OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I am sure it's an old topic. A lot of us are sitting at home during this Covid-19 pandemic, away from the TT table, so why not post some nice TT matches from the past?
I'll start with the match, Kim Taek Soo vs Liu Guoheng:

It's nice to be reminded of the old days when the ITTF still had games play up to 21
I think this was the final year before the ITTF changed the rules to 11.

Can't say it's my favorite, haven't even watched it yet.. But it just popped up in YouTube. And I plan to watch it this evening.

Iskandar

Poor Kim Taek Soo, for my money one of the unluckiest TT players who ever lived.

All credit to Liu Guozheng, but if Kim had won, Korea would have played Belgium in the 2001 Swaythling Cup Final, where they would have been favourites to win for the only time in their history.
Later, in the singles event at those championships, Kim was all square with eventual champion Wang Liqin for half-an-hour when Wang got an edge which Kim thought was a side (it certainly looked like one). But the umpire went with Wang, and Kim lost his focus, that game, and ultimately the match.
And of course Kim went out at the '95 Worlds after destroying Wang Tao 3-0 when his bat was judged to have a little bit too much speed glue... (glue or no glue, he totally outplayed Wang)
...and he lost in the '96 Olympics QF to Rosskopf, 26-24 in the decider.

Here is one of the best matches I have seen, Joo Se Hyuk (for Levellois I think) against fellow modern defender Wang Xi of Fulda in a Champions league match (I think there mat be a longer clip of this match somewhere):
https://youtu.be/oICkn7Ws2pI

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Getting better - health and game | Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack

Lots of thrills and spills, classic attack vs defence from a dozen years back:

Fascinating, I've heard that before!

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Jang Song Man is one of the few defenders I have seen beaten SP C-pen wiz He Zhi Wen (playing for Spain, still active well over 50 I believe). I just kept playing very precise and consistent and kind of bored He, making him loose his cool. Check that out. Jang Song Man is one of my favourite defenders. Also check out Li Gun Sang of North Korea, he had some really good matches against J-O.

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Getting better - health and game | Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack

Past from the blast...

The great Gabor Gergely..



Things really were a lot more spartan back then..

Iskandar

Great video though I wouldn’t call that forehand spartan!

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Equipment:
Stiga 2000 All '76, FH: DHS H3 Neo 2.1, BH: Dr. Neubauer ABS2 2.3

No giant balls next to the umpire, no fancy towel bins, no digital displays on the back barriers... Even the shirts were a lot simpler back then. The rules said solid dark colors only, and a badge of limited size specified by the rules.

Another interesting video I just came across. Hobbyist bat vs. drugstore bat.



Just curious.. the "pro" guy.. is he normally a chopper, or was he playing a chop game due to the bat? Anyone know him? The difference I notice is that he wasn't able to get more than medium speed when he did try attacking. He did hit a few past Dan, but those were moderate pace pick-hits.

Iskandar

The pro player is Truls Möregårdh, one of Sweden's best player, runner up in world junior champs I think and ranked round 100 in the world (senior ranking). He is as from a defender anyone could be. But I guess that was what he felt was the best way to play with that bat.

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Getting better - health and game | Def-attack's attempts to find balance between defence/attack

Remember that World Champs was played in North Korea, where 'spartan' is luxury for the great majority of people

You might notice that halfway through the match most of the audience have left - that's because the PRK team have just lost the Women's team final (to China, natch) on the adjoining table. In that championship the locals rooted incessantly for the PRK and ignored everyone else, even when history was being made by Hungary in that game.

1979 was not a good year for N. Korean TT. Pak Yung-Sun from N. Korea won gold twice, in 75 and 77. Rumour had it that Zhang Li was ordered to lose both times. But in 79, they were allowed to play for real.

If you watch other videos from this period of time or before you'll notice that things were less glitzy than they are today, no matter where the game was bring played. Mind you, I'll bet the North Koreans are as capable as anyone else would be of putting on a lavish show, if the event was deemed important enough - and this would have been "important enough", since international visitors were involved. Just because the people living there don't have a lavish lifestyle doesn't mean the State has a shortage of money to splurge on making international events lavish. But I think, for table tennis events, this is what was considered normal back then. No need for highly decorative barriers, towel bins, umpire stations, etc.

Iskandar