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Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
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Author:  mynamenotbob [ 13 Jul 2009, 12:22 ]
Post subject:  Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Panagiotis Gionis Greece
Style: shakehander, long pips, modern defender
Blade: Korbel (ST)
FH: Tenergy 64 red 2.1 mm
BH: Feint Long II black 1.1mm

Image















2008 Olympics

Panagiotis Gionis vs Gustavo Tsuboi
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N2LHKW6M

Panagiotis Gionis vs Ko Lai Chak
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IVZ295MV
Author:  Pascal Tröger [ 17 Jul 2009, 19:15 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Great vids!
I love to watch them!
And I have downloaded the macht against ko lai chak!
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 18 Jul 2009, 06:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Here are some good clips of Gionis' technique:
Author:  Glueless [ 18 Jul 2009, 10:10 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Thanks for posting these MNNB. Definitely some good videos of both backhand and forehand chops. Although, it seems he does the latter only extremely rarely in matches.
Author:  fotta [ 18 Jul 2009, 22:59 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Versus Juanito (He Zhi Wen), he was upset. Afther finishing first set, he spoke to the trainer that he couldn't do anything or something like that. One point was 54 strokes long!

Greetings
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 22 Aug 2009, 05:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 21 Sep 2009, 21:09 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  Francis [ 22 Sep 2009, 02:13 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Here you can see some videos, when he was playing for the Metz team, in France :
http://www.metztt.com/download.php?lng=fr
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 20 Oct 2009, 22:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 27 Oct 2009, 00:08 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander




Author:  mynamenotbob [ 29 Oct 2009, 09:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 07 Nov 2009, 04:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  Bogeyhunter [ 07 Nov 2009, 05:59 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Great match.
Now I'm sure to say the best entertaining TT match is between attacking chopper vs attacking chopper or attacking blocker.
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 09 Nov 2009, 07:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Author:  mynamenotbob [ 24 Jan 2010, 09:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Panagiotis Gionis - long pips BH, shakehander
Butterfly-world.com interview with Panagiotis Gionis

Only a few young players are interested in the defensive game. The Greek national player Panagiotis Gionis surely is a player who is noticeable among the top players in the world. At the moment he is ranked 41. He is not a small guy with 1,86 m, from the outside a Greek, more precisely from Athens, like the old legends of his ancestry. He is on the way to become a dentist and with a playing system which is only used by four players among the top 50: defence. At the moment the right handed player is playing in the French top division for Vaillante Angers Sports T.T. The 29 year old Butterfly player is really keen on qualifying for the Olympic Games 2012 in London. What happens afterwards, who knows? Get to know more about an extraordinary player of the colourful table tennis circuit.


Panagiotis, you are one of the last defenders among the top players in the world. Why are there so few top class defenders?

We are not many, that is true: Joo Se Hyuk, Chen Weixing and this young German, who drew the attention at the Euros in Stuttgart when he qualified for the quarterfinals. His name is Ruwen Filus, isn’t it? All in all not many and it will be even less in the future. There are different reasons for that. Less and less young players are interested in defence. They prefer to attack. Perhaps they follow the world ranking list, because there are no defenders among the top 10 there. Apart from that it has become more difficult to gain exceptional results by playing defence.


Is the lack of defending youngsters not also down to a lack of defence coaches?

Of course. If you want to teach defence you must have played it yourself. You can learn about the defensive game theoretically but to be convincing as a coach and teach defence to a young player the coach needs to know about the rhythm and the feeling of a defensive player. That is only possible if you have played defence yourself up to a certain level. I don’t need to stress that there are not many coaches with experience in defence.


That could be a brilliant job for you.

(he laughs) No, I don’t think so.


What factors speak for a defensive game?

Generally it is very popular among the spectators. They like the game far behind the table with spectacular counter attacks. Apart from that it is very useful to have one or more defenders in your training group. That means longer rallies for the attackers and an improvement of their topspin game. First of all you have to learn to loop against a lot of backspin. Table tennis altogether remains more attractive.


Panagiotis, you are now 29 years old, the ideal age for a defender. How did your career start?

I began exactly 20 years ago when I was 9 years old. That is due to my father because I preferred to play football. But my father thought that you could easily become severely injured in football. I should rather pick a sport with less chance of an injury. My uncle was the chairman of a small club in my home town near Athens. I ended up with table tennis, which I liked a lot. Already after a year I managed to become a member of the Greek youth squad. That went very quickly.


When did you plan to become a table tennis professional?

When I was 18 years old, I had just started my studies as a dentist in Athens and decided to combine both: University and table tennis professional. I managed to do that and took my final exams when I was 24 years old. I always practiced table tennis in the mornings and concentrated on my studies in the afternoon. I was a so called semi-professional. After my studies I decided to try life as a full time professional for two years. I set myself precise targets which I wanted to achieve in two years. If I hadn’t managed to achieve that, I would have gone back to be a semi - professional and combine my job with table tennis. But it worked. I took part in the Olympic Games in my home town Athens in 2004 and reached the round of the last 32. In the first round I sensationally beat Zoran Primorac. That really motivated me and I achieved other surprising successes because of the increase in training. I moved up on the world ranking list, played better at my French club and had better results in the national team. So I decided to continue for two further years. Now it has become five years.


Where are you playing at the moment?

I play for the French 1. Division team Angers. France has become my second table tennis home. First I played five years for Metz then I changed to Pontoise for one season. Now it is my seventh season in France and I am playing for Angers. I really like France.


You are now 29 years old, a dentist and a table tennis professional. What are your plans now?


My big target is to qualify for the Olympic Games 2012 in London. Until then there will be only table tennis on the schedule. It is difficult to say what will happen afterwards. Perhaps I will continue for one or two years as a professional if things are going well. If not I will stop being a professional but I will definitely continue to play table tennis also at a lower level without a lot of fuss, just for fun.


That is very interesting. When I watch you playing, I noticed that you always play with a lot of passion and it looks as if you really love the game. What is your relationship to your sport?

I loved playing table tennis already as a child, when I started. Later there were other factors which increased my love for the sport even more. Being a member of the Greek national team, playing big tournaments, playing for a foreign club and a lot of other things. It went upwards step by step and that motivated me tremendously.


Let’s talk about Greek table tennis. Table tennis surely is one of the so called “little” sports in Greece.


Yes, very true. The reason for this is definitely not because of the association. They are trying really hard to promote table tennis. The organization of our sport is right. But table tennis has no tradition as a sport, no exceptional players. The Greek national league is from the international point of view very weak. Also the interest of the media is very low. The Greek television has no interest at all. We still have one of the European top players with Kreanga. Nobody takes any notice of that either. Without the interest of the media a sport has no chance to grow. We must win a medal at the Olympic Games then the media might get interested.


You are a defensive player. What material do you use?


I play with the PETR KORBEL OFF. On the forehand I use the TENERGY 64 2.1mm and on the backhand FEINT LONG II with 1.1mm. This combination suits me very well.


If you were the president of the International Table Tennis Federation ITTF, what would you change?


The Pro Tour is not developing in the way it should. The prize money is too low. That prevents the players from taking part. Some changes are necessary here and in the world ranking list, where you can find so many players, who hardly play internationally any more.

Then it is very important to clarify and make the control of rackets more just. Finally the attention of big tournaments should not only be drawn to the main hall with the TV cameras but also to the side hall with 16 to 32 tables. The playing conditions in this hall are quite different from the main hall. If the players have to change permanently from the main hall to the side hall it is very difficult to adapt. That definitely applies to the training hall too.
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