Zhang Yining (CHN) v. Lucjan Blaszczyk (POL) 5

The Open Singles event at the 2008 Killerspin Holiday Open (Chicago) was made especially interesting by the participation of womens' world #1, Zhang Yining of China. This is a semifinal match v. Blaszczyk, mens' top 50 at the time. Video brought to you by mdjenders and TT Armory, Palio Table Tennis N. America Pro Shop. ©ttarmory.com

[@leexster]

Zhang Yining is like a magician on the table. Anything Lucjan had in his arsenal were utterly useless when used at her...she hit everything right back! Her backhand is especially impenetrable. Amazing!

[@scylla24]

sick!!!! Zhang Yining also beat Lei Zhenhua, a male Chinese player on the national team, who is a really solid player, but never stood out enough to consistently represent China in international competitions. He did beat Wang Liqin a few years ago in the Chinese Super League Finals. So that says a lot about just how sick Zhang Yining is as a player

[@Rog5446]

He may have lost, but he's the best Poser I've ever seen.

[@plot000000]

no shame in losing to the best women's player

[@PH-yv8qh]

Not a surprise. Top Chinese female tt players train with excellent Chinese male players

[@SuperDarkHalo]

zhang is so beautiful...

[@MKD1101]

*my male ego just took a beating!*

[@forestwood9]

i m not sure about the first two games, but i pretty sure Lucian did try to win the 5th game. he underestimated her. after all, Zhang is the best in woman tt.

[@Mythyrian]

Very nice, now I want to see Zhang Yining vs. Ma Long.

[@menguanli6634]

me too

[@jaydavidson4592]

He couldn't do anything about the close-up table play, and excellent ball control. He was looking for mid and long range rallies. She said NOPE! 😆

[@poorknight123]

@TableTennisDaily I think she won!

[@MKD1101]

Did she win the tournament?

[@scylla24]

haha ok, I was wondering, because Lei is a pretty damn good player, and I was pretty shocked when I first saw the article that said Zhang beat him

[@axercfarena3643]

I was wondering who lei was, zhang was like olympic and world champ. Whats so surprising if the former no1 player on earth beat someone?

[@zwang3909]

@@axercfarena3643 Because Lei is a male... And he did not play that game seriously, that's why he lost.

[@DimaKats2]

What's this tournament and why men plays against women?

[@mdjenders]

zhang defeated timothy wang, mark hazinski, then faced lucjan in the semifinal. check scylla24's comment for her next opponent.

[@marcoborrillo8097]

ah, the good old days before the fist bump...

[@DaKrazedKyubizt]

@cigarbong well, i mean, Waldner didn't use too much strength. he was focused on outsmarting his opponents. why is it unconceivable for a woman to come along and think like waldner?

[@axercfarena3643]

Who exactly is waldner? Is he world champ or olympic champ or something?

[@salvosalva]

A former Swedish player, world and olympic champion, by many considered the best player ever

[@scylla24]

well it happened, you can look it up, though some other person said his friend went to the tournament, and Lei Zhenhua was just playing around and let Zhang win, so that probably explains it. But lets be honest, regardless of whether you are Chinese or not, most male players wil think it is embarassing to lose to a girl....

[@DaKrazedKyubizt]

@cigarbong i mean, i didn't say that it isn't difficult to outsmart a man, but... yeah, why is my statement ridiculous? and why aren't people arguing against it? is it because i'm ignorant? because i don't like being ignorant. i prefer to understand. yeah, explain your point to me again. i am totally lost.

[@Barryms0083]

zhang yining is the queen of pingpong.

[@irwankrisnawan905]

Disagree, goddess of table tennis...🤞

[@DaKrazedKyubizt]

@josuecochi well... it's true, i think... am i wrong?

[@DaKrazedKyubizt]

@bigduven I don't think I could believe that for a second. Women can be very dangerous.

[@ronz91]

@3:26 smoked him BH vs FH down the line

[@axercfarena3643]

Bruh, whos this guy challenging the former olympic champ and world champ and man he really tried to win!

[@jeanch3198]

3'38" : elle l'a fumé !

[@baagii020202]

she is just playing with that man hehehe

[@peterreid9769]

He was ranked 40th in the World at the time of this match and she wiped him out. Top female players are much closer to top male players than people realise. At her peak Zhang was probably in the top 10 combined overall, maybe even 5.

[@DaKrazedKyubizt]

@cigarbong ....I lost ya. I don't understand your point. Am I being ignorant? orrr........ eeeehhhh...

[@cigarbong]

@DaKrazedKyubizt That is a false statement. A female merely has to outsmart a man to beat him? Wow.

[@cigarbong]

@DaKrazedKyubizt Who says it's inconceivable? No one is arguing against it. Go to your original statement. See how ridiculous it is.

[@FreddySheinfeld]

No way...For the Chinese players losing against a girl (even here) is pretty embarrassing

[@Livalor]

@Mythyrian Ma Long would trash her if he did his best did you see the match against Xu Xin? :D

[@baagii020202]

yeah bad angle

[@billalphonso79]

haha

[@XACV-12Lovejoy-on5pz]

This dude is so annoying. It’s not paddle ball or basketball, stop bouncing your little ball every time 🙄 And he’s leaned in so focused like he’s threading a needle each time. So cringe.

[@specialtyc.s.2725]

if she would have competed against men she could have been top 5 in the world

[@tanxu]

she won the whole thing.

[@tanxu]

lei wasnt really trying i heard. my friend played in that tourney

[@johnwurf9016]

yeah really, well my friend who also played in that tourney said lei tried really hard