WTT Star Contender Goa 2024

[pongfugrasshopper]

Hugo/Felix final starting now as I type this.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Felix wins 4-2 including 11-0 in game 4. Crazy how good this 17 year old is.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

when Felix took the timeout, it was 2-0 and (8-7 ?) for Calderano, and he said to the coach he didn't know anymore what to serve.
Coach told him there were so many serves he could do for example the BH serve, but Felix didn't seem to agree, coach said, ok which serve do you want to do ? Felix didn't know what to answer.

he came back to the table and served like before, Calderano killed the point in two moves.
Calderano served twice. But then Felix did the BH serve till the end of the game, won it, then won the next game 11-0. the match totally changed !!! Felix got into the zone and the rest is history

So happy we have such a genius in France !

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Congratulations CIC. She wins 4-0 over Nina Mittelham.

Very important for her, as she lost a lot of "seeding" spots, and needs to climb back into top 10 one way or another.
A chineseless star contender is one of them

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

when Felix took the timeout, it was 2-0 and (8-7 ?) for Calderano, and he said to the coach he didn't know anymore what to serve.
Coach told him there were so many serves he could do for example the BH serve, but Felix didn't seem to agree, coach said, ok which serve do you want to do ? Felix didn't know what to answer.

he came back to the table and served like before, Calderano killed the point in two moves.
Calderano served twice. But then Felix did the BH serve till the end of the game, won it, then won the next game 11-0. the match totally changed !!! Felix got into the zone and the rest is history

So happy we have such a genius in France !

listen to the coach when your mind is in that clouded zone

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Felix wins 4-2 including 11-0 in game 4. Crazy how good this 17 year old is.

This youngster, together with Truls will be haunting (from Europe) the Chinese for the next 10 years

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

incredible really

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

I hadn't been following this tournament since the All Japan is on at the same time, but I just realized, Nina Mittelham beat top seed Shin Yubin to get to the Finals. Despite losing badly in the finals, beating Shin Yubin is quite an accomplishment for her. On the other hand, it's been a tough start for Shin Yubin to the year. First losing at WTT Contender Doha to her compatriot JJH and now losing in the SF to Mittelham. Hopefully, she can turn it around soon in this Olympic year.

 

[IB66]

coverage was top notch, a great final to watch!! FL came back blazing on on all cylinders!! Great win for him.

 

[dingyibvs]

Congrats to Felix! He's really surpassing his older brother now, though there's still hope for Alexis. The issue with Alexis is that he thinks he's some sort of TT maestro or something, doing a lot of fancy, flashy stuff while missing a lot of bread and butter shots. That suits Truls better, but still doesn't really work at the top level. Felix appears to be more grounded, more like Darko, and the two of them are showing Alexis and Truls what needs to be done.

 

[backspacer]

Caught up with the highlights, but I'm pretty sure they were cut by AI and skip way too many points, especially in the men's final.

 

[iammaru]

Congrats to Felix! He's really surpassing his older brother now, though there's still hope for Alexis. The issue with Alexis is that he thinks he's some sort of TT maestro or something, doing a lot of fancy, flashy stuff while missing a lot of bread and butter shots. That suits Truls better, but still doesn't really work at the top level. Felix appears to be more grounded, more like Darko, and the two of them are showing Alexis and Truls what needs to be done.

Felix has been always a better rally player than Alexis, who relies on serves, tricks and kill shots. Alexis likes to finish the point in 1 or 2 shots, he plays too risky style. I don’t think there is anything wrong with being creative like Truls and Alexis, it’s exciting to watch them, but they need to perfect their rallying skills first. Another example is Mima Ito, she’s the queen of serves and trick shots, but her rallying skill is pretty unstable. These players are usually great when they bursts into the scene but gradually being found out.

