how good are these players.

[big ears]

and opinions?

Gavin Rumgay vs. Thomas Bennborn

[RebornTTEvnglist]

They can't be much good, they keep dumping it in the net or sending it long 

OK, now we have Biggy stirred up....


Well obviously they are good. Not world 100 good, but Rumjay is in top 250 right? And Bennborn just beat him, so he must be up there as well. So I'd say they are better than you Biggy, although you said you beat Rumjay once or got close or something? It was an entertaining match, thanks for posting. That's 3 matches from Barrow TTC I watched today. Is that your club Biggy?

[blocker]

BE has mentioned previously that Rumgay is top 250 in the world. He is obviously a good player but my god is he crap against a combo bat! How can a player of his class misread the spin so many times!? The chopper is obviously a decent player and fairly tricky but i never saw him attack. A player like that really should not bother elite players even though it seems that he does.

[speedplay]

I know the answer, so I'm probably not ment to spoil the fun here, but I can tell for sure that both these players are high level players.

[big ears]

here is a quote by a player, anyone guess who said this?

''It went well?  Do you know that Bennborn is old sapphires.   There is always a bit tough at first, before taking off.  He is special, he has pimples out on one side and kortnabb on the other. ''

 Just after playing a match against the chopper (Bennborn)

[speedplay]

Due to the use of the word Kortnabb (Swedish for Short pips) I'm going to guess it was a Swede.

As for old Sapphires, I haven't got a clue what that means...

Again, I raise the question, what is the benefit for him to use sp? Perhaps sp have more/better control then inverted (although it is the opposite for me) but he must lose out on ability to create spin on serves and the variation in spin would be greater with LP/inverted then it is with LP/sp? Then again, it might be more deceptive, since it isn't as obvious as the difference between LP and inverted.

[big ears]

So who made that quote then Speedy?

[blocker]

So who made that quote then Speedy?

Waldner?

[speedplay]

If I have to guess, I'm going with Appelgren.

Does this guess award me to get the old sapphires explained?

[blocker]

If I have to guess, I'm going with Appelgren.

Does this guess award me to get the old sapphires explained?

I would've thought the term 'old sapphires' was a translation from a Swedish saying. I gather it means something like he's an old gem, an older player with a touch of class.

[blocker]

After watching the clip for a second time I am still amazed how weak Rumgay is against chop/combo bat. It's like he's one of those good 13 year olds who face a chopper for the first time and get wasted. Even at 0.46 a player of his level should have just blasted that serve. Also, he seemed to have quite a few opportunities to blast a winner where he pushed and Bennborn pushed back with the LP (I assume one side LP) and yet he chose just to do a medium paced loop.

Even though I still think a non-attacking chopper like Bennborn shouldn't beat guys 250 in the world he is pretty classy in what he does. Nice placement, very few unforced errors, good variation, and he makes almost no stuff-ups with the LP.

[pingpongrob]

Very Nice Clip BE.  Thanks for rewarding us with such quality footage.  Its amazing how a good defender can confuse even good players.

[big ears]

If I have to guess, I'm going with Appelgren.

Does this guess award me to get the old sapphires explained?

It was Waldner, speaking just after playing a match. I don't know if its true, but I've read a quote that Bennborn has been as high as 25 in the world.

[Barrow TTC]

Hi Guys.  Just a quick hello and message to say I am glad you enjoyed the videos.

[big ears]

Crikey Tristran, you get everywhere (wiggy) BTW, when you said hello to me at Accrington the other week, I didn't recognise you without yr hat! (he plays with a reversed baseball cap everyone)

Tristran Swan vs Karina Lefevre

[Barrow TTC]

Crikey Tristran, you get everywhere (wiggy) BTW, when you said hello to me at Accrington the other week, I didn't recognise you without yr hat! (he plays with a reversed baseball cap everyone)

Yeh, it was a little bit of an awkward moment that.

The cap is history, though the hair is getting a little longer so a hair appointment maybe required before next British League.

I played Paul Cichelli a couple of weeks ago (and won ) and it sounds like you guys are pushing for promotion this season?  He mentioned a top Swedish guy had signed for you?

If I find mention of Barrow TTC anywhere I like to respond.

I really need to get some good videos of myself up 

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Nice vid!! Was there a guy with a cap on in it? 

All I noticed was a girl with great....legwork!!

[big ears]

Nice vid!! Was there a guy with a cap on in it? 

All I noticed was a girl with great....legwork!!

 Any guess as to where those players are ranked in England? in their respective categories, where would Tristran be in your club Reb?

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Any guess as to where those players are ranked in England? in their respective categories, where would Tristran be in your club Reb?

Tristran looks pretty solid although you'd surely beat him Biggie. I'll put him in top 300 in England. In my club A2 or A1.

