OOAK Table Tennis Forum

No, not really. Need to give it another try after I come back from World Masters in Rome, don't want to tinker too much before that.

My thoughts on Diode/N3Neo/P1-r (1.3mm) were like this:
* Faster than my old Defense Alpha setup. both on BH and FH. Pretty much everything is fasteer compared to old one, though, with the exception of Barricade, that thing is like a pillow.
* Close to the table pips shots are not bad
* Chops are high and long (off the table, that is) - I'm much more used to OX chopping by now.
* Handle is different, feels 'bigger and taller'. Defplay Senso is closer to original Defense Alpha feel in that regard.
* It could be mental, but the way my finger rests on the pips side with Curl P1-r is different, pips pattern is such that it ends up sitting on pips, which I keep noticing. Makes twiddling more difficult for me , together with thicker handle

For the moment I'm sticking with a variant of Defplay Senso combo, with VS>401 (1.8 mm) and Curl P-1v OX. Got it from tt-japan recently, and it feels most comfortable for now. By the way, not sure about blade quality, but at least packaging for Japanese version of Defplay Senso is MUCH nicer, that box is like the one for iPhone... Finish is really good too.

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USATT: ~1700

Is there physical difference on the blade between Japanese version and other version?

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instagram: rokphishtt

I really don't know how to tell the difference, as these have different rubbers on them, and I expect some variation for blades from the same market anyway. JP version came already assembled, so can't look at bare blade either.

For what it's worth, I currently prefer JP-made combo

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USATT: ~1700

Oh okay. Just wondering if there’s different in color pattern, words, emblem/logo, or whatever. No worry.

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instagram: rokphishtt

No, these looked the same from what I could tell (besides J.T.T.A 'label' on the handle butt).

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USATT: ~1700

I’ve seen red color handle and blue color handles. Why the difference? Do you know?

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instagram: rokphishtt

No idea - and never saw red handle.

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USATT: ~1700

Westchester June Open 'report'

Because of WTT Feeder event they held, top events happened on Saturday. It also explains presence of many underrated juniors from Canada and Puerto Rico, with a very predictable consequences

Day 1:

U1900 - I'm a B player in the group, and promptly fall behind 1-2 to a 950 USATT little girl from PR. Did win it 3-2, but that was sign of things to come, with too many mistakes on FH and BH.
Beat C player (local kid ~1600 with LP/MP? on backhand) - was up 2-0 easily, but then his coach showed up and it tightened (he sent more wobbly balls to FH, and quality of his pushes/blocks improved).
A player (~14 yr girl from Canada) was rated 1860, but she just laughed at every shot I had. pips or not. Quick 0-3. She ended up being a runner up in U1900.

In SE bracket got the lefty guy with almost the same rating - played him almost a year ago, and it was a quick 3-0 win for me after I discovered he does not have much of a backhand. This time fell promptly into 0-2 hole, since his FH improved and so his footwork. But - he still did not have backhand, so I started sending ALL balls there and won next three and the match.

Next - another kid from PR (also lefty), only ~1730 on paper, but he quickly annihilated me 3-0. Ended up winning the event.

U2050: I'm a C player. Local coach is an A, lose quickly in 3 (but with some decent points), D player is unrated kid from Canada, I lost 1-3. And the same girl from U1900, so another 0-3.

I'm basically having problems on both sides by this time, with all close to the table pips shots being too passive, so I either net the ball or put it back for an easy attack

Day 2:

U2000: I'm a B player, but promptly lose 0-3 to a local 1500 (unrated? can't ever tell at Westchester, as they usually put down estimated ones) kid who just played it soft, short, and stable all match. Same kid then beats C player (carbon copy of me, but a bit older). While I lose entertaining match to A player (aggressive looper) in 3.

Did close the day by beating C player 3-0 by just playing to his pips).

So, not much to brag about, and need to get out of this passive mindset. Lost confidence, especially on BH.
Chops weren't that dangerous too, which is kind of weird. I'll figure something out for the Rome

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USATT: ~1700

Results got posted, and as expected, lost some points (17), but not as many as I anticipated: after adjustments all my losses were not too bad, and some wins got better. Still does not change most of playing impressions I've got out of it.

Off to Rome tonight.

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USATT: ~1700

Unrated kid from Canada Eric Ma?

I think so. I believe he originally ended up at 1800+ or so after Westchester (average of best win and worst loss?), but I just checked and his new rating is only 1550, so I lost much more too. No idea what happened, USATT algo is a bit opaque... Oh well

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USATT: ~1700

He started to play this winter. 400 canadian rating

Made it to Rome on Thursday and spent Thu-Sat sightseeing (pretty hot here, but lots to see, eat, and drink ). Picked up my registration at the tournament site - for the extra fun there was a train strike today, so i actually had to grab a taxi with few other participants( few nice folks from France) from the train station to convention center that hosts the tournament (near the airport). Should be normal tomorrow, we were told.

Site is pretty big, ~260(?) tables in several halls. Met up with a few clubmates and had a hit with them and others in a practice area. It was a bit darker than I'd like, but the other area (Hall 3) with actual playing tables was decent. Grey STAG tables, sports flooring throughout, STAG balls.

Hit for a bit with a German dude (~1500 TTR he said) and played a practice match - lost 2-3, which is about right. Just scanning the practice area did not feel too bad level-wise - of course quite a few players better than me, but not a huge gap in skills. Seems to be a lot of European players, for obvious reasons. Not a lot of players from China, interestingly - there were more in Las Vegas in 2018, I thought. I think next tournament is in Korea(?), so that should be fun.

Packet I got at registration already had a medal in there (nice!), so mission accomplished . Picked up a nice Stag shirt with some nice tournament logos, and probably will get some official merch too later.

Play starts tomorrow at 9 am, my group has players from Lithuania, Germany, and Switzerland. Let's see how it goes.

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USATT: ~1700

For real!???

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Yeah. 16 in Hall 1 (that's where finals will be), and then about 60 per Halls 2, 3, 5, and 6. I rather like it, compared to one giant space in Las Vegas for US Open/World Vets or Maryland for Teams.

Roughly 40 of these are practice tables too, and getting a hit with a random player is fun.

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USATT: ~1700