OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Stephen Tai Australia
Style: shakehander, long pips, chopper
Blade: Custom Kenneth Poon balsa blade
FH: XIOM Omega 2 Euro 2mm
BH: Donic Akkadi L2 OX

Grade A player from Sydney, NSW, Australia

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Nice videos! That's a very fast blade! I wonder that the control would be like with the pips?

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Great videos MNNB,
I tried contacting Stepehen and asked him to join in our forum and he accepted,
I was in his team last year so I do know a little bit about himself.
He was the team captain and the coach for the under 14's girl's playing in the Aust National team Championship in 2007.
Recently played in the New Zealand Veteran's and got gold. In the Veteran open's got 1st runner up in the O/40's and Consolation/Plate Singles and QF in O/50 Men's singles...... Pls change it to something like that:

- O/50 2009 Sydney World Master Games Team Events (Silver)
- O/50 2010 NZ Master Games (Dunedin), Gold in Singles
- O/40 2010 NZ Vet Open (1st runner-up in Plate Singles)
- O/50 2010 NZ Vet Open (Singles QF)
In June he will be playing the world veteran's championship in Mongolia.
He has a current webiste which you can find http://www.pingpongstephen.com/

I would say he play's very active on bothsides, able to chop and hit on both wing's, but I would say his signature move is hitting off backspin with the Lp



Cheers Guys.

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Thanks MNNB for the video and Monkey for the update.

I like Stephen's backhand LP hits especially those down the line returns.

Yes I met Steve in New Zealand (We never played) but he was asking me how we know our Ociania ratings and him and the other Aussies don't lol . So I told him to visit the http://www.tabletennis.org.nz/ site and go to player info and look for it there. I watched him in one doubles where he didn't go back too far. My assosiation Wiatamata won the most medals out of all the teams (my team was 4th)

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Ha, Bill U is going to Mongolia too in June, he has been talking about this trip since last year.

Good luck to both of them.

That's great! I think Dr. Neubauer will be there, too. I hope he shoots a lot of video.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Hi guys,

Yes, I'll be going to Inner Mongolia coming June with a mission of learning more, enjoying the world champ atmosphere, trying my best, and most important of all, video record some interesting videos that all of us can share!

PingpongStephen

Hi Tatlwai,

Tks for your complement! Yes, using LP hitting down the line and cross court with LP OX is my signature move as Metal Monkey says. This gives me quite a lot of winning points as I can use it as a setup for FH attack. I believe as a LP player, nowadays, we can't be too passive just doing defense. We must create chances to do more counter attack, otherwise, we are just sitting ducks!

BTW, how is your Joola R1?

PingpongStephen

I don't use Joola R1 anymore, can't control the invert side, though I still have one sitting in the drawer. this one is special, had a signature of Persson when he did a demonstration in our club when he visited his once coach Stellan Bengtsson with his family. Used to have three R1, the other two traded for blades with Speedplay and Jix.

You are right about us LP user can't be passive, I had a fun match with a club member yesterday. This player is around 2000 or so, hit everything flat, our member Bogeyhunter played with him two years ago when he came to San Diego. Anyway, he served fast non spin balls to my backhand, I pick hit them down the line or cross court, one point to me. I chopped them back, he hit, one point to him. For the whole match, if I chop or push, he'll hit pass me, so I had to serve short and use my Long A 1.1 to hit, successful strategy, won 3 - 2, very satisfying.

I had mentioned that Bill U, a player using combination rubbers well, will go to Mongolia too in June. If you ever play against him, just be very patient, it will take him forever to be ready even when he is at the table. During play, he will take his time after every single point, set his foot right before he'll let you serve, just to annoy his opponent. But he is a good patient player, very precise and use his combination rubbers (Mark V and 563) well, twiddle well during play.

Anyway, welcome to the forum and good luck in Mongolia. Hope some day, I will have a cjhance to travel to Australia, visiting Sydney and Melbourne, and hitting with all these Australian friends.

G'day Rodderz,

I do re-call u told me how to find the rating thro tabletennis.org.nz. I really don't know how the oceanic veteran rating works out as I found my recent one is just two points higher than the 2007's. I had played so many games these years.

Anyway, that is my second time competiting in NZ, first one being early this year in NZ Maters Games (Dunedin). I must admit the standard of play in the NZ Vet Open is very high and I learnt a lot from top players. I had some tough 5 setters. Most exciting one is vs Stuart Armstrong in O/50 R16. I was 2 sets down, then fought back to win 3-2 and eventually losing to Steve Zhu, a pen-holder, in QF. Steve really knows how to play a LP player, well play!

I didn't do well in teams. We ended up in 5th place in O/40 and O/50.

I didn't realize y watched my double game. Yes, I didn't step back too much, perhaps due to the ankle strain after being hurt while doing so many high ball smashes against a NZ Korean pen-holder guy. he drives me crazy, lobbing balls high, and he can return so many of my smashes even I hit him corner to corner.

As a matter of fact, when I am getting older, I may stay closer as a blocker against top spin using LP. However, when someone does a speedy power loop drive fast, there is no way to return as a blocker. If I still got energy, I would still prefer, chopping like Joo See Hyuk or chen Weixing against top spins.

Strange enough, I met Greg letts, a top LP player form WA, Australia. He used inverted rubbers on BH and FH, reason being he feels so exhaustive playing as a chopper. He is now an attacker, looping from both wings, very effectively. Anyway, he is a very good player!

Cheers!
PingpongStephen

Welcome aboard Stephen, I got to play you at NZ Vets this Easter. You beat one of our top 50 players Stuart Armstrong in 50 maindraw.

I played you in the 50's teams, sorry to say I did manage to have a win against you but maybe just luck. We both play the same game it was like playing myself.

Cheers

Gregg

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Hi Haggisv,

Thanks u like the videos. I was using a custom-made balsa blade + Joola Octopus OX and Xiom Zeta 2.0 in the video I played against a lady called Jeniffer. it was not fast at all. Octopus LP is the one used by Chen Weixing. Quite effective as an all-round rubber, able to hit, chop and block, very controllable! I have been trying numerous LPs by now. Joola Octopus, Tibhar Grass are pretty good. In Sydney, lots of players are using Tibhar Grass OX. Hien Tran, a top Lp modern defensive player here in NSW, is using Tibhar Grass. I find that I am quite in fond of Donic Akkadi L2 OX at present!

Cheers!
PingpongStephen

_________________



The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Hi Guys,

Just a bit of sharing experience. In the previous video, vs Matthew Walker, 1983 Australian Junior Champ. I was testing Joola R1 + Donic Akkadi L2 OX + Tenergy T64 1.7 mm. I lost 1-3. I find that Joola R1 is a very powerful blade. It is a bit springy and not quite ideal for chopping game with long pimple. However, It is great for all out attack. Using long pimple for blocking against loop and hitting etc is perfect as you can see from my video. Looping and hitting with inverted rubber is equally good. Downside is, though it has balsa contents, it still weighs 84 gm after I trimmed it to normal blade size. It is chunky too, 13.5 mm!!! Hope my bit of experience will help you guys in choosing the right blade and LP rubbers to suit your style of play!

Cheers!
PingpongStephen