Waldner in Osaka

[zachary]

hi folks.

Just thought I'd start a separate thread off the discussion going on about Osaka.

Remember Waldner's unexpectedly good performance at the Sydney Olympics? What are his chances of repeating it? Specifically, how will he do against the Chinese?

- Waldner has a very good record against Liu Guoliang! He seems to have no problems with Liu's style of play.

- What are your thoughts on the Olympics final match against Kong Linghui? What weaknesses of Waldner's became apparent?

personally, I think Waldner is going to do well at Osaka. But I'll leave the more detailed analysis to you guys.

Zachary

[yoshi]

When Waldner plays at his best, he can still beat any player in the world, but I think he is not able to do that that often anymore.
In my opinion his touch and his ability to read the game of his opponent are still second to none, but he is just not that quick anymore.
Another thing is his personality. He has always been a gambler, never a fighter. I think he could do much better now, if he was more of the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I would really like him to win another major title, but I don't think he can cut it.

[Ponger]

Well, Waldner seems to have played badly again in the Caen vs Kalmar match on Friday.

He lost to Damien Eloi -14,-18 and to Persson -17, -10. That's too bad - I guess Yoshi might be right, and Waldner might be 'yesterday's news', so to speak.

Then again, maybe his poor performance is due to his recent injury, and who knows: he might be again in top form for Osaka. One can always hope

[Dorit]

I think losing against Eloi and Persson is not so bad it can happen. 1997 when he became world champion he lost against Samsonov in the team matches and got only 7 and 6 points.
I hope (and I`m sure it is possible) that he will become champion again.

[Rigornd]

I think, that Waldner will play again a good major-tournament. He concentrates on nothing else then these major-tournaments at the end of his career.
And that he is at the end of his long and very succesful career I am sure. Maybe two more years then he will retire.
But because he is concentrating only on the major-tournaments I think his results at the moment don't say anything about how strong he really is at the moment.
I think in Osaka he will play great table-tennis and I even think (and wish) that he will win the title ones more.
Of course if the final would be Boll or Rosskopf Waldner then he should not win, because that would be great for table-tennis in Germany. But I don't believe in Rosskopf or Boll in the finals this time. Boll maybe in a few years.

Bye Rig

[BlackJack]

Hi,

well I also think Waldner concentrates on the Championships in Osaka and also think that he'll play a good tournament. What else should you expect from JO As the others already said that fact could explain his bad results recently, but I can hardly imagine that a player like Waldner with his great abilities is so diverted by the preparation for the Championship that he can't play good tabletennis at the moment. So either is does not want to show his great shape actually or he's really not that strong in this weeks.
But anyway, I guess Waldner will play good in Osaka and will be in shape just in time. I'm really looking forward to this event and I'm intereseted to see if the "rest of world" is able to close up the gap to the Asian players.
Of course I would be happy if a German player would advance to the finals perhaps. Both Boll and Rosskopf are in a good shape and maybe they are good for a surprise.

cu
BlackJack

[Marcus, TTReisen]

Hi all!
- Not only in Sydney, also in both Eindhoven and Kuala Lumpur J-O surprised many people by being one of the best 4 players. That is his mentality: he is always best when it really counts. Only then he can concentrate 100%. Plus, as Rigornd and Black Jack wrote: he is now more and more concentrating on these big events.
- The second reason for his bad record all year 2001 so far actually is his body => his age. In January he had problems with an old knee injury, 2 weeks later with his back, and and another 2 weeks later with his arm! So we Waldner-fans can only hope that his body will not let him down in 2 months time! His mental and technical abilities are still good for gold!

@zachary: - "Waldner has a very good record against Liu Guoliang! He seems to have no problems with Liu's style of play."
How do you come think that? Actually, the opposite is true: until the Worlds in Kuala Lumpur, one year ago, he had never beaten Liu.
- What a pity! Nobody saw any weeknesses in that final. So we can't help J-O improve ;-)

CU!

Marcus, the TT-traveller

[zachary]

Hi Marcus

@zachary: - "Waldner has a very good record against Liu Guoliang! " ...
How do you come think that? Actually, the opposite is true: until the Worlds in Kuala Lumpur, one year ago, he had never beaten Liu.

You are right, of course! my mistake...

By the way. Liu admitted in a recent interview that he still has some adjustment problems with the new ball and feels disadvantaged against "power players" (which doesn't really include Waldner, I guess).

-zachary

[Kjell]

J-O wouldn´t play in Osaka if he wouldn´t believe on himself!

[40mmfan]

i saw samsonov´s supreme play in wels (top 12 europe). he is the number one in europe, although i am a waldner fan. but who didn´t see his poor footwork in the sydney and his moderate shape.