WTT Singapore Smash 2025 (30 Jan ~ 9 Feb 2025)

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I do think he is slow to recover from forehand shots.
He has always been, it used to be upper arm usage, now it is follow through because he isn't used to his shots coming back but has to learn to play at a distance where reloading is possible.
 
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Singapore Smash 2025 MD R16
WTT125-1-30To2-9MDEN2250206N.jpg
 
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says Making a beautiful shot is most important; winning is...
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Kanak! Kanak! Kanak!

Muacks! ❤️ U !!!

Kanak the most technically clean FH Euro stylist!
 
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Looks like the clone wars have helped Xue Fei. Life is funny like that. I am happy for him as I have always liked him style and wondered why he didn't perform better. Hopefully he can keep it going because it doesn't get easier. And he plays the brother of one of his subjects.
 
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Hmm, not the best start for Nakazawa and Kishikawa.

WS R32
HZJ 3-0 Harimoto (4, 4, 9)
Well it is before the World Championships, they have time to learn lol.

Now will Kenji do the right thing? Inquiring minds want to know...
 
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You would like a list? I mean, sure.

Alright let's start: (2024 mostly, majority of these losses in the first half alone. Scary)

Mukeherjee S
Takahashi
Diaz (0:3)
Mukeherjee A
Mittilham
Polcanova
Kihara(0:3)
Kihara
Kihara
Kihara(0:3)
Pavade (0:3)
Shan
Doo
Hashimoto
Jeon
.........
(Probably more)

I'm not 100% sure about how much Szocs lost but I'm pretty sure it can't be worse than this. In addition to that Szocs also beaten CM almost twice, almost beat Ito, Hayata and WMY, and also straight-gamed Odo, (all of these are top 10 players) so that's bonus marks for her. Shin OTOH has done nothing like that except came close to beating Hayata and won someone four seeds lower than her barely.

Mukeherjee irrevalent?? I brought her in there to prove you cannot judge players by head-to-head records otherwise it doesn't work at all. If you want me to make a "revelant" comment, how about this; Ito has like a 8:2 record against Hayata H2H. Are you telling me that means Hayata is not definitively the better player?

I have addressed your point (by giving you the list), now address my points:

"Give me another name in the table tennis world today that have an equally poor record in regards to their ranking. I'm genuinely curious if that person exists"

And this too:

"You guys are all aware of how good she had to play to take down Hirano despite the supposed ease ranking-wise. I mean, what will you all say if Ito won 4:3 against JJH? That she played so well and congrats to her? I don't think so. If that doesn't say something about accurate vs inaccurate ranking I don't know what does".
The majority of these alleged bad losses are top 15-20 ranked or level players who aren't really that far off level-wise from the 10th ranked player, of which Szocs has multiple losses in 2024 to that class of players. I think what you fail to realize is that the difference between any of the 6-25 ranked players is much less than the difference between them and the top 5. But Szocs has beat Chen Meng twice so you say she is a real top player because of her ability to beat real top players but when Shin beats Szocs twice recently (and decisively) then that doesn't count as two wins over a real top player for Shin. Got it.
 
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Whew! Fortunately, SYB wins 3-0 over Diaconu; otherwise, we wouldn't hear the end of it from 5545.

Kidding aside, I think 5545's beef is really with the WTT ranking system. You don't lose points for losing to a player. Losing early just prevents you from moving up or moving up significantly. Last year was a bit different in that WTT suspended play down restrictions allowing top players to play in more Contenders than they normally would without the need for a wildcard. And SYB used this to great effect by playing every tournament to grab that 4th seed at the Olympics.
No. Don't give him excuses. People are allowed to just complain about BS. The idea that a teenager/20 year old should be characterized by her limitations is bewildering. And this is in the presence of obvious achievements. I have always found it interesting how in doubles, lefties get all the credits and righties not named Ma Long are just bad doubles players.
 
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I do think he is slow to recover from forehand shots.
That has little to do with it. His FH shots have indeed improved in recent months. It's about his reflexes, his reaction times to e.g. go from his BH to his FH, and they are really ‘bad’ at that level. Whenever there was a need to switch, he was late with his movement, from his FH to his BH his reflex is slightly better though.
 
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One thing that's pretty impressive about SYB's ranking is that she's done it without the support of a continental boost. If you look at her results, she has a number of QF at high value tournaments whereas some other players with continental boost (I won't name names) have a number of R16s at those high value tournaments. It's not easy when you're the higher ranked player and the one being hunted to hold your ground. But she's been able to do that. And I mentioned this before but she also has the workload associated with being a highly successful world ranked pairing with JJH and LJH last year.
 
