Starting From Kuai Man's Upset and That "Obscure" Blade
1
In the Worlds women’s team round of 32, China beat Poland 3-1. But Kuai Man’s match was an upset — she lost 1-3 to Natalia Bajor. Natalia Bajor: Samsonov Glory, K3 on both sides (probably). The Samsonov Glory (VS Unlimited), this Tibhar blade named after Samsonov, is now obscure — but only in China. When released in 2016, it drew decent attention. And now, in Europe, quite a few stars use it. This is a limba-face, outer-blue-aramid-carbon blade. Among Butterfly blades, the structurally similar one is the Freitas ALC. Compared with the Freitas A, the Tibhar Glory is inferior in close-table spin-adding. But after backing off, the Tibhar Glory has more punch. Especially when you hit hard, its interior feels springier and punchier than the Freitas A. As it happens, Bajor’s style fits this blade’s traits. Backhand flick and forehand drive-loop are both her strengths.
Let us see how Kuai Man lost this match. I noticed something. Watching Kuai Man’s matches, sometimes she plays too smoothly at the start, then does not quite know how to play with a lead. Once chased down, with her weakness found, she struggles to escape. In the first game, Kuai Man won 11-3 — very easy, her backhand rip sweeping. In the second game, Kuai Man lost 9-11. From this game, Bajor found some of Kuai Man’s weaknesses. She found Kuai Man’s forehand loops easier to defend than her backhand rips. Especially, Kuai Man is left-handed, so a forehand cross-court to Bajor’s backhand was perfect for Bajor to flick. So Bajor played more to Kuai Man’s forehand, deliberately sending the ball long. For long underspin, Kuai Man’s forehand especially likes to “lift” rather than “rip,” with insufficient threat, so Bajor could counter-attack. In the third game, Kuai Man lost 9-11 — about a replay of the previous game, only Bajor added a bit more placement variation. Kuai Man led at first, then was leveled. Bajor’s backhand flick and forehand drive — these straight-line strikes are sometimes more threatening than loops; you can reference Moregard’s flick. For amateurs, it is learnable too. In the fourth game, Kuai Man lost 13-15. Note this game’s flow: Kuai Man led 4-0, then 5-2, 7-4 — and after the lead, did not know how to play. On one hand, Bajor’s backhand serve had spin variation, with some effect. On the other, she kept deliberately sending long, to Kuai Man’s middle and forehand to “lift.” At a timeout, Coach Ma Lin reminded Kuai Man to add some friction, and I was a bit baffled. Is this not exactly Bajor’s pattern? Backhand flick and forehand drive — do not make it too simple. If Bajor were a pips fast-attack player like Mima Ito, it might work a bit. But she is not. Or, ripping long underspin was never Kuai Man’s strength. Like Lanfly against Lin Shidong, chopping long to Lin Shidong’s middle, Lin Shidong mostly lifts high. Do many young national players now not know how to rip long underspin? For such balls, Moregard, Jang Woojin and others rip with great satisfaction. If it were the young Coach Ma Lin, such balls would be put away in one shot.
2
In the men’s team round of 32, China beat Australia 3-0. Indeed, as everyone expected, for safety, the veteran Liang Jingkun was forced to play second singles, with Lin Shidong stepping back to third singles. For Lin Shidong’s confidence, this may be an indirect blow, even against such a weak Australia. Japan’s women’s team even fielded Rin Mente, a name so hard to spell, and Chinese Taipei fielded the 17-year-old Kuo Kuan-Hung, while we worry: at this rate, Xiang Peng cannot play, and even if China’s men luckily win, he gets no medal. Let me talk gear. Australia’s Lin Wenzheng used the W968 with Hurricane on both sides. Kuo Kuan-Hung used the Boll ALC with ZYRE-03 on both sides. Japan’s Rin Mente uses the Harimoto ALC with D05 on both sides. She said she has used the Harimoto ALC since her second year of high school; this blade has more stability than others, with weak elasticity, so she can bring out her own power.