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Henzell Wins Australian Closed...Again!
William Henzell continues to dominate at the big events again taking out the trifecta (singles, mens doubles and mixed doubles) at the 2009 Australian Closed Championships held at Croydon & Districts TTA in Victoria. His full report on the event is HERE.
This was another emphatic victory for William. He defeated Simon Gerada of Victoria 4-1 in the final. He has now won 7 Australian Closed Championships and 4 Australian Open Championships in Mens Singles. Additionally, for the last three years in a row he has won the titles in Mixed and Mens Doubles and only dropped one singles match at a national event since returning to Australia last year.
This is a record for an Australian-born player. Only Charlie Wuvanich of Thailand has won more Australian Open Singles titles (5). Add to that his good Olympic performances and Commonwealth Games medals and it's obvious why this modest Champion is being hailed as Australia's best ever male table tennis player...and he's still only 27 years old.
Image Copyright Warren Woolcock
The Vietnamese Community Tournament - William Henzell
I don't like long break inbetween tournaments. I lose the feeling of where my game is (actually) at and more importantly I lose the familiarity of playing under pressure. Tournaments and training are just different, especially if it is an important event or there is a crowd watching. You tense up and your muscles work that bit harder. I rarely get sore after training but will almost always pull up sore somewhere after match play, even though I may have played much less. I'll be sharing some of my secrets I've learnt over many years in my next blog.
So, I was uncertain of my form heading into the Vietnamese Association event at Bonnyrigg, west of
Sydney last weekend. The event attracted a field of about 60 men with some of the top Australian players in attendance. Justin Han, Kiet Tran, Trent Carter and a new Chinese player who has been living in
Sydney for the past few months, Xin. There was a good crowd turnout as well with 100 - 150 people watching the key matches. Playing 16 four-man groups on four tables is a major challenge but the tournament organisers led by the great Inh Van Le kept things moving smoothly.
It was great playing in front of a boisterous crowd again. The final of the Australian Open had a good turnout and atmosphere but the other
Melbourne events have been pretty light-on from that aspect this year. It was no surprise that the crowd would be wildly partisan when I played local hero Kiet Tran in the semi-final. I didn't mind that one bit. I would rather have a thousand people cheering against me than no-one cheering at all. I've got respect with what Tranny has done with his table tennis over the years. I remember, not that long ago, when Kiet wasn't really very good at all. But he has stuck in there, worked and worked and above all - he really loves his table tennis. He is now a dangerous player and can beat top players on his day. He serves extremely aggressively (just a flurry of arms flailing about and then a ball coming towards you!) and takes the ball almost before it bounces on most shots after that.
I didn’t do well enough with his serve early on and lost the first set 11-8. He didn’t miss any easy shots, made a few really good ones and didn’t give me anything for free. I struggled to find my timing and really had to try to calm myself down and get my simple shots working. When you are under pressure you almost always revert to a few shots you feel comfortable with and I tried to do these as well as I could. He was up 10-8 in the second but I managed to fight back and win the set 12-10. It was all downhill for Tranny after that as he lost a enough confidence to start making some easy mistakes which is when the strengths in my game really start to kick in. I took the next three sets comfortably and made it to the final!
Xin beat Justin in a seven set thriller in the other semi-final which puts him in the vicinity of the top few in
Australia. The tournament was running behind schedule by this time of the day and my flight was approaching faster than I wanted. The match started after 6pm and my flight was to leave at 8:05pm with a decent drive to the airport. Xin and the organisers were kind enough to play the final as best of five sets.
I was super stressed to start with and felt the time pressure I was under. I would say it is one of the worst sets I’ve played and lost pretty easily. It was hard for me to get my head around Xin’s game. He has clearly got a very strong backhand side and is able to vary the speed and spin on his backhand blocks/loops very well. His serves were alright too as are his returns. I try to learn as much about my opponent’s game as quickly as I can in a match as it will decide what tactics I use and what patterns of play I try to steer the game towards.
I’m not sure what happened in the next two sets. The game turned very scrappy with short rallies and plenty of mistakes which suits me fine. I went 2-1 up. He had really struggled with my tomahawk serve for the first three sets but started reading it better in the fourth set. There was a run of pretty funny points in the middle of the set: his shot clipped the top of the net and went on the table, I grovelled it back and he missed an easy shot to win the point. Fine if it just happened once, but the exact same point happened three times in four points! I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before!!
Anyway, we were neck and neck before I pulled away to a 9-6 lead. He clawed back with some brilliant shots to 10-10. I had about 5 match points before I could claim the match and the $700 winner’s prize. It’s hard to say exactly where Xin is in terms of Australian players but it would have to be amongst the top few. He will be one to watch in the future.
Simon Gerada signs with Aussie Table Tennis
Many readers may not know that we used to sponsor Simon Gerada when he was a junior player. Now he has rejoined Aussie Table Tennis as a sponsored player and we are proudly supporting his 'Health, Wellness & Table Tennis' initiative at http://www.simongerada.com/ Simon has numerous State and national titles to his credit as well as being an Olympian.
Simon is now using the blade made famous by Wang Li Qin; STIGA Offensive CR, and 2.0mm STIGA Boost TX rubbers.
We encourage Victorian kids to get involved in the Health, Wellness and Table Tennis program and learn all about our sport. Simon has numerous coaches supporting him in this endeavour and is famous for his passion for increasing participation in Table Tennis.
We look forward to seeing how this program develops and seeing his fantastic playing results continue into the future.
SimonGerada.com has an international tour and many other great training sessions in preparation for the 2010 season.
