Table Tennis

Paul White62 said:Lin Yun knocked out Ma Long, so thank god we don't have to deal with that annoying crowd that
just screams for Ma Long all night long😁.
It’s also kind of hilarious watching them try to do these big victory interviews with Lin Yun in English
when the kid clearly doesn't understand a single word they're saying.

Man, Ma Long is looking more vulnerable by the day.

wiredcanyon39 said:It looks like Ma Long is becoming increasingly vulnerable.

I have to agree. He seems to have lost a bit of that explosive edge, mostly because his entire game plan relies so heavily on
lightning-fast footwork and raw power. I mean, let's be real, he's turning 35 soon. Still, even at this stage, he's arguably better than 99% of the rest of the field.😁
It’s going to be fascinating to see which duo ends up representing China in Paris. I'm pretty certain Fan Zhendong has secured his spot,
but that second position? It is wide open right now. Honestly, for the Chinese team, winning their own internal
national championships is often a much tougher climb than actually chasing down Olympic gold.

Man, what a killer performance by Alexis Lebrun. He absolutely took down Moregard, 🙏

Little Shindong is already absolutely killing it, he totally blew Danga away 🙏

Man, Chen Meng and Hayat were absolutely killing it out there. The tactical shifts were insane, the drama was off the charts, and honestly, it was such a massive win for Chen Meng. She’s been struggling lately, and I guess she just couldn't afford another loss to a non-Chinese player. It was high stakes, for sure.

Then we had Chuqin bow out this morning—and he didn't even get a real shot at it, losing to his teammate Liang. Seriously though, is anyone else wondering if someone besides Sun or Zhendong can actually snag a title this week? Maybe? Who knows.

wiredcanyon39 said:Man, what a thriller between Chen Meng and Hayat. The tactical shifts were insane, pure drama, and honestly a massive win for a Chinese player who’s been struggling lately—she just couldn't afford another loss to someone from outside the Chinese national team.

Then Chuqin gets knocked out this morning without even breaking a sweat, losing to his teammate Liang. I mean, is there any way anyone else can actually take a title this week besides Sun and Zhendong?

Not a chance. 😁
I guess Zhendong had a pretty rough ride too; he was practically digging balls out of the floor against little Shidong, but somehow, he always finds a way to pull it off.

The lovely Szocs has basically made a career out of taking down those Chinese players. A few rounds back it was Chen Meng, and now she’s gone after Xingtong 🙏

Gaćina is up against the world number two, Chuqin, in the opening round today, so I guess we shouldn't hold our breath for a massive upset 😁

Alexis Lebrun actually pulled off an upset against the legendary Fan Zhendong 🙏🙏🙏

Hungry for that win 🍿

The 57th World Championships in Durban are kicking off in just two days!

Representing the US, we have Gaćina, Pucar, Željko (M), along with Malobabić, Majstorović, and Arapović (F)

Gaćina has already secured a spot in the next round as a seed, but I’m particularly excited to see young
Arapović, who recently became the U21 European Champion—so naturally, a lot of things
will depend on the draw.

The defending champions are Fan and Wang Manyu (singles), Falck/Karlsson (doubles), Sun/Wang Manyu (women's doubles)
and the Sun/Wang Chuqin duo for the mixed doubles.
Every medal won by the Chinese team is a win for the sport globally, though even a gold in the doubles would be huge. 😁
In the men's singles, there might actually be a chance we don't see an all-Chinese final, but looking at the women's side, I think
that's nearly impossible because they are even more dominant than the men right now.
In the last 14 World Championships, the women's finals have been exclusively Chinese. The last non-Chinese woman to take the title
was the Korean player Jung Hwa back in 1993, and the last woman to win a title from outside
Asia was Rozeana way back in 1955.

Over the last 10 World Championships in singles, only Hirano (Japan) and our very own Boroš managed to grab bronze;
every other medal went to the Chinese players.

With the men's singles, however, we might actually avoid an all-Chinese final. Even though they've swept the last nine titles, 😁 the last person to break that streak who wasn't Chinese was Schalger in 2003. So, I'd say the time is ripe for an upset!

