Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF
(by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Woodbat Champion Alexander “Flash” Flemming (second from right, in blue shirt)”
There were 40 players competing in eight groups of five, with two tables for each group. The top two in each group advanced to the money brackets, the next three to consolation. First place is $1,000, second $500.
Matches were two out of three to 15 points, with the server changing every two points. You do not have to win by two points – 15-14 wins. There is one big variation – first person to score 30 points wins. If a player wins two straight, this doesn’t matter. But suppose you win the first 15-14, and lose the second 10-15. Then the third game starts with you down 25-29, i.e., down match point! For example, in one round robin match, Bradley Robbins (USA) won the first 15-14 against Yohan Lecompte (FRA), lost the second 14-15, and so the third game started at 29-all – and so both had match point! Bradley won the point and so won the match, 30-29. While it seemed more natural to some to play it like it was a best of three to 15 but ending early when someone reaches 30, the effect was the same as if they’d simply played one game to 30.
In contrast to the sandpaper and hardbat round robins, the top seed finished first in only two of the eight groups, finishing second in five of them. So seven top seeds advanced. Ironically, the second seed advanced in nine of the ten groups, winning five of them. Here is a quick rundown of the ten groups, with the top two advancing from each – feel free to browse them or jump to the money single elimination stages afterwards.
- Alexander “Flash” Flemming (GER) easily wins his group. With scoring to 30, no one gets more than 15 points against him. Finishing second is fourth seed Julen De Haes (BEL) at 3-1, with nobody getting more than 23 against him.
- Second seed Bryan Aiglemont (ENG) defeats top seed AJ Carney (USA), 30-25, and they advance in first and second, with nobody getting more than 25 against them.
- Second seed Christophe Raynal (FRA) easily wins the group, with nobody getting more than 19 against him. Coming in second is fourth seed David Tiplady (ENG), the senior hardbat champion here. David goes 2-2, as does top seed Tiago Da Silva (BRA) and third seed Bjarke Krog (DEN). But David wins the tiebreaker and advances in second when it went to points among the three of them.
- Second seed Pavel Gutierrez (MEX) wins his three easily, with nobody getting more than 22. Top seed Antonin Zavaldi (CZE) comes in second at 3-1, also winning his other matches easily.
- Third seed Bradley Robbins (USA), who attacks and chops equally well, won the group, going 3-0 – but only barely. As noted earlier, Bradley on the first 15-14 against Yohan Lecompte (FRA), lost the second 14-15, and so the third game started at 29-all – and so both had match point! Bradley won the point and so won, 30-29. Yohan came in second at 3-1, winning his other matches easily.
- Second seed Xavier Raynal (FRA) won the group easily, with nobody getting more than 21 against him. Brian Jortner (USA) came in second at 3-1, winning his other matches easily.
- Top seed Benjamin Sorensen (DEN) joined Flash in avoiding the “top seed jinx” and won the group, going 3-0 with nobody getting more than 22. Coming in second was Petr Poliakov (RUS), 3-1, with a somewhat close match with fifth seed Victor Romero (MEX), winning 30-27. The group finished in order of seeding, 1-2-3-4-5.
- Second seed Vladi Kutsenko (RUS) won the group, going 3-0, with a semi-close 30-27 win over third seed Gavin Maguire (IRE). Gavin came in second at 3-1, with nobody else getting more than 21 against him.
Semifinals
Alexander “Flash” Flemming (GER) vs. Xavier Raynal (FRA)
The shocker here was that the very aggressive attacker Flash – with hardbat and sandpaper – became a chopper in the wood event. I asked him afterwards about this, and he said that his opponents in the semifinals and final had cork rackets, which gave their racket more bounce than his. And so he decided to just chop.
In the first, Flash wins easily, 15-8, mostly chopping, only occasionally attacking. The rallies are LONG – but Flash gets everything back. His mobility allows him to get to everything, and he has the mindset where he knows he can get everything back, and the confidence to keep getting balls back no matter how many shots the opponent makes.
But everything changes in game two, as Xavier’s attack becomes stronger and more consistent, and he has leads of 7-1 and 12-4. Then, as so often happens in classic games, there’s a momentum shift. Flash returns everything and Xavier seems to lose confidence, sometimes trying to end the point too soon. Five in a row for Flash, but he’s still down 9-12. At 9-13, Flash scores four in a row, and ties it at 13-all with this 9-1 run. They have a really long rally, and Flash finally misses, and Xavier has game point, 14-13. But two long rallies and two Xavier forehands off the end, and Flash wins the match, 15-8, 15-14. However, since in reality they are playing to 30, the scores show Flash winning 30-22. If Xavier had won this match, he would have played his twin brother Christophe in the final.
Christophe Raynal (FRA) vs. Vladi Kutsenko (RUS)
To my great shame, I missed seeing this match, but the score tells the story – Christophe Raynal won, 30-29. What a match that must have been!
Final
Alexander “Flash” Flemming (GER) vs. Christophe Raynal (FRA)
A huge audience was on hand for the final – the bleachers were so full I had to find a spot near the back to watch. They screamed for every point. Both players like to engage the crowd. Flash does it after winning a spectacular point, often raising his arms up and down at the crowd to get them going. As in the semifinals, Flash played almost all chopping. Early on, it was about 90% chopping, but when his attacks with wood kept missing, he went to nearly 100% chopping.
In the first game, Christophe went up 6-4. He turned to the crowd and laughed and joked with them about something. Then he promptly served off the end, then smacked an awkward forehand into the net, 6-6. Those two point could have come back later to haunt him – remember, they are really playing one game to 30, even though they play each game to 15. The two play long rallies, and it stays close for a time – 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10. Then Christophe pulls away and wins 15-12. A lot of the points Christophe won this game came when, after long rallies chopping, Flash would try to attack one, but his attack with wood simply wasn’t as consistent or effective as it was with hardbat or sandpaper.
In the second, Flash, now chopping almost exclusively after those missed attacks in game one, goes up 10-3, wins 15-7. Or in reality, leads 27-22. Remember those two careless points in the first game at 6-4 by Christophe after joking with the crowd? We’ll never know if he lost his focus because of that, but if he’d won those two points, he’d only be down 25-24.
The third is over quickly; Christophe hits Flash’s first serve off, then misses a forehand, and then Flash gets an edge, and Flash has won Bare Wood Singles here at the Ping Pong World Cup, 30-22 – $1,000 for Flash, $500 for Christophe. Amazingly, Flash won Choice Singles (and almost won the Hardbat Singles) by attacking, then won wood singles by chopping! Equally amazing was that this was Flash’s first wood tournament. Talk about versatility!
