November 5, 2015

What to Do with Defaulters
Recently there's been discussion about what to do with players who default matches to protect their rating. (Here's a discussion on this at Mytabletennis.net – it starts with the third posting on page 3 of the thread.) It's a problem, though overall it's often overblown. But there are a few players out there who do this regularly, i.e. "strategic" defaults to protect their rating. They'll enter a rating event, play the players ahead of them, but default to those below them. This means the players below them paid for an event and expected to play matches, but instead got defaults for their money – and unlike the player who defaulted to them, didn't get the chance to play the players above them.

There are also more "legitimate" defaults, where a player defaults a match in one event because he's tired, and perhaps wants to save himself for another event. But that's part of the game – if you are so out of shape you can't play the match, then perhaps you should be penalized for it, or at least have incentive so as to think twice about it.

There is no simple solution. I could go through all the possible solutions and point out the problems, but that would be time consuming and pointless. It's one of those problems where you have to choose the least bad solution. So finding flaws with a possible solution does not disqualify that solution, it simply gives us something to compare to the flaws of other solutions.

So here's my take. (And I'm not yet pushing for this, only offering it as a possible solution.) Why not set a rule that once a player enters an event, if he defaults, he loses eight rating points? The only exceptions might be if he gives a good enough reason so that the tournament director withdraws him from the event. (Guidelines would have to be set for this. This would only happen if the player is truly injured, for example, and does not play again that day.) The opponent would not gain points they haven't earned. The purpose is simply to penalize players who default so they have incentive to play. And to those who are protecting their rating, those eight points loom large!

Some would argue (with some merit) that it's not fair to penalize players who default because of injury. But staying healthy in sports is part of the game. Others would say this would help sandbaggers, who intentionally lose matches to keep their rating down so they can play and win lower events. But eight points (or even 24 – see below) isn't enough to really sandbag – most sandbaggers keep their rating down by losing 50 points at a time, often "losing" that match in the same tournament that they win a rating event with a cutoff far ahead of the player they "lost" to.

I'd set a maximum number of points a player can lose per tournament – 24 seems about right. Three strikes, and you're (24 points) out!!!

Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers
The book is now being translated into Korean. (It's already in French.) I'm starting to look around for a Chinese translator. Of course, every human on Earth who can read English (or French!) has already bought a copy, right? What, you haven't??? (Here are the reviews.)

Five Bronze Medals for Team North America at the 2015 World Cadet Challenge
Here's the USATT article, with pictures. The five were:

• Boys Team Bronze Medalists: Jack Wang, Victor Liu, Jason Liu, Jeremy Hazin
• Girls Team Bronze Medalists: Grace Yang, Crystal Wang, Laura Lai, Ivy Liao
• Boys Double Bronze Medalists: Jack Wang, Victor Liu
• Girls Double Bronze Medalists: Grace Yang, Crystal Wang
• Mixed Double Bronze Medalists: Crystal Wang, Koyo Kanamitsu (Japan)

Stefan Fegerl Recognized By Liu Guoliang
Here's the article and videos. It has been a long time since a new European showed up who could challenge the top Chinese – for the last ten years or so it's been only Boll, Ovtcharov, and Samsonov.

What to Look for When Buying a New Table Tennis Table
Here's the new article from Matt Hetherington. Oh, and he just made the New Zealand National Team! (He's been mostly living in the U.S. in recent years, playing at the Lily Yip Club in New Jersey.)

Interview with Mishel Levinski
Here's the new USATT interview about the former Israel star now going to Baruch College in New York.

World Table Tennis Day Nominated for Peace and Sport Award
Here's the ITTF article, which came out yesterday – the same day I blogged about USATT needing one!

Hofstra Gets a New Coach-an NCTTA Alum
Here's the new USATT article about the new Hofstra coach, Michael Reff.

Singapore's Men's Coach Sacked, Women's Coach Stepping Down
Here's the article.

You Won't See a Better Table Tennis Rally All Day!
Here's video (54 sec) of Jorgen Persson (near side) playing a great exhibition point against Jun Mizutani. (I wasn't sure initially - video isn't clear - but comment below says it's Mizutani, and after watching it again, it's sort of obvious.)

Twirl and Backhand Rip
Here's the video (13 sec). "Swedish STIGA player Hampus Nordberg uses influences from ballet to secure the win."

Barack Obama vs. Kim Jong Un: Who Would Win?
Here's the new USATT poll, including a link to a video of Obama playing. (The picture of Kim cuts off part of the ping-pong table he's leaning over. Here's the complete picture. Caption anyone? How about, "We will invade America and capture their celluloid balls. Down with plastic!" "Now guys, the rules clearly say that the ball cannot be hidden from the server, so enforce that rule or you will be shot.")

Goofy Ricochet Shot Against Mickey Mouse
Here's the cartoon!

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