Both Singles Finals Lost: Plenty Worth Discussing on Gear and Skill
WTT Chongqing Champions: in the women’s singles final, Kuai Man lost 3-4 to Miwa Harimoto; in the men’s singles final, Wen Ruibo lost 1-4 to Félix Lebrun. China collected two runner-up finishes on home soil. This time, from equipment to technique, there is far too much to say.
1
Wen Ruibo and Félix Lebrun’s respective showings.
Wen Ruibo: Luma mixed carbon, NEO Blue National Hurricane, DNA Hybrid 55° Tomokazu Harimoto: Harimoto SALC, ZYRE-03 on both sides
In the men’s semifinal, Wen Ruibo beat Tomokazu Harimoto 4-2, the sixth game 21-19. After watching it, I described Wen Ruibo with one phrase: unruffled by change. That quality is much like Wang Liqin back in the day.
Overall, even in trouble, his head stays fairly clear. He knew to start from Harimoto’s forehand short, breaking through at his forehand and the middle body position. Although over the past year I feel Harimoto has started to flick a bit, he showed little of it here — for now, the forehand short is still a weakness. Hugo has this problem too. In game six, Harimoto tried to chop long actively to change the pattern and fix the forehand-short hole, but his forehand is still not thick enough, and he lost it 19-21.
Félix Lebrun: Tibhar Felix, K3 Pro on both sides (custom-hardened)
It just struck me that Wen Ruibo and Félix Lebrun will keep meeting for nearly ten more years. I trust Wen Ruibo will do better next time — this was, after all, his first Champions final, so he lacks experience. And against an opponent whose rhythm is this fast (serve rhythm fast too, serve variation fast), a first meeting really is not easy.
And though I said Wen Ruibo has an unruffled quality, a final differs from earlier rounds: being unruffled is not enough — you also need ruthlessness. Only with a ruthless heart can you finish in a final. Typical examples: Zhang Jike, Ma Lin, Ryu Seung-min. We will not debate whether Félix Lebrun’s level is thick, but his tenacity and ruthlessness are absolutely first-rate. In the quarterfinal, down 1-3 to Hugo, he turned it around. In the semifinal, down 1-3 to Sora Matsushima, he turned it around. That tenacity is terrifying. He always believes he can win.
On this men’s singles final, another former-national-player big shot in my WeChat sees it this way (I have tidied it up): without front-three-ball technique, however good your defense, it is useless — you always lose out. Wen Ruibo made the national team; does he not have a front-three-ball game? Why not use it? Because his mindset was already broken by the opponent. The other man comes out in attack mode; you seek safety, so you defend desperately. He did not break through, and worse, did not think it through. When behind, you must attack; on the back foot, you must attack. Win two or three points by attacking in one game and the opponent’s mindset may crack. Attacking is not blind all-out — you pick the moment. Once game five began, I knew he was done: either he attacks, with a slim chance to break through (likely still a loss, but some hope), or he keeps defending like before, with an eighty-percent chance of losing. Across the whole match, on the front-three-ball attack, Félix Lebrun was clearly more proactive. Wen Ruibo only countered after the fact, which really is very hard.
2
Kuai Man lost 3-4 to Miwa Harimoto.
Kuai Man: gold-label Viscaria, NEO Blue National Hurricane, D09c Miwa Harimoto: Harimoto SALC, forehand D09c, backhand D05
The impression from this match — let me say it a bit bluntly — Kuai Man, should she consider losing weight? Because she looks a little heavy. After writing that, I checked the news, and sure enough, Kuai Man’s New Year goal is also “to slim down a bit.”
Across this Chongqing Champions, including this women’s singles final, I only feel that the foreign stars attack more aggressively than we do, while we focus too much on the rationality and variation of each measured stroke — so our front-three-ball preemptive attack is played worse than our opponents’. On gear and technique, there is far too much to say. I will sort it out and continue over the next day or two.