April 27, 2016

No Safe Lead
Here are some comebacks I've seen or heard about, including some recent ones. The key to a great comeback? Mental strength; good serve and receive choices; and general tactical play. You're near the end of a long match, so at that point if you don't know what serves, receives, and other tactics to use, you haven't been paying attention.

  • At the Cassel's Giant RR in Virginia this past weekend, the player I was coaching, 14-year-old Sameer Shaikh, twice was down 2-7 in the fifth, and each time scored eight in a row. In one of them, despite the 10-7 match point lead against a player over 300 points higher, he still lost. (Despite that, his rating still went from 1528 to 1826.)
  • At the USA Nationals in December, Derek Nie was up 9-2 in the fifth on Sharon Alguetti, and lost nine in a row. But this past weekend at the Westchester Open, he turned the tables – Sharon led 9-0 in the fifth, and Derek won in deuce!
  • Back in 1977, 13-year-old Curt Kronlage (rated 1677, son of USATT Hall of Famer Yvonne Kronlage) won the first and was up 20-6 match point in the second against Sid Jacobs (a chopper rated 1858) – and lost 16 in a row, and the third game, 21-14. I was watching much of the match, but didn't realize what was happening at the time.
  • I've been told that at one Worlds, Hungary's Istvan Jonyer and Tibo Klampar were up 20-8 match point in the fifth in Men's Doubles against a pair of Chinese – I think Cai Zhenhua and Li Zhenshi, but not sure – and lost. Jonyer was apparently so mad at Klampar that he dropped him as a doubles partner and began playing with Gabor Gergely.
  • At the U.S. Team Trials in the mid-1990s, Brian Masters was up 20-10 match point on Jim Butler, but lost. I saw the match.
  • I once had to spot 45 points to a player in handicap singles, one game to 51. I tied it up at 47-all, outscoring him 47-2 – and lost, 53-51!
  • In the Under 2300 Final at a tournament in Pittsburgh in the early 1990s, I fell behind 10-0 to Pat Cox in the third game (best of three). I scored ten in a row to tie it at 10-all and won 26-24!
  • One stat I'm rather proud of – in my 40 years of play, I've come back from 20-15 match point down seven times; nobody's ever done it to me. (Yes, this dates me – I've never done it since games went to 11 in the early 2000's, but I've been mostly retired from tournaments in recent years.)

The Professional Forehand
Here's the new video (2:06) from Samson Dubina. The focus is on why the stroke is usually slightly circular.

Ask the Coach Show

  • Episode #257 (19:21) - Closing Out a Match (and other segments).
  • Episode #258 (20:54) - Wider Angles (and other segments).

Table Tennis Camp for Veterans with Disabilities and Members of the Armed Forces with Disabilities at the Maryland TTC
Here's the USATT info page on this camp I'll be running at MDTTC, June 6-8, 2016. We just organized it over the weekend.

Playing Style of Khaleel Asgarali
Here's the article from Table Tennis Spot. I got to watch Khaleel develop during his junior years in Maryland.

Interview with Kanak Jha
Here's the USATT interview by Rahul Acharay.

Navin Kumar: Defying the Odds
Here's the new article. I'm mentioned!

Tom Hanks Had Some CGI Help for His Forrest Gump Ping-Pong Scenes
Here's the article and video (2:56). Anyone know who the Chinese player is, "Valentine"?

UVA 20 Years and Still Going Strong
Here's the USATT article on the University of Virginia TTC.

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Vol. 17, Chapter 6
Here it is! ("Juniors Get Attention.") You can buy this or other volumes at TimBogganTableTennis.com.

Ping Pong Tournament in Military Park Brings Out Hundreds for Day of Fun and Games
Here's the article from Brick City Live.

Top Ten Shots of 2016
Here's the new video (4:33, set to music) from Charles Yang.

Whiff-Whaff Table Tennis Cartoon
Here it is!

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