What do you think of the players? Here's the link to the players lists http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229 - http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229 &

 

 

Womens Current List (5/30)

 

I wish Achanta was playing though..

You appear to be accurate on your math there, my friend... 

Watch out for Tao Wenzhang.

is the coach at spttc; his speed is crazy; can't wait what he'll do.

Toprank said: "And you might notice Jun Gao at the bottom of the women's list."

========================================================

 

 

Is Gao Jun playing?

 

Her name has a gray bar over it.  Withdrew? 

 

http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web.asp?Country_Code=USA&Tour_ID=2229 - http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web.asp?Country_Code=USA&Tour_ID=2229 &

 

nittakuball posted a video:

He beat LUNDQVIST Jens SWE 4-0

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5jti6_shiono-masato-jpn-vs-lundqvist-jens_sport#.UcfFdq_nZXg" rel="nofollow - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5jti6_shiono-masato-jpn-vs-lundqvist-jens_sport#.UcfFdq_nZXg

=========================

 

Shiono Masato, after Japan open, appears to be a far better player now than when he played Lundqvist last time - more twiddling and attacks are far more accurate than before, and he now has a deadly accurate powerful BH attack that he didn't have it before.  Don't know if they will run into each other, however.

 

 

(Last time it was a long grueling match, it wasn't easy at all.  Thanks for nittakuball's video.)

 

*** Shiono seems to have some problems against another defender (with LP on BH) just like himself, as he decisively lost to Ma Te in Japan Open - but Lundqvist is an attacker.

He beats  Chuan Chih-Yuan, Kenta Matsudaira, Koki Niwa, Chen Chien-An(who beats Mizutani in quarterfinal) and Xu ChenHao(who beats Wang Liqin in quarterfinal) to win this Japan Open.

 

He is coming to US Open (see the entry list above).

 

klhfans

 

jrscatman:  Jens Lundqvist

skip3119:   Masato Shiono

luckyloop:  Primorac

 

Any other?

 

jrscatman:  Jens Lundqvist

emihet:      Masato Shiono

skip3119:   Masato Shiono

luckyloop:  Primorac

 

Any other?

Pondus: Robert Svensson

 

jrscatman:  Jens Lundqvist

emihet:      Masato Shiono

skip3119:   Masato Shiono

luckyloop:   Primorac
Pondus:     Robert Svensson

 

Will the eventual winner be a player not mentioned above?  Who knows?

(Had we conducted a guessing game on Japan Open, everyone would have been wrong.)

 

Any other guess?

 

jrscatman:       Jens Lundqvist

emihet:            Masato Shiono

skip3119:         Masato Shiono

luckyloop:         Primorac
Pondus:            Robert Svensson
Observer:         Tao Wenzhang

 

(Had we conducted a guessing game on Japan Open, everyone would have been wrong.)

 

Any other guess?

 

jrscatman:       Jens Lundqvist

emihet:            Masato Shiono

skip3119:         Masato Shiono

luckyloop:         Primorac
Pondus:            Robert Svensson
Observer:         Tao Wenzhang

NextLevel:        Eugene Wang

 

The above 8 guys are ready to have eggs on their faces.
(Japan Open) Entries from world top 50: (A total of 15 players were in the top 50).
World Rankings:  6, 9, 10, 12, 16, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 36, 41, 41.
Final winner: World Rangkng of 188.

At least 15 players are much hotter than the eventual winner.

 

(Had we conducted a guessing game on Japan Open, everyone would have been wrong.)

 

Any other guess?

 

All current guesses are possible cause it ain't over until its over !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

As the humble winner I am accepting congrats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

 

Men's Singles Entry List:

 

http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1" rel="nofollow - http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1

 

jrscatman:       Jens Lundqvist

emihet:            Masato Shiono

skip3119:         Masato Shiono

luckyloop:         Primorac
Pondus:            Robert Svensson
Observer:         Tao Wenzhang

NextLevel:        Eugene Wang

 

The above 10 guys are ready to have eggs on their faces.
(Japan Open) Entries from world top 50: (A total of 15 players were in the top 50).
World Rankings:  6, 9, 10, 12, 16, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 36, 41, 41.
Final winner: World Rangkng of 188.

At least 15 players are much hotter than the eventual winner.

 

 

(Had we conducted a guessing game on Japan Open, everyone would have been wrong.)

If a very good defensive player with LP on his BH, that could give Shiono a run for the money.

 

Any other guesses?

 

*** Masato Shiono (or Shiono Masato as listed in US Open) has played US Open twice, in 2010 and 2011.  He did not win and was beaten by the same player - Thomas Keinath.  In 2010 it took Thomas Keinath 7 games to beat Shiono, but in 2011 Thomas Keinath beat Shiono easily in 4 games.  Thomas Keinath is not in this year's US Open.

