Great blocks of all kinds: soft / aggressive / topspin / sidespin inside out… –
Kenta 松平健太 has supposedly one of the world’s best serves. He serves either a regular tomahawk service or a backhand tomahawk service.
Kenta became well known after a near upset vs Olympic champion Ma Lin in the 2009 World Table Tennis Championships using his virtually unseen before, advanced tomahawk serves, compact speed technique, and dynamic backhand control. Kenta won two straight games from a 1-3 deficit and held the lead at 4-1 in the seventh. (Kenta lost the set 11-9.)
松平健太(JPN) VS 馬琳 (CHN) 2009 WTTC and then 2013 WTTC final set which Kenda won and Ma Lin retired that year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBrKR7gCwNk
Ma Lin uses the penhold grip. An aggressive player, he is known for his converse unpredictable serves, heavy short push receives, fast footwork, and powerful third ball attacks. In addition to possessing a solid backhand block, Ma Lin also uses the reverse penhold backhand (RPB), an innovative stroke utilizing the underside of the blade which allows a penholder to produce topspin from both wings. The most dangerous weapon Ma Lin has in his arsenal, however, is his consistent forehand loop, which he often uses to end a point decisively. He is also considered as a master at serving and his serve is considered one of the best in the world earning the nickname “Ghost Service”. It involves the ball bouncing back to the net instead of going straight out of the table.
In the videos, Ma’s offense was faced some very stiff blocks by Kenda. Check with our star blocker Allan Li how he has been so successful blocking against Daniel alias Uncle of LSC and checked in with Captain Mike for his many different serves.
When we play in the Sept 2015 Lion’s Charity Table Tennis tourney, YWC will be the main opponent and their captain Sidney Chu is known for this wicked Tomahawk serve and his serve returns/defense.
See in the videos how Ma Lin dealt with this tomahawk serve and how Kenta Matsudaira dealt with Ma Lin’s serve himself.
Note: Ma Lin weighted 77 kg and 1.73 m tall. Kenda is about the same height (1″ shorter ) but much lighter at 61 kg.
Please come and cheer for our Team A (Captain Mike Yam) & B (Captain Chris Tam) on 9/20 Lion’s 7th Charity Table Tennis Tourney at MTTC. We look to repeat our success.
Please check WYKAAO website for further update on the forthcoming Lion\s Club tourney. Chris is convener.
Someone today at our picnic requested the 2009 7th set between Ma Lin & Kenda. Here is the entire 7 sets (1 hour) with Mandarin commentary.