43 old Schlager wins Energis Masters

lol he beat Ovtcharov? That is just sad. What else to say....

On the other hand I don't find him old at age of 43. Great fit and power

Another scary thing, he plays on the Legends Tour and loses there sometimes to players older than him.

Wonder if Dima found something is not right with his rubbers. He kept flipping between Red and Black for FH and BH. Rarely saw anyone do that in a match.  

I don't even understand how this is possible. And knowing Ovtcharov... he is like Ma Long and not like ZJK - he has no mercy and will not dump a match. I don't know which is stronger - the amazing result of Schlager or poor result of Dima. 

I totally enjoyed the video. I forgot how good a player Schlager is. I loved it when he knew he had the game in the bag and playfully called for a timeout ha ha ha. Prolonged the agony of Dimi. Reminded us how deadly the Schlager serves are. Ovtcharov couln't figure out the serves. Schlager is a class act at his age.

Yes that was me. I went to school with Werner and we are friends..

Not that I'd want to diminish Schlagers success during this tournament....

Final from a previous year.. when it comes down to winning the tournament, it is being played serious.. Last year, it was Boll vs. Dima in the final..



Edited by Pushblocker - 02/14/2016 at 9:32am

A victory does not need explaining.

Liquid Sky wrote: Pushblocker wrote: in earlier matches, there was some exhibition style matches but this was a real tournament about real money.. Schlager got 3000 euro for winning the tournament. I don't think that Dima didn't want that money.. So tell me, which scenario is more likely: 1) Schlager gave Ovtcharov a tough game and deserved to win. But Ovtcharov was not fully motivated since this is only a fun tournament that he plays mainly for his sponsor. And although he did not get the 3k I am absolutely sure he earned enough that day. 2) Although Werner is 43 and is not practicing like a pro anymore, he can still easily perform on top 5 level and beat number 4 in the world ("lumberjacky Dima") who performed of course at 100%. However, I am more a fan of Werner than of Dima but I don't think No 2 is realistic.

I don't think that Werner can consistently play at that level but he certainly still can play at that level at times. Don't forget that Dima beat Boll in the previous year at the same tournament. Table Tennis is not like Tennis where all the stars are Millionaires. $3500 is not a huge amount for them but it is not pocket change either. I'm certain that both gave their best as at no point in the game they were putting on a show... I don't know if Dima had a good day, potentially not and I have no idea on if he used different equipment than he usually uses.. If at that event he has to play different equipment than he usually uses, then why did he beat Boll at the same event in the previous year?
There is also somewhat of a rivlary between Austria and Germany. It would be rare that a German would let himself get beat by a Austrian..

Edited by Pushblocker - 02/14/2016 at 7:48pm

beeray1 wrote: Schlager is indeed a very special player. Especially his service. But like mentioned earlier, he's so efficient in the way he moves. He looks stiff, but really he's so smooth in everything. He's a very practical and smart player. His WTTC victory years back wasn't a fluke. He also still has a top level inside of him from time to time I think, because of his style and approach. Of course this is not his usual level these days. But he can still dig it up.  Dima can lose to schlager for the same reason he can lose to Ma Long- the first few balls. The chinese admired and revered Schlager's service/return game, while they walk all over Dima's. Dima is so good in open play, but his level fluctuates the past few years since the plastic ball. Schlager on a good day and Dima on an off one in a serious match in my opinion can for sure still see schlager win here and there, even though he's well past his prime and Dima is currently in his.  Dima doesn't have the 'something special' that Schlager, Waldner, Boll etc. had (my opinion). Not to take away from him, he's an outstanding player.

Dima is a great player and sportsman.. I had the chance to talk a little with him at the 2013 LA Open.. Seems like a super nice guy. He also brought a new dimension to tomahawk seves. I personally enjoy to watch Dima play. 

Edited by Pushblocker - 02/14/2016 at 11:44pm

sandiway wrote: As others have pointed out, Dima lost simply because he couldn't read Schlager's serve. Schlager got Dima pushing passively instead of Dima using his banana. He also fooled Dima into popping up balls. On the flipside, Schlager could read Dima's serves and often took them early.  On the rallies, note how often Dima was out of the picture. Schlager often took the ball earlier had Dima diving around to cover the table.

I agree.. The match was mostly about serve and service return. Schlager also seems to be very comfortable with the poly ball unlike Dima. I think that the Poly ball was not good for his game..

BeaverMD wrote: Great win by Werner! But let's not get too excited.  His movement, especially on the wide forehand side was quite slow and using mostly blocks against topspin.  Also, they were definitely not on exhibition mode but they both seemed pretty relaxed.  Schlager does in fact have some awesome serves.  However, maybe PB can ask him why he does not use this serve anymore? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD02s8uTSzw#t=1m22s He seems to use more serves where his hand is already wrapped around the handle like in the beginning of the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD02s8uTSzw

Edited by Egghead - 02/16/2016 at 12:46pm