I like Ma Lin's unpredictable strategies, rapid block, and beautiful backhand topspin, but I love Ryu Seung Min's Stylish both sides powerful and fantastic play more. 4 vs 1, Ma Lin should be feeling down for months. No matter who won, penholders never die...
RSM...the pride of South Korea! Since he retired, it is sad to see no one who is able to replace him in the J-Pen style. Table Tennis became a bit boring after seeing majority of the Players using handshake style. The game needs more J-Pen players in the top 10 to make it more exciting!
@@matahati6556 I disagree! Can we recall the last 2 JPenholders WTTC Single Champions? Kohno and Ono won the 1977 and 1979 WTTC Single. Ono did not last long but he was certainly the best player for at least 2 years. Kohno was consistently great for at least 10 years. Kohno retired after 1977. Do you know after 1989, the penholders were slaughtered by the Swedish and the Chinese national coaches said that to counter the Swedish players, a penholder must have the skills of the Great Kohno. Too bad, we have not seen a JPenholder who can match the skills and mental toughness of the 1977 World Champion.
not only that... Wang Hao defeat against Ryu gaved the chinese one of the most highest motivation to improve. Liu Guoliang is still keeping that defeat as one of his mayor motivations.
Good for them, because sporting games always have the potential for stunning upsets, and that's what makes them interesting for us. Some people thought Ryu was lucky to win in Athens, but I don't think it was merely that. He was red hot going into the tournament. Want proof? Look up some videos from US Open of the same year, which took place only a few months earlier. He was moving like lightening with forehand power top spins that were simply like hammer-punching.
@@jankay8569 You know what? Sometimes, not saying anything and keeping silent prevents you from revealing the lack of knowledge or even intelligence. It looks like you're referring to the current pathetic US Open that's essentially a village party for the US players and some third-tier international players. But back in 2004, US Open was still an official ITTF Pro Tour event that attracted all the top players from the world, including the Chinese National Team members. They were regularly participating in it prior to 2004, but they have allegedly decided not to in order to not reveal their tactics with only a few months remaining until the Olympic Games. Ryu won that event by beating Chuan Chi-Yuan of Chinese Taipei, but more importantly, he raised his world ranking to #4 to attain a very advantageous seeding in the Olympic Games, and the rest is history.
Surely not. Neither of them hold positive record with Chinese penholders in the same period. Ryu for example, this match is his 1 of 2 victories against Ma Lin while he lost to Ma Lin 16 times. His record to Wang Hao is also 2:14. Chinese is always the dominant penhold national from 1960's to present, perhaps except late 1970's and early 1990's.
This particular performance by Ryu shows that his winning the Gold Medal in 2004 Athens Olympic Games was not a fluke. The guy moves like a lightening in this game, and even though his lifetime record against the top Chinese players is pretty lopsided, when he was in top shape, he could play with the best of them in his prime time. Obviously, he peaked at the right time in 2004 to grab the Gold. However, his knee injury has slowed him down considerably shortly after that. What a shame...
Waldner did the work for Ryu. Waldner defeated the favorite Ma Lin. Ryu would not have much a chance against Ma Lin. If you don't believe me, look up the h/h between Ma Lin and Ryu. Of course, Waldner did not do too good against Ma either but Waldner found a way to win on that particular day. It was very hard to beat Ma Lin in his prime.
Reu is one of the best penholders of all times, I'd like to see the match between him and Xu Xin but unfortunately they are from different times... (((
Ryu using the Japanese type penhold, which the forehand power are stronger than the Chinese penhold which Ma Lin using , Having pros and cons in using Jap or Chn version of penhold, like wang hao type are advantages for the penholder backhand, the shape of Japanese penhold racket are smaller than the Chinese penhold purpose for concentrate the power on forehand and the shape of the Chinese penhold racket are wider purpose for able to cover the backhand side, means the overall power are dispersion for both faces. In fact, Ma lin mostly using the forehand side block for the backhand return, which is not really 100% utilize the advantages of the Chinese type penhold. But Wang Hao did very well for this, can see that until now no one able to do what Wang Hao have done for his backhand skills, which are incredible.
the first gen of c-pen holders uses forehand side block for the backhand as Liu Guoliang, Ma Lin, from Wang Hao to Xu xin I consider 2n gen of c-pen, using the other side to return backhands
I'll root for a South Korean or Japanese player any day over a Chinese player. I begrugingly make an exception for Wang Hao because l adopted his reverse penhold style and it gave me the backhand of my dreams, for my level.
There were too many unforced errors made by Ma Lin. Rye on the other hand was amazing. It was a good fight between penhold players. Unfortunately we don’t have many chances watching them these days.
Yes, he has had a chronic knee injury in one of his knees for several years now. Actually, his doctor recommended him a surgery years ago. but since it would end his playing career, he's been holding it off until now. Without the injury, I think he would have had much better results than what he's accomplished after winning the Gold at Athens.
Was ryu really using Xiomara equipment? His blade, I am quite certain, was his old bty Kim tael zoo blade with the black marking on the handle. What about the rubber?
rubadubwise NOt only to wipe off sweat. They make this action to have a better feeling about the table. like some kind of "communication", and have a relax.
Ma made more errors which cost him. I found him to be the better player though he lost. They were very even throughout. And can't they get better chairs than those cheap white made in China chairs? Ball boys would help too, at least at each far end.
ksojoel, How do you compare the two players and how did you get to your conclusion? Are you picking the better player by their losing record? I mean, losing more often. Have you checked to see their h/h results? According to you, the better of the 2 players possesses a near 1/5 L/W record against the weaker player.
@@Badkhela Ryu was a very good player but I wouldn't classify him as great. It would be unfair to compare Ryu to Ma Long, Xu Xin, or Zhang Jike. However, check out his h/h records against his contemporaries Ma Lin, Wang Hao, and Wang Li Qin. Let's say, he occasionally won.
ma lin has more than 15 world champion titles. Including Olympic man single, way Better than ryu who has only 2004 Olympic champion. Never come into any finals before and after...