World Cup Day 4: Experience, Penetration, Weaknesses, Wisdom
1
Winter 4-1 Qin Yuxuan. Winter: Andro Novacore OFF/S, NUZN 55, Dr. Neubauer ABS 3 PRO anti-loop. Qin Yuxuan: Fan Zhendong ALC, NEO blue national Hurricane, D09c. Qin Yuxuan should have started from the serve to Winter’s forehand short, then mainly attacked Winter’s middle and forehand, but limited by experience, she did not. She mostly seized Winter’s left half, clearly with little effect. Winter’s backhand is anti-loop, and her pivot loop-drive is very smooth. And Qin Yuxuan’s current forehand penetration cannot yet pierce Winter’s defense.
2
Wang Yidi 4-1 Miwa Harimoto. Wang Yidi: W968, NEO blue national Hurricane, D09c. Miwa Harimoto: Tomokazu Harimoto SALC, D09c, D05. At the Chongqing Champions, Miwa Harimoto beat Kuai Man 4-3 for the women’s singles title. But in head-to-head with Wang Yidi, Dadi still has some advantage. Over the past half year, Wang Yidi’s backhand rubber went from D09c to K3 Pro. I cannot figure out the K3 Pro’s advantage — maybe a lower control threshold for amateurs. After switching to this rubber, I did not see Dadi in good form. Conversely, after switching back to D09c this month, she seemed better. Against Miwa Harimoto, the backhand felt more stable, with richer spin, and Miwa Harimoto was not so easy to time.
3
Sun Yingsha 4-2 Kuai Man. Sun Yingsha: S968, NEO blue national Hurricane, Hurricane 8 (20# sponge). Kuai Man: gold-label Viscaria, NEO blue national Hurricane, D09c. Kuai Man’s receive short-ball handling is quite nice, and she knows how to play Shasha — mainly attack Shasha’s middle, then open the lines and move Shasha. Of course, Shasha knows how to play Kuai Man too. At first she mainly attacked Kuai Man’s forehand, found that alone did not work, then served long more directly; in high-speed rallies, her movement and forehand absolute killing power are indeed better than Kuai Man’s. So we say Kuai Man should lose weight.
4
Sora Matsushima 4-1 Jang Woojin. Sora Matsushima: Fan Zhendong ALC, D09c, Z03. Jang Woojin: W968, NEO blue national Hurricane, K3 Pro. Sora Matsushima’s somewhat loose, unrestrained way of releasing is actually a portrait of extreme relaxation. We can tell his ball quality rose a lot, because he grasped the knack of relaxing. I once invited the former national veteran to discuss this. The hand should be loose but not slack, not wobbling. The belly tight but not stiff; only at the instant of receiving does power concentrate — feet, knees, hips, belly, arm, wrist, fingers go out along the body’s inertia, and it surely explodes. The arm loose but not wobbling keeps acceleration and power on the receive. Those flowing locks. My goodness, I actually appreciated the aesthetic of the young master’s strokes. Then, how does the young master play Jang Woojin? Serve forehand short, backhand long to restrain. Receive to Jang Woojin’s forehand small triangle — Jang Woojin cannot fire on this ball, only lightly loops a transition, then Matsushima counter-rips. If he cannot short-touch, he long-chops to Jang Woojin’s backhand baseline, then again prepares to counter-rip or counter-drive.
5
Moregard 4-0 Franziska. Moregard: gold-label Cybershape 6, HELIX Platinum XH on both sides. Franziska: Franziska ZLC, D05, D09c. I could not see Franziska’s rubber clearly this time. Mo’s is XH on both sides. They are teammates; Mo knows how to beat Franziska by placement. The Helix’s surface bite is excellent, suited to pairing different blades. But Franziska had a chance. First game, Franziska led 9-3, then a serve fault, a too-casual backhand drive, an error. Then Mo caught up, finally winning 13-11. The key: later he played too many of Mo’s forehands, which has more adjustment ability and fewer errors. Earlier, mainly attacking Mo’s backhand was better.
6
Tomokazu Harimoto 4-3 Qiu Dang. Tomokazu Harimoto: Tomokazu Harimoto SALC, Z03 on both sides. Qiu Dang: Viscaria custom, D09c on both sides. Qiu Dang won the first two games. First poke long or flick to Harimoto’s middle, then mainly rip Harimoto’s forehand — starting from Harimoto’s body, where Harimoto cannot use his backhand speed advantage, then Qiu Dang mainly rips down the line. Very effective. Third game, down 5-6, Harimoto called a timeout. After it, he started serving fast long directly, attacking more of Qiu Dang’s middle. As a first-rate expert, Qiu Dang’s errors are still too many, especially pointless middle errors. Generally, at the middle, shakehand errs more — of course, penhold reverse-backhand counts as shakehand. And another reason penhold reverse-backhand errs more: the stroke itself carries inward rotation. If Qiu Dang backed off half a step, he is very stable. Once pinned a bit by Harimoto, middle errors run high, more than the average expert.