Everything used to be better – you hear this sentence again and again in table tennis circles. Sets went to 21 instead of 11, there were smaller celluloid balls that could accommodate much more spin than today’s larger plastic balls, and more variety in playing style.
And today? While there are still female defenders in women’s table tennis – the most prominent example is the German number one and ninth in the world rankings Ying Han – the men usually prefer smooth attacking surfaces. That won’t change in the medium term – at least if you look at the future European stars of the scene like the Lebrun brothers from France or the Swede Truls Möregardh. Aggressiveness is usually the key word today; long rallies are avoided. “Today it’s about attacking the first one or two balls well and no longer scoring with finesse and placement, but more with athleticism and dynamism,” says veteran Timo Boll.
At the WTT Champions currently being held in Frankfurt, the young European players in particular are proving that their style of play is exciting and captivates the spectators. One might think that the sport of table tennis is becoming more colorful again after years of almost every player relying on classic top spin duels from half distance.
With a hexagonal racket without spin
Truls Möregardh from Sweden particularly stands out among the younger generation in terms of play. The 21-year-old always amazes with his hexagonal racket with shots that hardly anyone has played before. As was also observed in his Frankfurt first round match against world number one Fan Zhendong from China on Sunday, the 21-year-old likes to shoot back the opponent’s topspin hard and without spin with his forehand and does not choose the usual counter-topspin. Another tool he likes to use is a backhand defense ball on topspin from his opponent. Something attacking players usually only resort to in emergency situations. He wants to throw his opponent off his game and make him uncertain about what will happen next. “I try to play as creatively as possible. That’s one of the reasons why I played so well at such a young age,” said the Swede after his defeat against Fan Zhendong.
For the Lebrun brothers from France, however, it’s all about power and speed. While the younger of them, Félix Lebrun, who is only 17 years old, tries to quickly put the opponent under pressure with his high-speed play close to the plate, Alexis Lebrun prefers to play from half-distance and likes to play the classic spin duels. Félix Lebrun in particular brings an additional interesting color to the table tennis scene by using the penholder handle. Even the Chinese have largely turned away from their traditional racket stance.
“That’s how I played when I was young”
If one wanted to try to find unifying elements among young Europeans, it would be creativity coupled with youthful inexperience. “They just don’t think about it that much, they just play,” says Germany’s top player Dimitrij Ovtcharov: “That’s how I played when I was young.” That would contradict Boll’s argument that people used to play more tactically. Félix Lebrun also sees it differently: “We also play tactically. But the game, the scoring, the ball have changed.”
Matthias Schmid, Neu-Ulm Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 10 Thomas Klemm Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Florian Richter Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
The success proves the “young wild ones” right. Möregardh reached the World Cup final in 2021, Alexis Lebrun was able to defeat Fan Zhendong this year, and his brother won the European Games in 2023. Their common goal: They want to overcome Chinese dominance and ensure great non-Chinese successes. For Fan Zhendong, this new generation is “basically very good for the development of the table tennis industry.”
