Report from Suzhou
Here's a report from Vuong Ngo, who plays for Glasgow South C, from the 14th ITTF Sports Science Congress where he was presenting his 4th year dissertation. He also managed to take in some TT matches at the Championships and has kindly shared some of his experiences in this very interesting article.
Suzhou 2015
I suppose that when you invest diligently in something silly, then some silly things are bound to happen to you. This was the only Chinese truism I could muster as I descended, weary-eyed to Pu Dong Airport, Shanghai. Somehow I had been invited to present my 4th year dissertation at the 14th ITTF Sports Science Congress in Suzhou and to stick around for the World Table Tennis Championships and this report is primarily for the University of Edinburgh, who part-funded my trip through the William Dickson Travelling Fund but it also for the table tennis fan, or anyone that will appreciate my proverbial genius.
My first visit to Asia, only took me 22 years! If only I could explain this to all the unknowing natives, who spoke to me in Mandarin as though I could understand a word they were saying. The first English speakers I met were dressed in bright-green Stiga tracksuits. These were the table tennis (TT) tournament volunteers who were on hand to escort the players from the airport (I realised this upon seeing Vladimir Samsanov’s name whilst pretending to find my own on the arrivals list). Though my initial plan was to take the train to Suzhou, I decided to trial my negotiating skills and managed to bag a lift in an air-conditioned QOROS car.
14th ITTF Sports Science Congress, Soochow University
Gaelle (my AirBnb host) took me to downtown Suzhou for a beer and some food before calling it a night as I had a 9am start the next day. Luckily I managed to time my plane-sleep perfectly which removed jetlag from the equation, but relying on a taxi during rush hour was probably my biggest undoing. I was late but this ended up working in my favour. Shiro Matsuo, one of the Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA) scientific committee members shuffled in during the start of my belated presentation (about the effects of competitive state anxiety (match nerves) on the kinematics (movement) of the bat during serves). The audience seemed to grasp the concept of my study and took to it well; however I was slightly disappointed that nobody questioned my study, considering I had flown from Glasgow to deliver it. This sourness would soon dissipate, as upon returning to my chair, Dr Matsuo followed me to my seat and opened an (all-inclusive) invitation to Tokyo- he was impressed with the methods I used to determine the bat kinematics and asked if I would repeat my talk at the JTTA annual meeting this September! I will accompany ten other scientists and researchers at the Japanese National Table Tennis Centre. Later that night we were treated to a delicious Chinese buffet, and the drinks were free.
Other notable events at the congress included a detailed presentation by Yuki Inaba, a biomechanist at the JTTA. She compared the playing characteristics of the celluloid and new plastic balls (Nittaku Premium 3 stars). As many of you will have experienced already, the plastic ball- when hit at high velocities- has a higher coefficient of restitution which gives a higher bounce compared to the celluloid ball.
Received a firm handshake from this professor after my presentation; luckily I had packed some antibacterial wipes to diffuse the situation.
This has implications for fast topspin rallies. At slower speeds (e.g. serves) the plastic ball exhibited a higher coefficient of friction than the celluloid ball, which suggests that more spin can be generated with the plastic ball. Despite these significant findings, Dr Inaba predicted that the introduction of the new plastic ball would only be significantly noticeable at the top level- hers is only one study though and I have a sneaky suspicion that the transition to the new ball may favour some more than others, at least that is what many will argue!
Another talk about coping strategies (Hugh Richards, my dissertation supervisor was cited) in table tennis showed that players undergoing highly intense levels of cognitive competitive anxiety (for example, intensity from worrying) have a greater tendency to use avoidance coping (such as behavioural disengagement) or emotion-focused coping (such as denial and venting of emotions) compared to those players with low levels, who are more likely to implement more positive problem-based coping (such as “visualisation” or tactical changes). I had a memorable time at the conference and it was a pleasure to meet individuals that share my passion for table tennis and I eagerly await a visit to Japan.
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The future of table tennis? This man invented and crafted the sliding handle blade which supposedly allows players to increase racquet head speed and wrist mobility. Currently there are no regulations on the size or shape of the bat in table tennis- should there be more varieties in the game?
ITTF Table Tennis World Championships, Suzhou 2015
One of the promises made to us prior to our arrival was that speakers could watch matches at the World Championships at the Suzhou International Expo Centre following the conference. We discovered on the final day that this had been diluted to just the preliminary rounds on Day 1. A bit of a bummer, considering that I had booked my flights in order to see matches up to the Men’s 4th round. Even still, I managed to catch the matches of two Scotland players, Gillian Edwards and Chris Wheeler on the first day- both played well but lost out to strong opposition. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh (UoE), Craig Howieson was also in action, and came 2nd in his qualifying group. After the morning session I went to the booking office only to find that tickets for the whole tournament had been sold out! This really surprised me, as on the first day there must have only been about 300 spectators in the 5,000-capacity main arena. Other delegates from the conference discussed sightseeing as an alternative, but I knew there must be tickets somewhere. After all, the monkey who climbs the highest tree will find the sweetest fruit.
