WTT Star Contender Bangkok 2023

[turbozed]

Thought I'd start a topic on this since the main draw started today.

One player that was very interesting to watch was Ojio Haruna of Japan. Interesting defender style with a smooth looking backhand chop. Apparently beat Szocs 3-0 five months ago, and is only 17. Her backhand chops were so low and spinny. If these shots nicked the net, the ball would bounce once on the opponents side and back over. Almost seemed like she was doing it intentionally. Also can smash the ball well on the attack.

 

[tackyfh]

Thought I'd start a topic on this since the main draw started today.

One player that was very interesting to watch was Ojio Haruna of Japan. Interesting defender style with a smooth looking backhand chop. Apparently beat Szocs 3-0 five months ago, and is only 17. Her backhand chops were so low and spinny. If these shots nicked the net, the ball would bounce once on the opponents side and back over. Almost seemed like she was doing it intentionally. Also can smash the ball well on the attack.

I've watched her playing in last year contender series, at this level defensive choppers are quite invincible tbh.

 

[turbozed]

I've watched her playing in last year contender series, at this level defensive choppers are quite invincible tbh.

Looks like she beat Soczs, Zhang, and Suwatthabut very recently. And she beat Xian Tianyi last year.

What level are you referring to, because there's only one female chopper I know who is capable of beating the above names and that's top 10 ranked Ying Han.

 

[SFF_lib]

Always glad to see choppers rising in the young generation.

Sadly Xue Fei lost again. He has proven he’s strong in the physical dimension but not in the mental dimension

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

We've been admiring SATO and HASHIMOTO as formidable choppers from Japan, but I believe Haruna OJIO is even above them.

She is defending with short pips, not long pips. I can see that her chop defense is faster and has a lower trajectory and more backspin that the 2 players above. Her attacking skills are not as good as SATO and HASHIMOTO, and she's still lacking power, but I believe she has a lot of room to improve there and becoming the best of her kind and upset on a regular basis a lot of top players in coming years.

 

[turbozed]

We've been admiring SATO and HASHIMOTO as formidable choppers from Japan, but I believe Haruna OJIO is even above them.

She is defending with short pips, not long pips. I can see that her chop defense is faster and has a lower trajectory and more backspin that the 2 players above. Her attacking skills are not as good as SATO and HASHIMOTO, and she's still lacking power, but I believe she has a lot of room to improve there and becoming the best of her kind and upset on a regular basis a lot of top players in coming years.

I don't mind this turning into an Ojio Haruna appreciation thread, since the point of these Star Contender series is to highlight up and coming young talent.

I ended up watching a few more of her matches yesterday and noticed some inconsistency missing a lot of smashes when she switches to offense. But still, there are enough times where she really surprises her opponent with offense and it's fun to watch.

Her whole game is just entertaining and a joy to watch. Her twiddling looks very smooth since it's incorporated into the end of her swing. She's also got some flair mixing in some wacky side spin shots and around the net shots. I feel like she will generate a lot of highlight moments if she continues to improve. I'll share a few I found:

Lobbing down Lily Zhang

Walder style block

Around the net

 

[turbozed]

Looks like Ojio Haruna is playing live now. Going to be rough as Man Kuai has beaten her many times before.

Edit: Looks like she's got a bit of a problem of nerves. Up 10-7 in 1st and 9-7 in 2nd and lost both games. If she can fix her mental and close out games, she can go a lot further. I also probably jinxed her with all the praise.

 

[tackyfh]

Looks like she beat Soczs, Zhang, and Suwatthabut very recently. And she beat Xian Tianyi last year.

What level are you referring to, because there's only one female chopper I know who is capable of beating the above names and that's top 10 ranked Ying Han.

She has already beat Kuai Man twice last year if I remember correctly

 

[NextLevel]

She has already beat Kuai Man twice last year if I remember correctly

Kuai evolved. The CNT prepares their player really hard to handle defense. The first time they faced Ojio, they lost really badly. After she lost the first game, I saw it was a lost cause.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

the score is 0-3 but doesn't look like a total disaster for OJIO. She definitely needs to improve her attacking game to be competitive at senior level

 

[turbozed]

Huge upset with Xu Yingbin taking down Harimoto 3-1.

