Jan-Ove Waldner vs. Wang Liqin 2004 Olympics Part 2

[DaveR]

From the part one ..........great Table Tennis

part 2

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part 3

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Conclusion

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[Spongebob!]

Well....great table tennis....erm NOT! There's your answer to funny bats!!

Possibly the most talented TT player the world has ever seen could barely pull together 3 or 4 shots per point. Why? - funny bats.

Any non-playing spectator would think Waldner had never played before - frustrated by the opponents rubbers.

Now...before anyone out there questions my observations - I truely recognise that it takes practice, skill and commitment to play with funny bats / rubbers. However, it will not bring back the numbers we need in the sport we all love to play.

Anyone watching would just get bored - they want to see entertainment, great rallies and agility. Even someone who plays would struggle to sit through that and say it was a spectacle to watch - and I don't think it would act as an incentive for someone to take up the sport. Yet - Waldner is the best TT player the world has seen!!!

As I've said before I know it takes a lot of skill to play with these bats / rubbers but it provides such a huge advantage to the opponent and I think it has had a negative effect on the sport.

So...there's a great thread for you to discuss - I'm sure there will be for's and against's to my observations. I'm an against....anyone who has seen me struggle against funny bats and rubbers (Dave!) will know where I'm coming from!!! :taz:

[Powerhouse]

A few debates here, firstly to my Knowledge Wang Liqin

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Wang_Liqin_from_ITTF.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Wang_Liqin_from_ITTF.jpg)

doesn't play with a "funny bat" unless he changed a few weeks ago, he plays an amazing forehand and backhand looping game, one reason he was World Champion 2007 !

The second debate i have to go with Spongebob, i have seen many matches that are ruined visually by the introdution of strange and weird rubber combinations. There are occasions when you will get a great match between defender and attacker, that is something i think we all love to watch but shouldnt be confused with the simple "messing" up of points for the sake of it which if i'm not wrong is where Spongebob is coming from.

[Spongebob!]

Your right PowerHouse - that's exactly where I'm coming from - messing up points and breaking up the game to the point where the opponent barely knows what to do in response to a normal forehand or backhand push / drive / loop....anything!!!

I'm not sure what Wang Liqin was using then 2004 but even when he was playing basic strokes Waldner was playing them into the net or off the table. To look at these points these looked like unforced errors - but for me there seemed to be countless of these to suggest they were just basic errors by Waldner.

Never the less my point was made and picked up correctly by yourself. I agree with your point about the occassional match where there is a great match of styles and it makes for excellent table tennis - but I think a lot of the time it leads to the second point you made re: just messing up points and breaking up the game.

Anyway...good crack and thanks for your comments.

Cheers - Spongebob!