Masato Shiono in red shirt.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkyzQuDwSeA" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkyzQuDwSeA

 

Looks like the match result was:   3 : 4 

 

==========================

As late as 3-17-2013 (video uploaded on 3-26-2013), only abou 3 months before Japan Open, this is a match between Masato Shiono against Jin Ueda (ITTF WR 127).

On another thread, "Japan Open 2013 Discussion", roundrobin had the following comment:

 

"Unlike Joo, Shiono twiddles a lot to receive serves and to push.  That caused a lot of problems for his attacking opponents.  He plays more like Matsushita than Joo."

================================================================

 

May be that's the "Real Key".  The 2 videos shown above, against Hirano Yuki & Jin Ueda (he lost to both of them), Shiono did not twiddle his paddle much in those 2 matches.

 

Shiono might have praticed a lot of "Paddle Twiddling" before Japan Open.  In Japan Open, as noticed by roundrobin, he twiddled his paddle a lot.  May be that's the "Real Key" that enabled him to be able to upset some of the world's top players.

 

 

http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1" rel="nofollow - http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1  

 

 

Guessing for the winner:  Masato Shiono got 4 votes, Eugene Wang got 2 votes, and the remaining 4 players each got 1 vote (Jens Lundqvist, Primorac Zoran, Robert Svensson, and Tao Wenzhang).

 

Note:  Masato Shiono is seed #8 and Eugene Wang is seed #3. (According to the entry list).

 

Guessing for the winner, so far.

 

http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=32128&Competition_ID=2229" rel="nofollow - http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story1.asp?ID=32128&Competition_ID=2229 &

 

According to Amateur's post on another thread, Jiaqi will be eligible to represent US on 12-5-2015.

---------------------------------------------

 

Based on ITTF seeding list, these 2 players are the players to beat:

LUNDQVIST Jens:   Seed #1     Position  1 

PRIMORAC Zoran:  Seed #2     Position  64

 

 

*** Masato and Eugene will not play against each other unless each one wins his half.

*** If that happens, they will play in the final.

 

Note:  There is a player, Tao Wenzhang, received 1 vote by the survey here.

           Tao Wenzhang is not a seed, he has to play in the qualification group.

           Can a player from the qualification group end up to win the event?

           Yes, it can --- Just look what just happened in Japan Open.

===============================================

 

On men's side:  There are 16 seeds.  There are 24 qualification groups with 3 or 4 players per group.  The top 2 players from each group will advance to the Main Draw (a total of 64 slots).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Liang Yonghui is not a seed either (see link below.) He will have to fight in the qualification group.

http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1" rel="nofollow - http://www.ittf.com/ittf_tournaments/ittf_entries_web2.asp?Gender=M&Tour_ID=2229&Singles=1

 

====================================

 

On women's side (no survey here), my guess is that Zheng Jiaqi will win this event.

Btw, Zheng Jiaqi is not a seed either, she will have to fight in the qualification group too.

 

*** Only 2 players from each Qualification Group can advance to the Main Draw. ***

I don't think she will. Top 4 seeds are either stronger than her, or very close. Number 1 seed from ROM will loopkill everything and dominate against Zheng.

Shiono, Lundquist, Svensson, Primorac aren't in the picture? 

Shiono is, but one I don't like choppers, second I don't think he will play as well as Japan open, and it just takes one guy who knows how to play choppers to take him down. But he is in it...

I don't know Svensson well enough, Primorac and Lundquist are just too old, other guys are more hungry with equal or better skills. 

Anyone know when the live streaming will start? Livestreaming schedule page is not setup on the USATT site.

Link is on ITTF, two feeds will start 11:30

http://www.youtube.com/user/ittfchannel/videos?view=2&flow=grid&live_view=500" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/ittfchannel/videos?view=2&flow=grid&live_view=500

 

Here is a video of Liang Yonghui playing against Li Kewei.

 

Liang Yonghui (the shorter player, a lefty).

Li Kewei (the taller player, with LP on his back-hand).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb1kLJ-asuk" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb1kLJ-asuk

I don't think he will either, but regardless he is a threat to Wang Zhen. They are old but still good. I personally think Eugene will win it all, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Tao did. 

All factors considered, Eugene Wang should be the favorite, but I would like to give some boost for the fresh faces. It is hard to predict TT results anyway...fun to do though 

Didn't she beat Kasumi(WR #10!!!!!!!!!!) before?

 

 

 

=====================================

 

Other notes about Liang Yonghui.  This guy really knows how to play a chopper.  Then again Li Kewei is not as good as Shiono Masato.  After watching Liang Yonghui playing Dima video (2012 LA Open), I am impressed.  I think Liang Yonghui is ready for the international arena.

Liang Yonghui vs Dima:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDsgv7h4BZ0" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDsgv7h4BZ0

 

 

Liang Yonghui has never played Eugene Wang before.  But Eugene Wang is a great player.  Here is the video of Eugene Wang in the final of Butterfly International Open.

 

webrry posted these links in another thread:

 

 

Listed times are Las Vegas' time.

