OOAK Table Tennis Forum

If you know who these 3 great TT players are, you are approaching senior age.

I had a poster of Jonyer on my bedroom wall and a picture of Li Chen Shih on my batcover. I guess that makes me a senior.

I suspect there are thousands of 50 and 60 year olds out there who had Jonyer as their hero when they were kids.

I was able to take a couple hours of coaching from Li Zhenshi when he first came to the US. I consider that to have been a great privilege.

At that time he still used in practice sessions his original blade, one made in his home town by a woodworker. He said he used that one blade for his whole playing career. It was a thing of beauty showing deep finger wear grooves in the wood from being used continuously for years and years. That's the opposite of an EJ, one blade forever. Also in competition played 802 pips forever if I am not mistaken.

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Too bad none of these 3 great players are in the ITTF hall of fame.

Zhang Li won more gold medals for China in the 1970's than anyone. Rumour has it that she was ordered to lose to the N Korean player in the world finals.

I got to watch Jonyer play at the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur - can't remember the exact year. He was playing a Brazilian Japanese penholder. Wowed the crowd with some very high lobs. His compatriot Klampar eventually beat Xie Saike in the finals.

Iskandar

That would be 1981, Iskandar.

I'm amazed that Jonyer isn't in the ITTF Hall of Fame - this is a man who won the World Championship in 1975 and led Hungary to a famous win over China in the '79 Worlds to take the Swaythling Cup. Looking at that film, it's great to see that he still has something of his looping skills intact 40 years on. (And I remember them from when I was a teenager, so I'm another one of those 'seniors' )

Back in the day, Li Zhenshih had the reputation of being the fastest player close to the table, but he never really did himself justice in the majors. But then those were the 'Friendship' years...

Which is why his wife Zhang Li, who was undoubtedly the best Chinese woman player and probably the World's best woman player in the mid-70s, never won the World Championship. Several contemporary reports of the two World Finals where she lost to Pak Yung Sun of PRK agree that Zhang didn't seem to be trying and even looked happier than Pak at the end of the '75 Final, having achieved the aim of gifting the title to North Korea.

I am also amazed the Jonyer isn't in the ITTF Hall of Fame. Anyway, it was wonderful to see these three players again. The last time I saw Jonyer, was in May 1975, when I refereed a match that he easily won. He was an incredible player in those days. I can't imagine what his loop would be like if he used modern-day experience. In those days, he used Tackiness D, and his loop was so incredibly fast and spinny, reminding me of Xu Xin's loop today.

Seeing Li Zhenshih was special too. I will always fondly remember when I first entered the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta, for my first practice in the 1975 World Championships. The first person that I saw upon entering the playing arena was Li Zhenshih. Seeing him, at that moment, made me feel so lucky and fortunate that I really did accomplish my teenage dream of making it to the world championships. If anyone on the forum knows Li Zhenshih, I would very much appreciate if you can tell him this from me.

With regard to Zhang Li, I was watching this match up close from the 3rd or 4th row. Everyone sitting near me agreed that Zhang Li had been ordered to lose that match to Pak Yung Sun. That was unfortunate.

Steven

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Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
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Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
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1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
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Was Tackiness out in 1975? Can't remember - I always thought the Hungarians used Sriver (and were the earliest speed-gluers). Jonyer had anti on the backhand (as did many other players of the era). That straight armed loop with lots of sidespin was sort of his signature.

Iskandar

Desmond Douglas for me! Legend.

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Really?

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Yup.. Seen it written here and there. Strange when you consider he had a powerful backhand - must have been twiddling. Hard to tell sometimes, the earlier part of his career was before the two color rule. Back then it was probably Sriver Killer, but I did come across an article after he had retired and was running a sporting goods store that he had switched to Super Anti.

Iskandar

No. He Jonyer not have anti on his backhand! All you have to do is watch him loop with his BH to see that is nonsense.

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I had also thought that Jonyer used Sriver until I read on a butterfly website (at least I think it was a butterfly website) that he used Tackiness D. I don't know if he used more than one rubber during his career, and I don't know what he used when he won the World Championships in 1975. I still remember the point on which he won the world title. Stipancic was away from the table chopping, with Jonyer ahead 20-19 in the fifth game. It was an amazing experience to be on the floor watching the match.

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Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
--------------
Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
--------------
1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm

I also can't believe that Jonyer used anti on his backhand. He probably had one of the most powerful backhand loops in the history of table tennis. Jonyer's backhand loop was so powerful that he could force his opponents all the way back to the barrier with it. The only modern-day player I can think of with a comparable backhand loop is Kreanga, and it is certainly impossible to do those types of loops anti.

If I am not mistaken, Jonyer was the first player in table tennis history to have a powerful backhand loop. On his backhand, he could add sidespin in both directions, so the ball could explode off the table in either direction. It was amazing to watch!

As an interesting side point, during the World Championships, Jonyer had made the semis, and he was waiting to play the winner of Kohno and Surbek. Our coach was Zlatko Cordas, former member of the Yugoslavian team. With those pairings, Zlatko told me that Jonyer was certain to reach the final. He said that Surbek had no chance against Kohno, since Surkek lacked a powerful backhand loop. And he said that Kohno had no chance against Jonyer, because Jonyer did have a powerful backhand loop. It turned out just as Zlatko said it would. Kohno won easily over Surbek as did Jonyer over Kohno.

Steven

_________________
Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
--------------
Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
--------------
1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm

It sounds bizarre but Jonyer did actually use anti on his bh for a while. It was towards the end of his career.