OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Unlike the Olympics... Here's the qualifying rounds for Table Tennis:



Looks like a Class 8 match right now.

Iskandar

Hamadtou (EGY) playing right now. The guy with no arms. He's playing in Class 6, against people with two arms... Wow, he's a great deal better than I thought he'd be. I'm also watching Wheelchair Rugby - that's intense. And there's a Pakistan vs. India trolling match going on in the Live Chat..

Iskandar

Wheelchair Rugby. Australia vs. Denmark at the moment, about to start, so I know there will be some interest here. Looks like it's mixed gender - there are some women players. It kind of looks like wheelchair demolition derby, no wonder they need spare wheels (there are racks by the coaches..).

Wow. This was a nail biter of a game.. Came down to the last seconds. And this is just the preliminary round.. I'll have to catch more of this.

Iskandar

Table tennis live now. Starting a Class 4 (wheelchair) match.

Iskandar

Today's matches.



Adam Bobrow is commentating, at least for now. Currently Pan (CHN) vs. Jung (KOR). The Korean is using long pips.

Ajumma Brigade Power!! Starting at 4:59:01.

Iskandar

Thursday's live stream (which I didn't get to watch live):



Looks like they're in the elimination rounds already. Youssef (EGY) vs. Yagi (JPN) Class 7. 1:24:00 - the guy's out-cho'ing Harimoto.. Matches at the Paralympics (at least at this stage) seem to be best of five games.

First three matches all involve a Japanese player. 2:05:00 Fourth game: McKibbin (GBR) vs. Karlsson (SWE) Class 8. Limited mobility or no, these guys look like they'd be rated about 2000-2100.

Fifth match - 2:45:00 - another Class 8 match involving GBR (Wilson) and SWE (Andersson) - coincidence? Looks like the Swedish team shirts are provided by UniQlo.. Looks like all the televised matches are happening at one table, though when go to the wide view you see cameras at two tables. So far, no wheelchair matches. Sixth match - 3:30:00 Class 6, Chen (CHN) vs. Rosenmeier (DEN). These players are impaired to a greater degree than the previous ones, this is the lowest ambulatory class. Rosenmeier's ranked 2, Chen 8. Rosenmeier has his racket tied to his arm. Chen seems to be using H3 on the forehand.. (and some sort of pips on the backhand). This is turning into a real cat-and-mouse game.

Seventh match - Stacey (GBR) vs. Nozdrunov (RPC). This was a Class 9 match. Did you know that Ma Lin plays for Australia? (He beat Stacey in the Group matches earlier..). They usually mention what impairments the players have, these two seem without any obvious ones. They're looping from four feet back and moving around the court. Easily 2400-2500 level table tennis. A very good, very close match.

Eighth match - Palos (HUN) vs. Asano (JPN). Class 11 (Intellectual impairment). Palos is world-ranked 1. 4:59:00 Looks like another very high level game. Palos tends to play a little further back, letting the ball drop and then lifting. Asano plays close to the table, almost like a lesser Harimoto. Blocks a lot, uses angles. The first game was really close, 2 or 3 deuces. Wow - what a finish.

Ninth match - does the commentator get a break? Six hours non-stop... Class 7. Bayley (GBR) vs. Schnake (GER). These guys are pretty fast, and they can move around fairly well. Bayley makes a noise for every stroke (like Nadal ).

No, I didn't sit through all six hours of this.. I skipped forward quite a bit. Only took me.. 2 1/2 hours?

Iskandar

Hmph... they've removed all the live stream videos, unfortunately. I was about to post another one which focused on the wheelchair classes, where Adam Bobrow was commentating. Some really good games in there.

