Taiyuan WTT Challenge: Some Interesting Player Equipment Choices
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Yoshimura Kazuhiro — younger brother of Yoshimura Maharu. His blade is the Victas 90th Anniversary Yoshimura Kazuhiro Commemorative Edition. His rubber had been V greater than 15 Sticky on both sides, but at Taiyuan he switched to ZYRE-03. Did his big brother pass him some?
Nearly all Japanese men’s national team players have now switched their backhand to Z03, including almost every Butterfly-sponsored male player. Yoshimura Maharu continues with Z03 on both sides; his handle is a Zhang Jike ALC patterned grip, and the blade structure should still be the outer SALC.
The Yoshimura Kazuhiro commemorative version shares the same structure as the ZX-Gear Out — outer Z carbon, Ayous large core. This kind of construction feels extra springy on heavy drives. He and his brother paired up in men’s doubles and reached the semis. In men’s singles he fell 2-3 to China’s Li Hecheng.
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Li Hecheng. Last year he was playing the Hurricane King acB (at least the handle was), but now he’s switched to the Tibhar Alexis with outer green fiber carbon. We always say national team players’ skill level can cover the gap between equipment choices, so switching between outer and inner carbon blades is nothing unusual for them. The “king of blade switches” Huang Youzheng is the prime example.
Li Hecheng is playing a Tibhar blade. My friend jokingly calls it the “Ma Lin effect” — in January, Ma Lin signed with Tibhar.
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Batra. The blade is still the Viscaria; she had been using a Galaxy (Yinhe) Huang Jianjiang long-pips VVIP on the backhand, but has now switched to the Dawei 388D-2.
When it comes to pips weirdness, domestic Chinese long pips still lead the way. Imported long pips are better known for easy ball-landing and high error tolerance.
For a chopper-style blade suited to unusual rubbers, we’ve seen plenty of carbon blades from Dr. Neubauer in recent discussions. But if you really depend on the unpredictability of pips or anti-spin rubbers, and need defensive support, most players prefer an outer arylate carbon blade — it gives both that holding pause and good first-speed on defense. Whether it’s the Viscaria or the slightly softer Galaxy Heima handcrafted ALC, people around me have found both comfortable with pips rubbers.
For those using inner carbon blades — like Chen Junsong with the Q968 — the forehand attacking power has to be a major emphasis. The backhand in that case is mostly transitional and seeks some variety, without highlighting weirdness.
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Li Tianyang swept teammate Chen Yuanyu 3-0. Before that, coming back from 0-2 down, he reversed it 3-2 against Hirata Satoshi, also a chopper-attack player.
This was Li Tianyang’s first appearance on the international stage. His blade is the DHS custom 08X, a model known within the 08 series for its particularly strong forehand feel. Hirata Satoshi still plays the hinoki three-ply Yasaka Shinogi.
In the women’s singles, Yao Ruixuan lost 0-3 to Hashimoto Honoka, and Han Feier lost 0-3 to Sato Hitomi. Both male and female Chinese players largely failed to get through the chopper hurdle.