Gaćina was knocked right out by the Dane Groth immediately; tonight, we’ve got Pucar and Arapović stepping up to the plate.

I caught Ovtcharov’s match earlier, and man, he barely scraped through the second round after trailing 3-1 in sets
against the Frenchman Akkuzu. Honestly, Akkuzu had a golden opportunity to close things out in that sixth set, but he let a solid
lead slip right through his fingers.

Honestly, seeing Calderon bounce out in the first round is a total shocker 🙏

Zeljko just barely pulled dud through to the seventh set, so now we're all just sitting here waiting to see how this ends 🍿

Željko managed to pull through, and so did both Pucar and Malobabić.

It looks like Pucar and Željko have some relatively easy matchups coming up in the second round, having successfully dodged the heavy hitters. As for Malobabić,
she’s facing off against Diaz, who definitely holds the edge in skill level. Still, honestly, any draw that doesn't involve a player from China or
one of the top Japanese stars feels like a win in my book.

On a side note, I really have to give a shout-out to Ni XiaLin. This absolute legend is still competing at 59 years old! This marks her 24th
World Championship appearance. Back in 1983, she helped lead China to gold in both the team and mixed doubles events.
At the last World Championship, she secured a bronze in the women's doubles representing Luxembourg—the same country she’s been playing for since '91.
Plus, she was a multiple-time European champion about two decades ago. What an incredible career.🙏

What an absolute thriller between Pucar and that Chinese player! Honestly, it might be the best match I've seen at the World Championship so far.🙏

Pucar pulled off the win after an unbelievable battle; in the 6th set alone, he had to fight through 19 points just to clinch it.
Even the deciding set wasn't much shorter. Wang is one of those classic, frustrating defensive players who returns every single shot,
just waiting for you to overextend and go for the kill—which is exactly what Pucar ended up doing quite a few times.

Hey guys, where are you all catching the table tennis matches? Are you just streaming everything online, or is there some TV channel I’ve totally missed?

Scott Hall5 said:Guys, where are you all watching the ping pong? Is it just online, or is there some TV channel I’ve totally missed?!

I usually catch Table 1 on ESPN, though sometimes it's on ESPN2 or even ESPN Deportes—it’s kind of random, I guess. As for the other tables, they’re free on YouTube over at @WTTGlobal" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/@WTTGlobal. And hey, if you mess around with a VPN and set it to the US or something, you can probably get Table 1 on YouTube too.

Honestly, I actually prefer the camera angles on the other tables over the main one. I’ve gotten used to
watching table tennis when the camera stays behind the player—it gives me a much better perspective of the action.

In the round of 32, Pucar is facing Ovtcharov, and we already have another massive matchup lined up: Jorgic vs. A. Lebrun. Meanwhile, the Lebrun brothers are set to take on the top-seeded Wang/Fan duo in the round of 16 doubles.

On another note, Ni Xia is out of both the singles and the doubles, though she definitely put up a hell of a fight in her singles match.

Man, what a wild ride in those doubles matches with LeBrun, Zhendong, and Chuwin. Honestly, you could cut the tension with a knife out there. I guess we can only hope for a rematch in the singles bracket now 🍿

Harimoto used to be one of my absolute favorites when he first burst onto the scene as this young phenom, but now I find myself having to
mute his matches. Honestly, his constant celebrations and theatrics after every single won
point have just become too irritating to watch.

Pucar should be facing off against Ovtcharov at the table very soon.

Paul White62 said:I used to be such a huge fan of Harimoto back when he first burst onto the scene as this young prodigy, but honestly, lately I feel like I
have to mute his matches because the constant celebrating after every single little
point is just getting so annoying.

Matej Pucar should be able to hold his own against Dimitrij Ovtcharov pretty quickly at the table.

Man, Tomokazu definitely goes way overboard sometimes. 🤣

Pucar took down Dim, which was a massive win, and now he’s up against Assar, who just beat Moregard—so yeah, I guess we can actually start hoping for something big from Pucar. 🙏