On the metro home that night, I noticed a man wearing an ITTF pass and decided to quiz him about the shenanigans. He said that within the first hour of release, the tickets sold out but large companies (and members of the ITTF including himself) had reserved tickets well before the general release. Knowing this, I headed down to the venue the following morning to see what could be done. The security officials at the games were very strict, and reluctant to let me speak with any authority members without a ground pass. However I was undeterred and tried to rustle their feathers by seeming angry at the fact that a promise was broken. My persistence had landed me in the belly of the beast. Before I knew it I was standing in the ITTF tournament office and about to make a “formal” complaint. This was fruitless to say the least. My invitation letter did not specifically state that I would receive free tickets, and minutes later I was asked to leave the office. Deflated, I sat outside and began flicking through my travel guide to assess the alternatives before the tables suddenly began to turn. I looked up to see that descending from a nearby escalator like a Greek God was Miran Kondric, the Chairman of the ITTF Scientific Committee. He asked me how I was, before I explained my inquisitive journey to the ITTF office and he seemed impressed. And before you know it, I was ushered to the tournament’s training hall, fit with tens of practice tables occupied by some of the world’s elite players: Fan Zhendong, Jun Mizutani and Dimitrij Ovtcharov to name a few. Miran told me to leave my phone number so that he could contact me if any more tickets became available. I stayed for a couple hours to see the training up close and obviously the standard was unbelievable. The coaches gave top-quality feeds, accurate and consistent only to be matched by the players whose movement was unreal. You could tell that these drills had been rehearsed countless times, and I guess that this level of autonomy in stroke production and footwork is what separates the men from the boys.
The next day my phone rang. “Get to the entrance of the ITTF AGM at 11am”. So once again, I had to blag my way into the building and low and behold I was eaves-dropping on the biggest table tennis meeting of the year. Only for a few seconds though, because Miran soon appeared and quickly handed me a stuffed envelope and you can probably guess what was inside it. I was expecting tickets to one or two more sessions, but not for the entire week! Now I was even in possession of a VIP ticket for the men’s quarter finals (the day after I was leaving) which I ended up giving to Gaelle. As for the remainder, I went to see some quality matches- the men’s doubles game between Ma Long/Timo Boll and Xu Xin/Zhang Jike boasted some amazing rallies and the fans were especially pumped to see these icons of TT on one table. It’s quite funny whenever there’s a let (when the ball clips the edge of the table) because the Chinese fans burst out with laughter every time a player is on the receiving end of some misfortune.
For me it was important that I explored the city as well as see the championships, so I set some of the better tickets aside for myself and decided to return the leftovers to the ticket office. Their advice was to sell them on the street! There were loads of touts outside the venue, and the police seemed to turn a blind eye to ticket re-sales. Fine by me. It didn’t take very long to offload the tickets and with my earnings I decided to splash out on a new blade.
My new baby
As the time to return to Glasgow came closer I began to wish I had booked a longer trip that might have allowed me to see the finals. The last matches I saw were in the Men’s 4th round which included one major upset. Xu Xin, who I was backing to do well, lost in the final set to a dogged Fang Bo. There was some great attack vs defence play as Ma Long proved too strong for Korea’s Joo Saehyuk and the Olympic champion Zhang Jike- a firm favourite among the Chinese fans- was in excellent form against Vladimir Samsanov. Obviously the playing speed was on a different level, but I was most mesmerised by some of the touch play; dead short but even still players were firing attacks from outrageous positions.
Reflecting back, I don’t think I will have the chance to experience a trip like that ever again and it pains me to hear that the temperature in Glasgow is 7C. Attending an international conference was a priceless endeavour and I feel like I made the most of the opportunity through delivering my work to an interested audience and by networking with professionals in sports science. In addition to exploring a foreign culture, I indulged in the crème de la crème of table tennis- as a fan and player this has inspired me to continue playing and improving.
Lastly I must give special thanks to the University of Edinburgh. Firstly to Hugh Richards, Dr Simon Coleman and Jon Kelly who have supported my niche interests from the offset. Next, to Sean Doherty and the participants of my study from the UoE Table Tennis Club. Your time and insurmountable patience was vital for my data collection, so thank you. And lastly to the William Dickson Travelling Fund, without whose help any of this would have been possible.