2021 WTTC Houston USA Nov. 23-29

zeio wrote: Togami out. Japan's men's team is out. LYJ out. Chinese Taipei men's team is out.

Thursday 25th, LGY plays in a 1/2 hour, Gauzy (the next champion) in 2.5 hours.

The live stream by WTT at youtube does not support playback. Really bad..

I thought Moregard would not make it at some point, it was so close.

Edited by stiltt - 11/25/2021 at 9:59pm

stiltt wrote: I thought Moregard would not make it at some point, it was so close.

JJH out. SHW last South Korean woman standing.

Edited by zeio - 11/25/2021 at 11:17pm

Egghead wrote: Tiggs_1 wrote: Kanak makes it to round of 16... good for him, the low half is so wide open now (LIN Yun-Ju is in trouble too.)

pongfugrasshopper wrote: Gauzy lost.

yes, that chopper was awesome though, his quick fh can be so devastating and he is so powerful in everything he does. I think Gauzy suffered the same lack of training v. choppers than Kreanga did when playing his 1/2 final v. Joo in Paris 2003. While Schlager had Chen Weixing in his national team to know what to do, Kreanga did not. It's just an idea I pull out of my hat... there are most likely many more factors, like Wang playing super strong today, he delivered when it mattered.

Edited by stiltt - 11/26/2021 at 2:34am

Japan is off. Shibata actually performed the best. Hayata second. Nothing to pick on for their first time. Ito and Hirano third. Ishikawa fifth as she has the easiest draw. Uda a complete train wreck. Morizono gave his best. Niwa should have retired along with Mizutani. Harimoto gave off the same vibe as in the Olympic singles, not good, not bad, not ugly, but just didn't feel like he was winning when having the lead. Togami put up a decent performance for his first time. Didn't find his groove in the R32 against WCQ due to lack of experience.

South Korea continues its streaky tradition after Tokyo 2020. The eldest SHW and not-so-surprising LJH who missed out on the Olympics happen to be their last hope. Shindong is paying her tuition fee. JJH has been in a slump after the Olympics, especially after losing to Hayata 4 times at WTT and ATTC in a week. Still, Lee Zion and Choi Hyojoo reached their target performance. JWJ, AJH and Hwang Minha all lost with a game score of 3-4, not bad per se, but considering JWJ and AJH were the quarter-finalist and bronze medalist at WTTC 2019, first round exit is deflating. Lim Jonghoon is not so surprising if you've followed him. Running against the tradition, he's got a rather stable record in the World Tour the past few years, which had become really unfriendly to unseeded players after the World Ranking reform in 2018.

Similar to South Korea, Chinese Taipei has been all-or-nothing the last few years. CIC is their last hope. Chen Szu-yu performed to expectations. Cheng Hsien-tzu choked but really not much to expect over the years. At age 34, Liu Hsing-yin played well to level her R32 result at WTTC 2019. Li Yu-jhun reached her target on her first try. LYJ and CCY losing 3-4, again not bad per se, but people certainly had high expectations of them after Tokyo 2020 and ATTC 2021. CCY is said to have an injury relapse so another factor to consider. CCA played well at ATTC 2021 so first round exit here was unexpected. Liao Cheng-ting lost to Harimoto in R32 on his first try at WTTC 2017, so a first round exit with that score is a little perplexing. Feng Yi-hsin could become another LYJ but has to pay his tuition fee in his first WTTC.

Hong Kong is a pleasant surprise here. WCT is playing his best in recent times. Unlike JJH, DHK looks as solid as in Tokyo 2020, despite losing to Hayata 5 times in a week. After the Olympics, she spent like a month resting, attending local events, playing WTT and ATTC, with little time on systemic training. Lam Siu Hang, Ho Kwan Kit, Lee Ho Ching, Ng Wing Nam, and Zhu Chengzhu reached their target performance. Last but not least, Soo Wai Yam forgot to dye her hair pink.

Edited by zeio - 11/26/2021 at 1:51am

Boll has everything to go to the final.....at 40 years old ! I cross my fingers for him.

Edited by seguso - 11/26/2021 at 3:36am

kindof99 wrote: It seems that a lot of audiences are just standing outside of the barrier. Never seen this in other events.

Lightspin wrote: Egghead wrote: Tiggs_1 wrote: Kanak makes it to round of 16... good for him, the low half is so wide open now (LIN Yun-Ju is in trouble too.) In the Bundesliga thread I predicted Kanak would make the final 16.  I hope he proves me wrong and goes further.  His consistent style is really working well in this tournament.

Some amazing experiences so far.  Very disorganized tournament as the US doesn't know how to organize these things. 

stiltt wrote: pongfugrasshopper wrote: Gauzy lost. yes, that chopper was awesome though, his quick fh can be so devastating and he is so powerful in everything he does. I think Gauzy suffered the same lack of training v. choppers than Kreanga did when playing his 1/2 final v. Joo in Paris 2003. While Schlager had Chen Weixing in his national team to know what to do, Kreanga did not. It's just an idea I pull out of my hat... there are most likely many more factors, like Wang playing super strong today, he delivered when it mattered. Thanks for trying hard Simon, you are the best no matter what!!!

Edited by NextLevel - 11/26/2021 at 8:19am