However, they are posting a few videos about specific games, here's one of them:



In the live streams, the Indian spammers were really making a nuisance of themselves, partly because they were angry that none of the games involving Indian players were being shown. So I hope this, at least, makes them a little happier. I had to spend a solid 10 minutes blocking them before the Live Chat became usable - there must have been 40 or 50 of them. Not that there were any other table tennis enthusiasts in the Live Chat, who wanted to discuss equipment.. (and tactics..) Adam did a great job with this, by the way, pointing out the quirks about the equipment. In Class 1, extra long blades seem popular, for obvious reasons - I just wonder where they find extra long sheets of Tenergy to go with them..

Note the title of the video - it's the Silver Medal Match for the Indian player, not the Gold Medal Match for the Chinese player (who was the one who won, by the way.. ).

Say what you will about Adam Bobrow - this video really showcases how good of a commentator he is. Listen to what he says about Patel before the match starts. She plays in Class 4 (which is one step below the class for the least-impaired wheelchair players).

Iskandar

Here's another full match they posted. Ibrahim Hamadtou (the guy without arms) from Egypt. I've often seen him do exhibitions, but how does he play in an actual game? He plays in Class 6 (the class for the most-impaired of the standing players). Players in sports such as Wheelchair Rugby have developed phenomenal upper-body strength, Hamadtou seems to have developed extraordinary neck muscles. Of course, since this is table tennis, everyone (including myself) wants to know about his equipment... Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find out what he uses. The playing side (black) seems to be inverted of some sort (and I'd bet it's Tenergy 05 ), but what I wonder about is whether there's any rubber at all on the red side. I suppose a lighter bat would be advantageous to someone who plays like that. He uses a lot of sidespin, and tries to use angled shots. He does have a fast slap shot, too.



Iskandar

Ah.. I forgot to turn off my VPN, which is why the table tennis live streams seemed to have disappeared.

I think this one would be of interest to Australians here:



1:20:00 - Gold medal match Class 10. Qian YANG (AUS) vs. Bruna COSTA ALEXANDRE (BRA).

Iskandar

Men's Class 6 Finals. Beginning at 52:00.



Peter Rosenmeier (DEN) vs. Ian Seidenfeld (USA)

Turn the Live Chat Replay off, unless you enjoy Indian spammers..

Class 6 is for the most-impaired standing players. This is 2000+ level table tennis - just amazing.

Also in the same video:

3:57:00 - Men's Class 9 Finals. Lauren Devos (BEL) vs. Ma Lin (AUS)

(The other Ma Lin.. )

OH WAIT - 4:00:02 - Tahl Liebovitz was playing in the Paralympics???? In Class 9. Devos beat him earlier. I wonder if there's video of that match.

Iskandar

Some really great matches!

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Let me know if the rest of you can see this video - it was posted on YouTube by our local satellite TV broadcaster, don't know if it's visible elsewhere.



I think this is part of the Teams competition, it starts with a Men's Wheelchair Doubles match (I'd guess Class 2 or 3). Wheelchair Doubles is interesting - the players do NOT have to alternate shots. They do have to switch places (left and right) after their service turn is over (will have to watch more of it). It sounds like Adam Bobrow's commentating. Looks like the Wheelchair Singles rule about serves having to exit the table over the end line doesn't apply to Wheelchair Doubles.

Iskandar

Teams finals. I haven't watched it yet, probably tomorrow. Spent the evening watching Sitting Volleyball - the Russians (er, RPC) got beat badly by Iran.



Apparently Men's Class 4-5 Teams Gold Medal match and Women's Class 1-3 Teams Gold Medal match. China vs. S. Korea in both cases. Looks like they combine classes for teams, probably because otherwise there would be fewer teams in each category. Only eight teams entered in the Men's Class 4-5, no groups matches - they started with the quarter finals. Looks like in Paralympics Teams it's one doubles match followed by two singles matches.

Iskandar

Very interesting. I've never seen wheelchair doubles before... it looks like either opponent can hit the ball, they don't take turns!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Yes that's right,same as one of our domestic leagues which has a couple of wheelchair teams,more difficult to play against than you'd think and fiercely competitive.

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