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That has little to do with it. His FH shots have indeed improved in recent months. It's about his reflexes, his reaction times to e.g. go from his BH to his FH, and they are really ‘bad’ at that level. Whenever there was a need to switch, he was late with his movement, from his FH to his BH his reflex is slightly better though.
I think the hardest part of going from a more one wing dominant style (usually forehand but for Harimoto backhand) to a more balanced style is developing fast reflexes for dealing with elbow shots. What was automatic before now requires an extra processing step.
 
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All these losses and conjectures on his performance mean nothing if he successfully defends his ATTC/Asian Cup titles, nay if he ends up winning the WTTC, which is very possible as long as Wang ChuROUND32 shows up, or Felix Lebrun gets knocked out by some upstart.
 
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The majority of these alleged bad losses are top 15-20 ranked or level players who aren't really that far off level-wise from the 10th ranked player, of which Szocs has multiple losses in 2024 to that class of players. I think what you fail to realize is that the difference between any of the 6-25 ranked players is much less than the difference between them and the top 5. But Szocs has beat Chen Meng twice so you say she is a real top player because of her ability to beat real top players but when Shin beats Szocs twice recently (and decisively) then that doesn't count as two wins over a real top player for Shin. Got it.
Shin also lost some of here competitive junior years to injuries. But she is still 20. While there is always injury risk, there is a lot of time to get better over the next cycle.
 
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All these losses and conjectures on his performance mean nothing if he successfully defends his ATTC/Asian Cup titles, nay if he ends up winning the WTTC, which is very possible as long as Wang ChuROUND32 shows up, or Felix Lebrun gets knocked out by some upstart.
Well he has lost to two CNT upstart in a row now so countermeasures have clearly been deployed and he has work to do.
 
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Kanak! Kanak! Kanak!

Muacks! ❤️ U !!!

Kanak the most technically clean FH Euro stylist!
disciplined play won the day! ... and now he faces dang the disciplinarian... 0-3 but past two have gone to the decider... LETS GO KANAK!!!
 
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The majority of these alleged bad losses are top 15-20 ranked or level players who aren't really that far off level-wise from the 10th ranked player, of which Szocs has multiple losses in 2024 to that class of players. I think what you fail to realize is that the difference between any of the 6-25 ranked players is much less than the difference between them and the top 5. But Szocs has beat Chen Meng twice so you say she is a real top player because of her ability to beat real top players but when Shin beats Szocs twice recently (and decisively) then that doesn't count as two wins over a real top player for Shin. Got it.
Agreed, because unfortunately Szocs is not ranked a top ten IRL so Shin is “supposed” to beat her. Szocs meanwhile is ranked way below CM so it’s much more of a deal. All of the losses are players who are ranked below her, regardless of how much exactly. The fact that you all think her ranking is legit means she should have no problem beating them. Simple as that.

The majority of the players I listed are also ones where the top ten right now can all easily beat, with the exception of her. I mean, would you see current World No. 10 QTY losing to Mittilham or Diaz?

You must enjoy making excuses for her while ignoring much of what I say that is against her, probably because you cannot address my main points. For example, you have not found a player with a worst record than her in regards to their ranking to this day.
 
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No. Don't give him excuses. People are allowed to just complain about BS. The idea that a teenager/20 year old should be characterized by her limitations is bewildering. And this is in the presence of obvious achievements. I have always found it interesting how in doubles, lefties get all the credits and righties not named Ma Long are just bad doubles players.
I agree, Shin being ranked so high does indeed sound like BS
 
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Zhang Mo didn't want to win.

WS R32
Zhang Mo 1-3 Ito (11, -8, -14, -7)

MS R32
A. Lebrun 3-0 Shinozuka (8, 8, 11)

WD R16
KNY/Nagasaki 3-1 DHK/ZYL (-9, 4, 7, 7)
It’s so negative watching Mo Zhang play, she isn’t bad but she plays like she’s lost already. She makes me want to quit……
 
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What a lineup in the men's for last 16, there isn't a single match I don't want to see!
Delighted for Kanak too, he's kicking on since his US victory.
Anyway here goes:
WCQ (just) I'm almost on the fence for this one
Francisca
Liang
Kao
Kanak
Alexis
Lin YJ
Lin SD
 
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What a lineup in the men's for last 16, there isn't a single match I don't want to see!
Delighted for Kanak too, he's kicking on since his US victory.
Anyway here goes:
WCQ (just) I'm almost on the fence for this one
Francisca
Liang
Kao
Kanak
Felix
Lin YJ
Lin SD
Felix? Alexis you mean.
 
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It’s so negative watching Mo Zhang play, she isn’t bad but she plays like she’s lost already. She makes me want to quit……
The side effects of job security. Another reason why I keep telling them to retire, when table tennis becomes a painful chore.
 
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