If you are on east coast, just add 3 hours to it.

Today's matches will start at 9:00 (Las Vegas' time), that will be 12:00 noon Eastern Time.

 

Today's matches on Table 1 and 2.  

http://portal.ittf.com/competitions/test/matches_of_today.asp?FormName=Search&FormAction=search&table_from=1&table_to=2&date_from=07%2F04%2F2013&date_to=07%2F04%2F2013&Competition_ID=2229" rel="nofollow - http://portal.ittf.com/competitions/test/matches_of_today.asp?FormName=Search&FormAction=search&table_from=1&table_to=2&date_from=07%2F04%2F2013&date_to=07%2F04%2F2013&Competition_ID=2229

 

Official ITTF Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ittfchannel" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/ittfchannel

 

TAO Wenzhang is also in U-21 event.

 

Not sure if TAO is weaker than either one of the two players that you mentioned.

(He played in 2011 Joola N. American Teams.  You can check whom he beat and to whom he lost to.)

 

It may surprise you big time if you take a look of his record.  (It certainly surprised me after I found out.)

 

*** There is one member here even guessed that TAO would win the regular event (not U-21).

*** His guess appears to have some basis for it, after I found out TAO's record.

*** He lost to Liu Song, but do check out the players that he beat. (A big surprise to me.)

Also watched Tao Wenzhang, not that impressive at all, probably didn't train in China, with that kind of performance he won't go far.

No he didn't, that's a mistake

Regardless its hard to believe that a guy who was 2750 1.5 years ago, and recently has been Zhang Jike's practice partner, is dropping games the way he has.

 

I wonder if someone can find out what equipment he is using.   He should confounded many top players in Japan Open.

 

According to the schedule, Shiono will be playing Timothy Wang at 11pm EST at Table 2, televised.

Tim checked Masato's rubber shortly before match starts.

Tim lost 1st game 5 --- 11.

 

The ref is so annoying, she is calling Timothy for not placing the ball exactly in the center of palm......

Yeah, that referee needs to be tossed out! It's not like Wong's serves are all that illegal - clearly bothered his game - way to ruin a good match!

About the match of Masato Shiono vs Timothy Wang.

 

Too much nitpicking from the umpire and the scorekeeper (the referee is never called in) - totally ruin the match.  Tim just couldn't concentrate to play - woryying more about the umpire & scorekeeper than his opponent, Masato.

 

unfair to the players as well as on-site audiences and internet viewers.

 

*** Normally the scorekeeper doesn't play much of a role in a match, but not in this case. ***

*** A very strange situation, indeed. ***

 

64 players is now down to 16.

===============================

Honestly, I thought Tim Wang acquitted himself quite well - he played better than some of the top ranked players that knew Shiono already in Japan.

I think we all know that 2600 level is not good enough (aren't Jiaqi Zheng and Gao Jun around that level?)  What we need to know is whether any of these players can become world beaters as they get older, or whether if they can't do it by the age of 20, they should be given up on.

 

The referee was called in.  One of the commentators (Sean O'neill) pointed out that Tim was talking to the referee (who was out of camera shot) on the side.

 

Frankly, Tim kind of made the situation worse for himself by showing the ball to the assistant umpire before every serve.  Not only did it take away his concentration on playing the match, it made a loud statement to the umpires, "hey, I'm showing you up - dare to call my serve." 

 

You can bet they paid even more close attention to his serves after he started doing that.  His coach, Massi, should have told him to stop doing that.

 

Despite all that, Tim played a great match.

 

 

 

 

If Tim could have distinguished between what he did when the calls were made and what he did when the calls were not made, it would have been easier for him not to show the ball.

 

Don't bet on it - you would definitely lose your money in the latter as Wang Zhen destroys everyone in North America comfortably - I mean, Wang Qingliang lost to Wenzhang Tao who I do not consider on the same level as Wang Zhen.  The former might be interesting but only because both players do not know each other. 

Tao Wenzhang beat WZ at Baltimore in 2011, and has recent wins over Fan Zhendong and Xu Chenhao. I do still think Zhen and Shiono will pull out the wins, but one or both could be surprisingly close, esp. Yuan vs Shiono 

================================

 

Yes indeed. 

 

At his age, Tao should have improved a lot - between 2011 and now.

 

Oops, Tao made negative progress, while WZ, the much older player, made huge positive progress.

I understand what you're saying. But most of the time it's just speculation. For example, if you speak face to face with Qi Wei or Guo Hao, you can believe they are under 21. I'm pretty sure Qi Wei is only 18, and I have no problem believing it. I think he's still in high school or just graduated. Just because they have muscular cores and legs, that's from table tennis training constantly. If a player hits puberty at any kind of normal time, he's going to be pretty built by his late teens because of the work he puts in. Especially if you are northern chinese. 

Yuan Xiaojie is the only one I didn't believe... I thought that guy was late 20's early 30's when I first saw him play. But having two knee straps might have added to the illusion.