WTT Contender Almaty 2026 Sep 1-6

[JustANoob]

3:30 is interesting cause I dont remember seeing this before, someone directly getting a penalty point for incorrect serve, had to watch it again to see he grabs the ball with his fingers, other than that this Tikhonov fella played outstandingly, but body language at the last set was kind of showing he had given up.

 

[NextLevel]

3:30 is interesting cause I dont remember seeing this before, someone directly getting a penalty point for incorrect serve, had to watch it again to see he grabs the ball with his fingers, other than that this Tikhonov fella played outstandingly, but body language at the last set was kind of showing he had given up.

It's pretty common, unfortunately there is no TTR to review in this case as to my eyeball, it wasn't egregious and might have actually won a review but we will never know because TTR is only mandatory at table 1 in slams. But I have also made the case that people need to be careful about non-vertical tosses when the ball doesn't go way above the head and be especially careful when the start the serve at a point on the table horizontally and toss it somewhats backwards into themselves as umps will make the call even when implied angle isn't terrible.

 

[NextLevel]

I found the entire Russian team to be amazingly strong. How did they get their flag rights back? No more blank white flag. I miss Haruna Ojio. She was so much fun to watch.

A great question, it seems that IOC has provisonally lifted its supsension on July 28, 2026 so the ITTF has followed suit, though I suspect local politics and other things must be balanced with its acceptance. I suspect Kazakhstan has little problem recognizing Russia.

https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-provisionally-lifts-suspension-of-russian-olympic-committee-recommendations-to-ifs-with-regard-to-russian-athletes-participation-no-longer-applicable

 

[jonol]

Well zeio believes the lost gen would do better if given a chance and their failure to defeat the golden generation shouldn't matter. I guess we needed another reminder in this tournament about where the problem truly lies though one could also have discerned that simply by observing that Miwa doesn't need any charity to get chances or do better.

It has been a pleasure watching Hirano throughout this tournament. I hope this is not a flash in the pan and she retains this level. Her play has been extremely confident and assured even against tricky opponents. She switches ball directions with confidence.

I also really hope it continues, Hirano is one of my favourite players

 

[KiwiPong]

I also really hope it continues, Hirano is one of my favourite players

Mine too!