yes, they are honestly very similar in creativity. Both are gifted with incredible skill, so much that they would rather win while having fun rather than really retraining all their strokes to be quote unquote "perfect". Koki plays a bit to passive and close to the table and Xu Xin often played too far from the table, giving up an offensive position. But they continued to win, so it didn't matter. Artists of the highest form, well said!
for those telling him he don't win matches and all. first of all, ask yourself how hard is it to win in your local club, then premium clubs, then district levels, then state level, then regional level and then NATIONAL LEVEL ( in your country). then contenders, ittf opens and the list is quite long. lastly it comes to WTTC, MENS WORLD CUP AND ULTIMATELY OLYMPICS. and koki niwa is top 20 among millions and millions of table tennis players. beat that !
I love chop blocks because it's a defensive-offensive way to get back/stay into the game rather than go full defense. Niwa's self control with his agility in tracking the ball is outer of my world lol
Once a week, our neighbor drives 2 hours, each way, to Boston, to give his twin boys some ping pong coaching. He moved to the US, about 10 years ago. Gonna ask him, if he knows of Koki Niwa, when he stops by to chat. The 'chop block' is an extraordinary skill. It's kinda like a 'volley' in tennis, in that there is virtually no swing. It works well on shots with pace AND no pace. AND on tricky serves. Niwa is incredible.
there is defninitely a swing, but it is all in the wrist on the backhand. You really need to chop down on the ball with a ton of racket speed to reverse all the topspin and speed coming into the ball.
he has very good hand feel, and a solid understanding and read on ball spins, which basically means he plays table tennis with brain more so than others. But he lacks the physical ability to match other opponents in a rally, and his short arm span means he doesnt have great defense coverage away from the table. Much like Xu Xin who is held back by injury, he is a very talented and entertaining player. But these players are simply not favored by the table tennis meta
Why do I feel Koki Niwa rely on too much his instinct more than effort? Obviously he has some unique ability to get to his level. But he gives me impression that he stands too straight up and moves his feet less than necessary to make it easier to play sometimes? His lack of muscle probably contributes to his stance, making him not able to move laterally fast enough to get best positions to play some shots..
The way he plays, he seems like a guy who loves table tennis, not a guy who plays it because it’s his job. Although, he was playing professionally so not sure. Hopefully, he had an easy boss.
More like most of the times it doesn't work and he lost the match... here is just a cherry picked footage of when it works... yeah it's pretty cool when it does
@@alankucar4564 he is overrated in the world ranking, the japanese team is a bit too generous to him while they could be giving more opportunities to younger players
