September 20, 2016

Tip of the Week
Five Serves That EVERYONE Should Master.

Protect Future of Table Tennis in USA
Most of you probably received the mass emails sent out last week from “Protect Future of Table Tennis in USA” about the U.S. team selections, especially in the Mini-cadet teams (12 and under). The letter is from Rajul Sheth from the ICC Table Tennis Center (where he's done some great work), who I consider a friend, and hopefully that won’t change after this. He makes some good points, though there are some inaccurate or misleading items I could nitpick about, and there is more to the issue than what is covered in the letter.

However, there was one serious problem that really angered me, and it had nothing to do with the actual issue involved. I emailed him complaining about his naming these four 10-12 year-old kids publicly in this way (rather than referring to them by rating and as “Player A,” “Player B,” etc.). These kids did nothing wrong, and yet they are publicly being dragged through the mud, turning a dream (making the U.S. National Mini-Cadet Team) into a nightmare as he very publicly tore into the credentials of these 10-12 year-old kids. I know of some parents who are also very angry about this.

Sure, if he left the names out, some could investigate and figure out who these kids were, but few would do so, and it’s a lot more humiliating for a kid to be named directly and publicly in this way, with all these attacks on their playing record. We’re talking about kids who have trained nearly full-time for years, approached the highest levels for their age in this country, did exactly as USATT asked them to do (attending the USATT Supercamp, where they were named to the National Team due to their performance there), and through no fault of their own, this happens to them?

If you don’t like the way it was done, discuss it with or go after the ones who made it that way, but don’t go after the innocent kids.

He did praise the four kids in question in one paragraph – but a little faint praise doesn’t excuse one for then publicly tearing down their record. 

I also jumped on him for publicly naming the kids he went after while keeping himself anonymous. He promised to put his name on the next letter that goes out, so hopefully that will change. (But shouldn't it have been the other way around?) He also left out that he represents specific kids from the Bay Area, which might have been clearer if he’d put his name and position in the letter. That’s like a lawyer writing an Op-Ed for a client and leaving out that he’s the person’s lawyer - it's called a disclaimer. Hopefully in his next letter he’ll address that issue. After all, if we’re going to demand openness from USATT – and we should – we should practice it ourselves.

Rajul is right that there were problems in how the selections were made, and there needs to be much better communication between USATT and top juniors/parents/coaches/clubs. I’ve spent a LOT of time on this issue and related issues (and I’m just a volunteer), and have made my own thoughts and recommendations clear to those involved. Keep in mind that the USATT Board of Directors (of which I'm a member) has no direct involvement in this issue. The USATT CEO, the High Performance Director, the High Performance Committee, and I think the Athlete Advisory Committee are handling this, and hopefully they will resolve it so it does not become a Board issue. Board members have no authority on their own, only at board meetings via a vote. The next Board meeting is Oct. 10 in Philadelphia, though there will also likely be a teleconference before that. Hopefully all will be resolved by then. 

At some point I expect to blog more on this topic. While there were problems, there’s also a lot of false or misleading info out there as well, mostly online, including some of the stuff posted on the website linked above. Hopefully USATT will respond on this soon. However, since lawyers have been brought in (and with it the threat of lawsuits), and because I’m on the USATT Board of Directors, I can’t really comment on the specifics about the problems with the selection procedures at this time. I feel a little like this guy

Dan Seemiller’s “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion”
You can buy it now from Amazon in Print or Kindle. Here’s the Amazon page where you can buy the autobiography of the five-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion, our greatest modern player. (Disclosure: I edited it and did the page layouts and photo work, and created the ebook.) There are already two Amazon reviews, both 5-star:

  • “This was an enjoyable read, finished the book in a day. It is an intriguing glimpse into the life of a pro athlete in a little known sport. Danny Seemiller should truly be nominated as the "Most Interesting Man in the World”
  • “Incredible stories of an incredible athlete and coach! A must read for any and all table tennis enthusiasts.”

USATT News
The USATT News page has nine new news items added since my last blog on Friday. Rather than put in nine segments here, why not go over there and browse around? Many of them feature the exploits of our top juniors overseas at the Croatian Open, where Sharon, Gal, and Adar Alguetti, Victor Liu, and Amy Wang caused quite a sensation with their winning performances.

Advice for Players Who Hit the Ball Very Hard, but Keep Missing
Here’s the coaching article by Tom Lodziak. Some good advice here.

Table Tennis Equipment – Tips for Parents
Here’s the new coaching article from Expert Table Tennis.

Jishan Liang Captures 2016 Butterfly Badger Open Crown
Here’s the USATT story by Barbara Wei. Here are complete results care of Omnipong.

Capital Area Table Tennis League
The Capital Area Table Tennis League had their first meeting of the Fall season, with all 23 teams competing (110 players in all) at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. Results are at the web page, under “Divisions.” The league is for players in the Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia area.

Wang Hao Wedding
Here’s the video (6:51). Wang Hao was the 2009 Men’s Singles World Champion, two-time Runner-up, two-time World Men’s Doubles Champion, six-time World Men’s Team Champion, and was the silver medalist in Men’s Singles at three straight Olympics, 2004-2012, winning the gold in Teams the last two times. (In 2004 they had doubles instead of teams.) He also won the Men’s World Cup three times, was Runner-up three times, and go the bronze one time. He revolutionized the game with his powerful reverse penhold attack and over-the-table banana flip. Yeah, he was a pretty good player.

Fan Zhendong replaces Jun Mizutani in the 2016 Men's World Cup
Here’s the ITTF press release.

19-Year-old Fan Shocks Olympic Champ Ma to Win China Open
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Para Table Tennis Legend Partyka Leads Poland to Team Gold in Rio
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Didukh Recovers from Cancer to Lead Ukraine to Paralympic Glory
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Tiago Apolonia Causes Uproar at China Open
No, he didn’t win the tournament, but watch the video (54 sec) of the fan’s reaction to him after his match!

U.S. Men’s Coach Stefan Feth and Comedian Judah Friedlander Shooting Video at Facebook HQ
Here’s the video (25 sec). Their average rating is 2151: one is 2695, the other 1607, but he’s funnier.

Paralympics Legend Ibrahim Hamato
Here’s the caricature of the world’s top armless player! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.) For those who missed it, here’s video (2:43) of him by the ITTF.

Timo Boll – “I’m Playing in the Rain!”
Here’s the picture. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.) Strangely, that’s him on the left, playing right-handed, with the umbrella in his lefty playing hand, while his opponent is playing lefty.

Great Table Tennis Show!
Here’s the video (8:21) – you DON’T want to miss this! It is performed by the Taiwan Normal University Table Tennis team and some guests. During the show they do all sorts of spectacular tricks, from table tennis with pots & pans, tambourines, and even boxing gloves and baseball bats, to speed multiball and all sorts of dancing and musical stuff mixed in.

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