This Xu guy was almost flawless in Game 4. Took the fight right out of Harimoto.

 

[dingyibvs]

Huge upset with Xu Yingbin taking down Harimoto 3-1.

This Xu guy was almost flawless in Game 4. Took the fight right out of Harimoto.

Xu's issue is that he's a bit unstable and doesn't adjust well. That may come with more competition experience as he's just started to regularly compete on the adult level internationally. He had some bad losses last year in international competition, especially when leading in points and games. He did beat WCQ last year in the Super League semis and beat FZD 2 years ago in WTT Macao, so at his best he can beat anybody. It's just that at his worst he can also lose to anybody. I think he did win a Feeder earlier this year, so let's see if he's become more consistent.

 

[dingyibvs]

Man, that first set between Togami and LSD is absolute 🔥🔥🔥

Edit: second set

 

[turbozed]

The second game between Togami and Lin Shidong might be one of the most intense I've watched all year.

Every other point is a highlight reel rally.

 

[dingyibvs]

The second game between Togami and Lin Shidong might be one of the most intense I've watched all year.

Every other point is a highlight reel rally.

Oops, meant 2nd set. Yea that was just incredible!

 

[tackyfh]

Man, that first set between Togami and LSD is absolute 🔥🔥🔥

Edit: second set

both the 2nd and 3rd are explosive, it's a pity that Togami wasn't able to take any

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Kuai evolved. The CNT prepares their player really hard to handle defense. The first time they faced Ojio, they lost really badly. After she lost the first game, I saw it was a lost cause.

Yeah, I need to add on this

CNT has team practice partners - the job of the player as a member of the CNT team is to help the main guys prepare.
CNT choppers are in there, to help the players. So indeed CNT players do have "special" resource that many other countries won't have.

And in terms of Japan, they are, and have always been very good in developing choppers.
Korea has dropped down the radar in terms of international choppers though, but they still have plenty of them in development (youth age group).

Choppers today is a lot more difficult to master, hence it is a lot more difficult to win.
You need to attack as well as an attacking player.
you need to chop both underspin and no spin balls
you need to move faster then any one else
and you sure need to have the patient

and for the coaches that train choppers? well, they end up having a very thick arm lol

 

[dingyibvs]

Anybody know how much randomness is in the WTTC draw? Harimoto's loss might have increased the chance he'd have to go through 3 Chinese players to win the WTTC if the top 8 seeds have no randomness in their draws.

 

[OldUser]

Yeah, I need to add on this

CNT has team practice partners - the job of the player as a member of the CNT team is to help the main guys prepare.
CNT choppers are in there, to help the players. So indeed CNT players do have "special" resource that many other countries won't have.

And in terms of Japan, they are, and have always been very good in developing choppers.
Korea has dropped down the radar in terms of international choppers though, but they still have plenty of them in development (youth age group).

Choppers today is a lot more difficult to master, hence it is a lot more difficult to win.
You need to attack as well as an attacking player.
you need to chop both underspin and no spin balls
you need to move faster then any one else
and you sure need to have the patient

and for the coaches that train choppers? well, they end up having a very thick arm lol

This one made me laugh big time...

Would really compare the speed and time reaction between an all-out attacker and a defensive player far from the table to get more time cos' he's not fast enough to counter attack or chop close or mid distance ?

If you want to tell us they have to cover more distance in a rally, then ok but please... please... don't do this again.

Once in your life you should compare the cardio of both kind of players after a 20 shots attacker/chopper rallye, attacking is actually way more exhausting than defending.

EDIT: just ask a chopper if he's injured as frequently as an attacker is, and come back later.... chopping isn't technically easy, but it's actually easier cardio wise than attacking, it does not affect the joints as attacking does.

 

[NextLevel]

Anybody know how much randomness is in the WTTC draw? Harimoto's loss might have increased the chance he'd have to go through 3 Chinese players to win the WTTC if the top 8 seeds have no randomness in their draws.

I think it is pure snake seed so it isn't fixed. He is currently the #3 seed but he can"t play 1, 2 and 4 until the semis I believe. With snake seed he is guaranteed to play 2 of them to get the final but it BBC can't be #4 in the semis if pairings hold but which 2 is an open question.