2018 JOOLA LA OPEN - Singles Final - Hou Yingchao (China) vs. Jinbao Ma (California) (Highlights)

[@mega2codnoob]

The defenders forehand is better than the attackers haha

[@ludolibre852]

Very often the case with modern defenders

[@pukulu]

Yingchao was playing brilliantly, only making a few errors and hitting his topspin forehand as well as I've seen. In 2019 he won the Chinese National Championship at 39 years old. He's becoming a legend for his longevity as a world class player. Of course so were former world number one attacking players like Waldner, Timo Boll and Samsonov, but he's not that far behind, having been ranked inside the top 10 many years ago..

[@notaboxofjuice]

Seems like none of our top US players know how to play choppers

[@ludolibre852]

Well, Tiago Apolonia is WR36 and didn't do much better in the 1/4s

[@notaboxofjuice]

@@ludolibre852 Fair point

[@ludolibre852]

SP choppers (vs LP) are much harder to read due to a huge spin variation. Same thing with Wei Wang (Hou Yingchao lost him in the last US Open!)

[@WorthlessGeek]

Also none of them are really on the level of a pro like Hou. All Hou has to do was play a simple game, Jinbao could not put any pressure on him and could not force Hou to get creative with his returns. Hou didn't really have to chop more than twice to make Jinbao crumble. Plus Hou's FH was just too high quality for Jinbao to deal with. Kind of like watching Brian Pace vs Fang Bo- American TT players get toyed with by Chinese pros.

[@ludolibre852]

@@WorthlessGeek that summarizes it pretty well. Hou and Wei Wang have some serious spin variation with their SP BH chops.

[@Ragameiste]

that style, aaaah!

[@Davidgon100]

Ma Jinbao did slightly better than I would have against Hou Yingchao

[@nickli2528]

Anybody annoyed how one of the commentator was racist by saying how hou ying chou should buy himself some shorts that fit if he wins like there was literally a chinese documentary and he says he likes to wear these pants because he likes the old style of it.

[@alexcho5276]

Yeah and with that voice crack, that commentator sounds like he’s barely hitting puberty

[@toekneema]

i hate to say it but Jinbao gave no effort at all

[@USATableTennis]

Not correct at all, he just didn't know how to play him. Hou Yingchao is a short pips chopper with a lot of experience and is incredibly difficult to play the first time you play against him. Even Tiago echoed that sentiment after his 4-1 loss in the quarterfinal to Hou. You don't give no effort when you are playing a final for a $10,000 prize. Probably a combination of nerves and a lack of confidence, as well as no real strategy formulation contributed to what you see as looking like not giving any effort.

[@ericw.2066]

Just because he got destroyed doesn’t mean he didn’t try