Harimoto looked competitive with WCQ, at least in the first two games. Whatever he was doing didn't allow WCQ to break out the heavy artillery or get in a groove (until Game 3 at least) and WCQ to make a lot more unforced errors than in any other match. It was an ugly match all around, but was promising for Harimoto to be able to force that sort of dynamic. A few key balls going his way and he could've been up the first 2 games. The quality of WCQ's play would've eventually shown through for the vast majority of circumstances though.
FZD could if he was in shape. But apparently he celebrated the New Year holidays well... LYJ could have, but he was also out of shape in this tournament. Ma Long will probably no longer be able to compete with WCQ. The Year of the Dragon will finally take the dragon Ma from the tennis Olympus...
Well, I don’t know, I’m far from a fan of Harimoto’s playing style and his screams 😆. I think his early success in tournaments was based on speed, which he doesn't have now. In return for speed, he gained invaluable experience. Yes, experience is very important and if you want to play better, you have to compete and play with the best players. But to defeat these players you need something more.
Very true, even WCQ admitted it and said he didn't play well in the match. I guess Hari's new tactics confounded him a bit. Maybe if Hari had stuck to what they anticipated, it'll have been an easier 3-0.
I've always thought his swashbuckling turn the corner counter-drive style looked his Xu Xin's at his best + a backhand that could contest with the best without breaking much sweat or running helter-skelter.
This pisses me off.
The Chinese already built it and I remember it being tested at a tournament once in China - it could provide stats like ball spin etc. as well. But after it faulted Ma Long fairly often, it was never heard from again. That's my explanation and I am sticking to it.
Harimoto had a new serve with some serious heavy af underspin and was doing a lot of alternating heavy underspin / no spin pushes. Unfortunately Harimoto also succumbed to the crazy WCQ serve (borderline illegal to downright illegal in most instances already especially serving over the table and hiding ball with his head). WCQ is also smart about it because I've seen plenty of instances where he serves legally once the umpire is on him, and then goes back to illegal serving after a while. So he actually can control how "illegal" he wants to serve.
It seems to me that Occam's razor is at work here. If Fan looked and played worse than usual, then he was simply out of shape.
Their loss in doubles and the way they accepted it as matter of fact was telling.
Unethical, but can't fault a player for bending the rules a bit.
This is funny
Some folks on PTT are saying the same thing after that final. Some folks on Tieba also feel the same about FZD but most are focusing on WCQ's hidden serve.
