(by Wade Townsend)
Net or not? A leap of faith
When Timo Boll leapt for the ball against Lin Gaoyuan at the recent German Open, he didn’t know he was about to set the internet in to a frenzy.
Lin’s shot clipped the net, bounced on the table and then bounced on… well it bounced on something. Boll dove for the dropping ball, saving it from the gravity’s clutches.
Unbelievably, Boll made the shot. It’s just a shame the point was already over.
The umpire called the point for Lin. The ball struck part of the table’s structure, not the net.
Ultimately it was one heck of a shot by Timo, even if his dive was all for naught.
However, what this point proves is that the audience wants to get closer to the action. We are living in the information age. What do we want? More! Doesn’t matter what of, just more of everything, from pixels to stats, everyone is hungry for more. And with access to the likes of GoPros and drones, no angle is off limits
Instant replays are just the thin edge of the wedge.
How about hot spot tracking. Pick up thermal signals to see where the ball last struck. Or digital tracking, to see just how far the ball and the players moved during the rally?
Get ready for an upadate. Table Tennis 2.0 will be in your available downloads soon.
Original article here
