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ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers questions PART2
https://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5357		 Page 61 of 61
Author:  adham [ 24 Sep 2009, 10:29 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
AA wrote:
haggisv wrote:

How do you know what I'm not aware of? You seem to think that just because some of us are not making angry or sarcastic remarks, that we agree with these ITTF ideas??? :shock:



no you misunderstood me! in an earlier post you said that the ittf would work together with national associations etc. from experience i can tell you that every nonesense that is implemented by the ittf is copied from the national organisations (with very few sane exceptions, i applaud england and nigeria). even tournament protocol like taking random samples 30 min before a game at tournaments was copied (= no way of warming up 30 min before the game).


You are one angry person. May the warm winds from Africa sooth your anger and may you relax and enjoy a Viennese Coffee and Sacher torte while thinking of your devastating backhand.
Author:  adham [ 24 Sep 2009, 10:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
mynamenotbob wrote:
Some rubbers take time to break in. Would players be allowed to reglue "used" rubbers?


why not if they pass the racket control
Author:  bvautier [ 24 Sep 2009, 11:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
AA,

I do not agree with a lot (nearly all) of the new rules that have come into place over the last few years. However if new rules are going to be enacted in order to enforce older rules, and try and keep cheaters at bay then something is wrong...
Personally I believe the less rules the better, and the idea I came up with was to try and keep new "authorisations" of equipment to a minimum.

If it was up to me frictionless LPs would be allowed and tunning your own sponges would be allowed too.

I think checking for VOCs, tunning, tampered blades is really getting out of hand and expensive. The idea I had was trying to keep things simple within the rules that already exist...
The players would bring their blade and rubbers separate. The rubbers could already be used. It would then take exactly 10 seconds to measure all the rubbers and blade to make sure they are the correct thickness and the blade has not been tampered with. They can then glue their racket in a designated area under supervision.

I would allow tuning of rubbers, as long as the total thickness of the rubber was less than 4mm. Since the rubber would be separated from the blade it would be very easy to measure the thickness.

This would means we wouldn't need our blades to be authorised nor the sponges etc...

The simplest of all rules would be to do away with all rules pertaining to equipment and just see where technology would lead us. I would be for this. Would be very interesting. Composite blades. 10mm thick rubbers. Ultra slick LPs. Dual density sponges. etc...
Author:  lecridupongiste [ 24 Sep 2009, 18:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:
Your idea had many positive aspects, and with some modifications could actually work well. You know what people said to the Wright Brothers? "Are you nuts, you will never get that thing off the ground". How many people think of that today as they step into an airplane?

The ITTF looks much more like Samuel Langley to me. Whereas the Wright Brothers would be... well, anyone tinkering with the equipment.

bvautier wrote:
The simplest of all rules would be to do away with all rules pertaining to equipment and just see where technology would lead us. I would be for this. Would be very interesting. Composite blades. 10mm thick rubbers. Ultra slick LPs. Dual density sponges. etc...

+1
Author:  AA [ 24 Sep 2009, 21:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:

You are one angry person. May the warm winds from Africa sooth your anger and may you relax and enjoy a Viennese Coffee and Sacher torte while thinking of your devastating backhand.


no not an angry person at all, just someone who wont sit back when absurd ideas are being promoted. you once again make the mistake that yo assume that it is me who is angry. visited other websites lately? i can name several where people really get angry in context of your person or the ittf.

so kindly refrain from throwing around with adjectives, this is a forum about tabletennis and not personal opinions about people.

i wonder why the ittf passes new rules when a huge amount of viewers were able to see that the referees were not able to adminster the old ones. take the simple service rule into consideration: would you tell me with a straight face that michael mazes services were correct?

how exactly will these suggested rules promote tabletennis? we just had the european championships, hardly any tv station broadcasted them, even the germans were neglecting it after no german was left, so how exactly will booster/frictionless pimple ban/ glue ban help with this issue that is far more crucial?

ideas like authorizing shoes simply are a present to the industry that will gladly take the money but once again destroys the liberty of the player in choosing the material of his or her choice.

you are making tabletennis illiberal by removing the factor of personal freedom/choice, you are not making it better with these ideas and not promoting it so that it becomes more attrctive to a bigger audience.
Author:  adham [ 24 Sep 2009, 23:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
AA wrote:
adham wrote:

You are one angry person. May the warm winds from Africa sooth your anger and may you relax and enjoy a Viennese Coffee and Sacher torte while thinking of your devastating backhand.