The girl is much harder as I don't know too much about women's TT as we don't have a huge number compete around these parts/my club. She also looks pretty young so could make her a junior (what age do your juniors turn senior - its 18 here). I'll have a stab and say top 50 women in England perhaps, although I really have no real grasp on women's TT as I said. I've certainly seen vids of much better women than her, but most have been chinese. We have a girl in our A1 who is 18 and I think she would be better than Karina, but so hard to tell from just one vid. So I'll say between A3 and A1 for her.

[blocker]

Judging from the vid of another player BE posted ages ago I am going to guess Tristan is around 500ish in the UK.

Reb assures me there are at least 50 women at the Dandenong club who have better legs than Karina.

[pingpongrob]

Tristran looks pretty solid although you'd surely beat him Biggie. I'll put him in top 300 in England. In my club A2 or A1.

Your very Generous to say that Tristran would make A1, I feel that although he has some solid shots, he is just to inconsistent for A1. If he played in our local comp, he would be a No.2 player in our A grade.

[big ears]

Tristran is 250ish, the girl is Number 4 (yes 4) in the womens list and a full international.

[speedplay]

Tristran is 250ish, the girl is Number 4 (yes 4) in the womens list and a full international.

So, A3 at Dandenong then? 

As I've said before, I think we all rate player's close to us to high, especially if the players are a lot better then we are. I know from watching Gavin Rumgay in a couple of vids, I wouldn't think he would take a spot in our top team, but rather play one division below the top division. Now, since I do know he plays in the top division, I know he is about the same level as they are, but it's hard to tell from video.

[blocker]

Tristran is 250ish, the girl is Number 4 (yes 4) in the womens list and a full international.

I'm not that surprised by Tristan being 250ish but I am surprised by Karina being ranked number 4. I could be wrong (Rob and others feel free to correct me here) but I think the top Australian women would beat her very easily.

[pingpongrob]

I'm not that surprised by Tristan being 250ish but I am surprised by Karina being ranked number 4. I could be wrong (Rob and others feel free to correct me here) but I think the top Australian women would beat her very easily.

You got it right blocker, infact I'm Sure Mellissa would beat her even though the points and ranking dont show it. The consistancy is what is lacking, the speed of the stroke's The anticipation.

Melissa Tapper (AUST) WR November 2010 913    Points 1218
Karina Le Fevre (ENG) WR  November 2010 861  Points 1258
Jian Fang LAY (AUST) WR November 2010 153  Points 1912
Miao Miao (AUST) WR November 2010 201 Points 1836

See the big differance between our 2 top Australian Women and Karina

I would like to see another match where Tristan plays another player & Karina plays another women - I'll make a another Judgement then.

N0w in terms of 250ish to BE level, are we talking a thrashing, a walk in the park, or some concentration.

[speedplay]

Due to an ancient computer, I can't watch the match, but I'm going to guess that it would be considered quite an upset if Biggy lost to Tristan.

As for Katarina, I don't have a clue how she would compare to Aussie or Swedish female players, but I do know that the woman game is very different from the mens game and it is always hard to judge the level of either player when it is male vd female matches.

[blocker]

I am sure BE would have no trouble at all with Tristan.

I have have seen the 3 Australian female players Rob mentioned and I am also pretty sure they would beat Karina very easily. In fact I think Miao and Tapper do very well against out top male players (I remember seeing a clip where Miao pushed Henzel) - I doubt if Karina could match that. 

[RebornTTEvnglist]

Tristran is 250ish, the girl is Number 4 (yes 4) in the womens list and a full international.

As Blocker said, Karina is a surprise at this level on the strength of this vid alone. She does not set the world on fire with her shots. Now to be fair, she is playing a guy and I know sometimes women v men can make a big difference. Although we have women in our club who can play just as well as many of the men. I was kind of making allowance that this vid didn't show her in best light to say she's be A3 at my club.

Speedplay I know you love your opinions, but to have a crack at mine without having even seen the vid is a bit unfair. Even blocker agreed that she looks pretty weak, and its not like blocker to often agree with me LOL.

[Silver]

Am I doing something wrong? I see her as ranked 586 not 861 something? Also ranked 5th not 4th like BE said.

http://www.ittfranking.com/gen/country/coENGW_en.htm

Anyway don't forget that England has higher ranked players too.

To throw a spanner in the works, I reckon she'd beat Tapper and also Claire Campbell-Innes...

[speedplay]

Speedplay I know you love your opinions, but to have a crack at mine without having even seen the vid is a bit unfair. Even blocker agreed that she looks pretty weak, and its not like blocker to often agree with me LOL.

Which of your opinions did I have a crack on? As for Tristan vs Biggy, I know Biggy have stated that he rarely loses to players rated below him, and seeing as Tristan is ~150 positions lower then Biggy, I think it is safe to assume it would be an upset if Tristan won.

If it was the Dandenong comment, it wasn't based so much on what you have said about this video, but rather about how you constantly rate Dandenong as a very high level place, which, if you excuse me, I don't think it is, compared to stronger TT nations then Australia. It might be the strongest competition in Australia, this is something you guys would know better then me.