OOAK Table Tennis Forum

A nice article from ITTF:
http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_fu ... n_ID=2117&



02/13/2012 GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour, Kuwait Open,

Want to be entertained; well, surely that’s exactly what professional sport should do.

The spectator pays hard earned cash for the ticket to enter the area and thus has every right to expect to be entertained.

In the world of table tennis, even if it was first viewing, surely you would be entertained watching Korea’s Joo Se Hyuk.

He is the top seed in the Men’s Singles event at GAC GROUP 2012 ITTF World Tour Kuwait Open which starts on Tuesday 14th February.


An Athlete
Nowadays we often refer to sportsmen and sportswomen as athletes, whatever their disciplines. The word no longer is used just to describe those who can run one hundred metres in the blink of an eye; it is an all-encompassing noun.

Joo Se Hyuk is an athlete; his defensive play combined with a lethal attack demands a high degree of fitness, a high quotient of athleticism.

One Win
The superb Korean, a true gentlemen of sport, stands at no.6 on the Men’s World Rankings, his highest ever global status; yet on the ITTF Pro Tour, now the GAC GROUP 2012 Global Tour, he has only one title to his credit in a period of what is now approaching 15 years. He made his debut in Linz at the Austrian Open in 1997.

He has never won doubles gold, the only title that has come his way was in 2006 at the Korean Open in Jeonju.

Produces the Shock Result
Otherwise, it is a situation of producing the unexpected in the most spectacular fashion but then falling at an ensuing hurdle to a player, who has no qualms when confronting the master of the backspin.

Liebherr World Championships
Sensationally in 2003, he reached the final of the Men’s Singles event at the Liebherr World Championships in Paris; in the final he faced Austria’s Werner Schlager who was quite accustomed to the style of Joo Se Hyuk with Chen Weixing being in the same national team.

Four years later at the Liebherr World Championships in Zagreb he was the only non-Chinese player, male or female, to beat a Chinese player; he overcame Ma Long.

Match to Remember
Even more recently, at the Liebherr Men’s World Cup in Paris in November, he overcame Germany’s Timo Boll in a contest that was worthy of the accolade “Match of the Year”; the Parisian crowd was spellbound.

Meanwhile, this year on the GAC GROUP World Tour he overcame China’s Zhang Jike, the reigning World champion!

Yet, as is his lot, the top step of the medal podium proved elusive.

Olympic Medal Hope
There are few that deserve success more than Joo Se Hyuk but unlike Peter Pan, he is not getting any younger; retirement is surely not imminent but time is running out on the international scene.

He is now 32 years old. Hopefully we’ll see him in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 but is London his last real chance of an Olympic medal; amazingly through a selection policy that boggles the imagination he was not in the Korean team for the Beijing Olympic Games four years ago.

Next in Line
However and let’s hope this is not the situation; should he decide that enough is enough and he is not in Rio de Janeiro; who will dazzle with defensive skills in the men’s events?

There is no obvious successor.

An Anomaly
Perhaps it is an anomaly but nowadays we have stringent racket testing, accepted the reasons for introducing such policies are in the best interests of the sport but is not one effect of the policy that it prevents rackets becoming faster and faster and faster?

Presumably the fast the rubber on the racket, the less chance for the defender?

More Control, Fewer Defenders
Yet when there was no such testing the likes of Matthew Syed, Panagotis Gionis, Chen Weixing, Hou Yingchao, Lin Ju, Hiroshi Shibtani and Koji Matsushita all appeared on the scene or were established players and continued to gain fine results.

Now to some extent when we control the speed of the racket, the defender has seemingly disappeared.

Possible Successors?
Now, is anyone set to take their place?

There is no immediate challenger; there is Japan’s 15 year old Yuto Muramatsu, currently standing at no.162 on the Men’s World Rankings and somewhat higher there is Germany’s Ruwen Filus, he is listed at no.90.

Ruwen Filus is on duty in Kuwait and perhaps he could be the man to entertain on the opening day of play and make it a special day for the spectators who want to be entertained.

Special Day
After all it is a special day for Ruwen Filus, no not because it’s Valentine’s Day; it’s his 24th birthday.

Happy defending!

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Good article this one!
Hope that it is a genuine one

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Ian Marshall conveniently omits the effects of the big ball and the ban of 1.3 aspect ratio long pips like Butterfly Feint and TSP P1.

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Of course, otherwise The President would take him to the Guillotine

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So instead he and the ITTF look like an idiots by appearing to wonder why there are no defenders anymore even though they ITTF is "helping" defenders with all their draconian racket testing.

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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

The rule changes also disadvantaged attackers as well. Remember Liu Guoliang?

Of course. This example is right in line with the ITTF's agenda to stop defensive styles of play and to stop Chinese domination (with Liu Guoliang specifically targeted).

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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

Joo vs a top ranked attacking player is ALWAYS a good watch.

Ma Long vs Zhang Jike is always great, but when Joo plays any of the top players, the crowd is on its feet and excited.

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