no not an angry person at all, just someone who wont sit back when absurd ideas are being promoted. you once again make the mistake that yo assume that it is me who is angry. visited other websites lately? i can name several where people really get angry in context of your person or the ittf.

so kindly refrain from throwing around with adjectives, this is a forum about tabletennis and not personal opinions about people.

i wonder why the ittf passes new rules when a huge amount of viewers were able to see that the referees were not able to adminster the old ones. take the simple service rule into consideration: would you tell me with a straight face that michael mazes services were correct?

how exactly will these suggested rules promote tabletennis? we just had the european championships, hardly any tv station broadcasted them, even the germans were neglecting it after no german was left, so how exactly will booster/frictionless pimple ban/ glue ban help with this issue that is far more crucial?

ideas like authorizing shoes simply are a present to the industry that will gladly take the money but once again destroys the liberty of the player in choosing the material of his or her choice.

you are making tabletennis illiberal by removing the factor of personal freedom/choice, you are not making it better with these ideas and not promoting it so that it becomes more attrctive to a bigger audience.


OK, thank you for the clarification. I'm happy for you. I respect your view. When you will be elected President of the ITTF then you can lead your way and convince the 208 member national associations of your views.
Author:  adham [ 24 Sep 2009, 23:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
Dear friends,

On December 28, 2008, I posted the following post starting this thread that has now reached 61 pages:

"Post subject: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
PostPosted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:47 pm

Dear Forum members,
This section is for you to ask me any questions you wish regarding the ITTF in particular or Table Tennis in general with the exception of questions on VOC, Additives (Boosters, Tuners, etc) and the Minimum Friction level (25mN). On these three topics you will find detailed answers and explanations in another thread in this Forum called: "Adham Sharara accepts the invitation"
I look forward to your questions.
Adham Sharara"

As you can tell by now, most Forum members did not respect my wish as stated above. Instead I have found myself repeating and repeating many times the same answer on topics already discussed. I have also engaged in debates, which I wish to avoid. My purpose here was very simple, answer "new" questions and inform you of future plans and ideas to get your feedback. My intent was not to argue and debate endlessly, nor to engage in discussions that go around in circles. But all is not negative. I have understood that in this Forum a question is not answered unless the answer is what the person who asked wants to hear. If I answer in any other way, then we engage in endless debate to infinity. Unfortunately, I neither have the time nor the desire to do so.

I ask Haggivs to please close this thread. I also ask Haggivs to send to me directly to my e-mail any questions that may arise by Forum members and it would be my pleasure to send the answers. Haggivs could also phone me whenever he needs. Then Haggivs could post the answer in a special new section "ITTF President's Q and A". This way, there will be a Question, and I will provide the Answer. Then you can all debate and argue amongst yourselves.

I really enjoyed my participation in this Forum and I wish all of you the best of luck and I hope that you keep on playing our sport forever.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my posts and to give of your valuable time for the improvement of our sport.
Author:  AA [ 25 Sep 2009, 00:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:

When you will be elected President of the ITTF then you can lead your way and convince the 208 member national associations of your views.


i thought you were interested in other views, especially to promote table tennis? i doubt that i will be elected ittf president as i have no interest in candidating. after being in politics (vice-head of austrias liberal party) i have learned to appreciate free time and i spent time studying law, so i will remain in that field. so regrettably i wont make your vision spring into reality.

however i definitely think that this discussion has shown several players the dangers when players are not involved in crucial decisions, but are made by beaurocrats that several people claim are "out of touch" with the sport on a pragmatic level. i think there will be efforts of creating a players union or a greater awareness of what the national organisations do or who they appoint. this definitely was a wake up call.

thus i thank you for the lively discussion, i think it was only the beginning of something constructive in the future of our sport :)
Author:  Smartguy [ 25 Sep 2009, 01:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
AA wrote:
however i definitely think that this discussion has shown several players the dangers when players are not involved in crucial decisions, but are made by beaurocrats that several people claim are "out of touch" with the sport on a pragmatic level. i think there will be efforts of creating a players union or a greater awareness of what the national organisations do or who they appoint. this definitely was a wake up call.


+1! =D>
Author:  adham [ 25 Sep 2009, 02:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
Smartguy wrote:
AA wrote:
however i definitely think that this discussion has shown several players the dangers when players are not involved in crucial decisions, but are made by beaurocrats that several people claim are "out of touch" with the sport on a pragmatic level. i think there will be efforts of creating a players union or a greater awareness of what the national organisations do or who they appoint. this definitely was a wake up call.


