reach and hence make-or-break FH).

I'm not sure if Harimoto could ever scale this wall though - there literally is no one who can play like SYS and Wang Manyu on the Japanese national team, not sure if they can imitate the very subtle spin/placement variations and train Miwa to be able to spot and correctly read and respond to all of them.

Miwa has very solid fundamentals sure, but definitely needs a lot more training in these aspects.

 

[blahness]

For Lin Shidong, the CNT coaching team did a really excellent job in getting him to learn more gears and tone down his power slightly to achieve more consistency. It was the same successful path they did for ZJK who also similarly showed very explosive power in shotmaking but lacked consistency in the beginning

The consistency training really improved his level. Opponents can no longer feed off his unforced errors and actually need to match his pace and shots to win which is a really tall order.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Feel sorry for audience on the camera blocking sections. They should demand a refund.

Unless you have a close to the table seat, I always feel TV viewing is way better if the camera angle is set right.

live play is different to TV
TV makes everything so smaller.
and live play is also about the atmosphere.
the days of live audience is terrible today and then you have 30~40% of them that pitch up regretting they even came.... which is sad.
I wish live audience can be full full full

Refund - good idea!

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

so the question is, can LSD over take WCQ
Not sure if FZD will still be around in 2028, but can't rule out one of the 3 will miss out in 2028.
XX missed out
LSW missed out
so, WCQ, FZD, LSD, based on actual ability (not age)... could WCQ miss out?

 

[dingyibvs]

so the question is, can LSD over take WCQ
Not sure if FZD will still be around in 2028, but can't rule out one of the 3 will miss out in 2028.
XX missed out
LSW missed out
so, WCQ, FZD, LSD, based on actual ability (not age)... could WCQ miss out?

I think WCQ needs to adjust his game a bit. A bit less focus on single shot quality, and a bit more on spin and placement. When players like LSD return his powerful shots his big swing which gives him the high single shot quality doesn't allow for the best recovery. Perhaps he should focus on spin and placement on the follow up shot instead trying to kill the next shot as well.

 

[SFF_lib]

LSD has a super human reflex. In his match with WCQ he effectively blocked and returned shots. He hardly sweated tbh.

What I noticed is LSD thrives when you keep hitting hard in the same pace. He missed a few slow paced shots

 

[travelt123]

We need a new Michael Maze against WCQ and we may get a Hao Shuai

We already have a Hao Shuai which is Lin Gaoyuan.

 

[blahness]

I think WCQ needs to adjust his game a bit. A bit less focus on single shot quality, and a bit more on spin and placement. When players like LSD return his powerful shots his big swing which gives him the high single shot quality doesn't allow for the best recovery. Perhaps he should focus on spin and placement on the follow up shot instead trying to kill the next shot as well.

Yeah, he really relies way too much on his massive FH 3rd ball loopkill which is probably the best on the tour at the moment aside from Ma Long. But yeah when it is blocked back he gets into all sorts of trouble. Tbh if he had a super spinny and short FH loop with the exact same backswing as his killer loopkill he would have a lot more depth in his game.