 

[pongfugrasshopper]

Very important for her, as she lost a lot of "seeding" spots, and needs to climb back into top 10 one way or another.
A chineseless star contender is one of them

CIC is in great shape now. The winner gets 600 pts, and if you subtract her current low of 55, she gets a net gain of 545 points added to her 1150 = 1695. That puts her in 11th place behind Mima Ito, but Mima Ito has 400 pts expiring Feb 13. So on Feb 13, CIC should be in 10th place. And Han Ying has 500 pts expiring on Feb 27 so eventually she'll move to 9th place. Very impressive considering where she was a year ago.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

CIC is in great shape now. The winner gets 600 pts, and if you subtract her current low of 55, she gets a net gain of 545 points added to her 1150 = 1695. That puts her in 11th place behind Mima Ito, but Mima Ito has 400 pts expiring Feb 13. So on Feb 13, CIC should be in 10th place. And Han Ying has 500 pts expiring on Feb 27 so eventually she'll move to 9th place. Very impressive considering where she was a year ago.

thats what happens when you get a very serious injury and can't perform or compete, you drop 50 spots (since 12 month expiry forces you to play as much as you did the previous year just to maintain)

 

[zeio]

First-ever title for CIC (never won any, not only WTT but also ITTF events)
https://weibo.com/5856892718/NE3AW7JeQ

Better than nothing.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...tender-goa-2023-2-273-5_topic92798_page6.html (03/04/2023 at 12:42pm)

CIC played so well ! What a mental !

Yes, she is so strong on the backhand and has now beaten both Hirano and Hayata. I saw this starting back in December when she was ripping through everyone from Hayata to Ito in T-League.

CIC has clearly worked on her backhand, I don't remember it being quite like this. Her forehand was always preternatural.

Keeping these for future reference.

Still need more to be convinced here, for a simple reason: poor luck. Will see if Zheng Jiaqi can help with that part.

WTTC 2021 R16 1-4 Chen Xingtong
WTTC 2019 R32 2-4 Kato
WTTC 2017 R64 2-4 Mu Zi
WTTC 2015 R16 1-4 Wu Yang
WTTC 2013 R64 1-4 Xian Yi Fang of FRA
WTTC 2011 R64 2-4 Li Jiawei of SGP
WTTC 2009 R128 1-4 Zhang Rui of HKG
WTTC 2007 R128 1-4 Li Qiangbing of AUT, daughter of former(?) CNT coach Li Xiaodong

ATTC 2021 Did not enter
ATTC 2019 R32 2-3 Shin Yubin
ATTC 2017 R16 0-3 Hirano
ATTC 2015 R16 0-4 Mu Zi
ATTC 2013 WT only
ATTC 2011 R16 0-3 Ding Ning

Hayata was impressive as well after coming out of her injury in early 2019, then late 2019, then in late 2021 and the majority of 2022 (only to be followed by another injury), but ultimately missed out when it counted the most.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/2019-ittf-world-tour-grand-finals.22442/post-299401

LGL: Because given their age, after playing the majors all these years, if they were to break through, they'd have done it long ago.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

First-ever title for CIC (never won any, not only WTT but also ITTF events)


Better than nothing.

True, its on record now.
CIC and Chen Szu Yu are both playing with "masking tape", to hold the body so it doesn't fall apart.
Both are about 30 and really difficult to keep up the work load.
Happy to see CIC going back into top 10 soon.

 

[turbozed]

True, its on record now.
CIC and Chen Szu Yu are both playing with "masking tape", to hold the body so it doesn't fall apart.
Both are about 30 and really difficult to keep up the work load.
Happy to see CIC going back into top 10 soon.

Has CIC always been this aggressive and vocal in her matches? She's been kinda under the radar up until winning this event so I have a vague recollection of her being more mild-mannered along the same vein as LYJ.

I watched all her matches and that impression was totally off at least for this event. Looked like she was playing with a major chip on her shoulder and confidence in her abilities. That energy she carried through from the first round all the way to finals.

 

[Kopp]

Hugo played aggressively in the first two sets, but seemed to run out of steam in the later ones.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Has CIC always been this aggressive and vocal in her matches? She's been kinda under the radar up until winning this event so I have a vague recollection of her being more mild-mannered along the same vein as LYJ.

I watched all her matches and that impression was totally off at least for this event. Looked like she was playing with a major chip on her shoulder and confidence in her abilities. That energy she carried through from the first round all the way to finals.

there was probably huge amount of pressure to perform.
from top 10 in the world and fallen to 50 because of injury, recovery and struggling ever since.
people called her old and that she should make way for youngsters, so it hasn't been an easy year for her.

I think maybe she felt that there is a chance she could take it, as I felt she had an easier draw and with Shin out, it was her chance.