+1! =D>


One last comment:

Members of the ITTF EC:

Adham Sharara - player, canadian champion, played internationally briefly
Yang Shuan, player, sport expert in China, Sports Director of Olympic Games
Neil Harwood, player, long time president of his national association, many times manager of australian team in their glory days
Koji Kimura, player, many times world and japanese champion
Cheirf Hajem, player, long time player in Africa and Tunisia and many times coach an manager of his team
Thomas Weikert, player, still plays in german league
Petra Sorling, player, still plays actively, long time swedish league player
we also had Claude beregret, player, still active and was world XD champion

We also have something called an "Athletes Commission" in the ITTF that is compsed of active and retired athletes to advise the ITTF EC and also to make proposals.

However, the structure of our federation, yes it's a FEDERATION, not a club, is composed of the member national table tennis associations that are recognized by both their respective government sports authorities and their NOCs.

Bye and hope to see you in Austria soon. I will be visiting soon to set-up ITTF offices at the Werrner Schlager Academy.

Auf wieder sehen !
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 25 Sep 2009, 03:21 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:
One last comment:

Members of the ITTF EC:

Adham Sharara - player, canadian champion, played internationally briefly
Yang Shuan, player, sport expert in China, Sports Director of Olympic Games
Neil Harwood, player, long time president of his national association, many times manager of australian team in their glory days
Koji Kimura, player, many times world and japanese champion
Cheirf Hajem, player, long time player in Africa and Tunisia and many times coach an manager of his team
Thomas Weikert, player, still plays in german league
Petra Sorling, player, still plays actively, long time swedish league player
we also had Claude beregret, player, still active and was world XD champion

How many of them use pips or anti?
Author:  Smartguy [ 25 Sep 2009, 03:26 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:
One last comment:

Members of the ITTF EC:

Adham Sharara - player, canadian champion, played internationally briefly
Yang Shuan, player, sport expert in China, Sports Director of Olympic Games
Neil Harwood, player, long time president of his national association, many times manager of australian team in their glory days
Koji Kimura, player, many times world and japanese champion
Cheirf Hajem, player, long time player in Africa and Tunisia and many times coach an manager of his team
Thomas Weikert, player, still plays in german league
Petra Sorling, player, still plays actively, long time swedish league player
we also had Claude beregret, player, still active and was world XD champion


Adham, you know very well, that AGM and Board of Directors change rules, not the Executive Committee.

Bad rules remain bad rules. Illegal rules remain illegal rules. Who and why made them is a secondary issue.
Author:  jolan [ 26 Sep 2009, 16:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
adham wrote:
I have understood that in this Forum a question is not answered unless the answer is what the person who asked wants to hear.


This is your understanding. I think you took the right decision closing this endless debate. When someone is not ready to accept annoying questions and fairly answer them, he better leave the scene. Instead of taking us for trouble makers, you should have seized this opportunity to re-examine your policy and genuinly ask to yourself : Did we follow the right track ?
On the contrary, you kept repeating the same nonsense analogies.
Look what ITTF did within the last 10 years. You have transformed an affordable sport into a high technology and expensive search (to the sole manufacturers benefit) where former champions are now suspected to be cheaters, where midlevel league players are forced to change their equipment every year due to frantic ban activity, where top contry players can get tuned rubbers from their sponsors while others are Dqd by incompetent referees.
You wanted to slow down the game in order to make it more TV friendly. Result is that blockers are taking the lead over loopers, making the game even less spectacular. I know I will never convince you and you'll keep going again and again. You've been entering into an endless race where quick and bad decisions are required to recover from last mistake. It's the all logic which is wrong. Instead of baning and forbiding, you should allow and open. TT is a space of freedom where people enjoy playing with whatever equipment they fancy. It's up to the oponent to adapt, not to ITTF.
Go and regulate blades too. I dare you ! Try to force players to change their blades. This might be the last of this long serie of unenforceable decision which pollute our sport.
Author:  haggisv [ 26 Sep 2009, 19:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: ITTF President, Adham Sharara, answers your questions
I thought this topics was locked already :shock: :oops: It is locked now.

A new thread will be started soon, where members can still ask Adham questions, but I will personally pass the questions onto Adham (if they have not been covered before). Adham has kindly offered to still answer our questions, and I will post his answers. He has also agreed to keep me up to date with the latest ITTF developements, so that I can post those here as well.
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