New Websites
STIGA and XIOM have overhauled their websites. Check out the following links:
http://www.xiomtt.com/
http://www.stigatabletennis.com/
JOOLA Wing Passion Fast and Wing Passion Extreme Blades
Not only are these 2 new blades from JOOLA exciting and colourful, they have probably the most comfortable flared handles we have ever felt. And these are very light; around 85 grams. They are up there with the blades like MC1 and Kool but without the hollow-core/balsa feeling.
 
Table-Talk, ITTF Approved Tables
STIGA continues to set the standard in tables worldwide (see story HERE about Barack Obama buying a STIGA table for the White House) and Aussie Table Tennis has recently updated it's range adding the ITTF Approved STIGA Premium Roller as well as some recreational models. These are all listed at our website along with a new PDF catalogue.
  
Premium Roller Optimum 30 Expert Roller
The STIGA Expert Roller is by far the most popular ITTF Approved table in Australia. We've now expanded the top of the range ITTF models with 2 new tables; the Optimum 30mm and Premium 25mm.
The STIGA Optimum 30 is the first table in the world with a 30mm thick top. ITTF Approved and Made in Germany. Superb construction with extra thick legs, sturdy height adjustable feet and a bounce that has to be seen to be believed. In stock as of December 2009. The evenness and consistency of the ball rebound is unparalleled. The top is pre-treated multiple times and then coated with a special varnish to give just the right amount of gloss and the ideal frictional coefficient. The result is the truest possible bounce, even when balls are spun at the highest level.
The STIGA Premium Roller (above left) is 25mm and one of the strongest tables we have ever sold. The legs measure 50mm x 50mm and under the surface has a super-thick trimming 45mm x 25mm wide. The bounce is superb as one would expect from an ITTF approved table and STIGA's Grab-Paint anti-skid treatment.
Go with the name you know; the worlds most popular table brand, STIGA!
Robot and STIGA Victory Table
This is a great deal and a real money saver.
Introducing the TAIDE ROBOT and STIGA Victory Roller!
This package deal is the ideal combination for those wanting to enhance their table tennis skills and get a fun workout as part of the process.
The Victory Roller is a German-made STIGA table that comes with a permanently affixed net on the table for ease of set-up and playback mode.
Included are 4 bonus STIGA Rocket bats.
See HERE for details.
The Latest on Racket Testing - By Ron Keyhoe
The ITTF Equipment Committee (EqC) has decided that effective from 1st October 2009, racket control personnel will no longer use the ‘Wassing’ ENEZ machine. The EqC have also requested cancellation of the testing on the ‘Wassing’ ELIZE machine. From 1st October, the racket control personnel will only use the MiniRAE testing machine. Although the MiniRAE machine is not 100% effective with some of the new rubbers, it is effective on most rubbers, and more effective that either the ENEZ or ELIZE machines.
The ITTF and the EqC are disappointed that some players are still using glues/water-based boosters which ‘change the characteristics of the rubber’ (ITTF Rule 2.4.7). The ITTF have decided that in a ‘after-the-match’ test, any player whose racket is detected with VOCs, is to be disqualified by the referee including the winning result of his/her previous match. It is most likely that in the future, the testing of player’s rackets will occur after-the-match and without prior warning.
Racket testing being currently done includes checking that the rubbers are:-
Listed on the current ITTF Authorised Racket Coverings List (2.4.7.),
Bright red & black rubbers (2.4.6.)
Checked for thickness of rubber sponge and glue (2.4.3. max 4.0mm),
Checked for flatness (2.4.1.),
Checked for thickness of blades (2.4.5.),
Checking pimpled rubber (2.4.3., 2.4.3.1. & (2.4.7 treated pimples))
Checked for VOCs (2.4.7)
The ITTF have also had, and are having discussions with the manufacturers. In the future, it most likely that manufacturers who deliberately manufacture rubbers that clearly break rule 2.4.7., will have their contracts with the ITTF cancelled.
The Olympic and ITTF aim is to only allow the use of equipment that will not harm the player or his/her health.
This has resulted in the ITTF requesting all Associations to have racket testing at their main events & on some occasions the ITTF is paying some of the expenses to have independent racket control personnel present at these international events. Recently I have been to the Asian Youth Games, China Open and Korea Open. Racket control will take place at the Asian Youth Olympics next year, as well as most of the Asian International events.
Bat-Handle Overgrips Now Available
Sweat absorbing and enhanced sponge-grip.
One roll of this is enough for about 4 table tennis bat handles. Easy to apply with self-adhesive backing.
Now available in a wide variety of colours!
Ebenholz V and VII Review
The STIGA Ebenholz blades used here were supplied by Geoff of Aussie Table Tennis.
Ebenholz VII, Master Handle, 90.8g.
Ebenholz V, Master handle, 93.3g.
Impressions
The Ebenholz V and VII blades are a new line of NCT blades released by STIGA. While the blade formula for both have not significantly changed, both blades trace their roots back to older, classic Stiga blades.
The V is a 5 ply all wood blade based on the Stiga Offensive Classic. It is comprised of a thick, 4mm core, 0.7mm spruce second plies and a thin black limba top. It is thicker overall, approximately 5.9mm which gives the blade higher speed, better stiffness and more spring in the short game making it ideal for rubbers of all hardnesses. It is comparable to the newer Offensive NCT released not too long ago but is faster and more stable.
V ply structure: Thin surface Ebony (NCT coat), 0.7mm spruce, thick 4.0mm core, 0.7mm spruce, thin surface Ebony (NCT).
The VII is another 7-ply all wood blade that would be a descendant from the Stiga Clipper Wood. There are a few changes in ply composition, which looks like a shakeup of the traditional formula similar to what the Stiga Optimum Seven attempted (but did not succeed) to do a few years ago. Apparently, someone at Stiga decided that if you keep doing the same thing, you keep getting the same results and they wanted to do something different instead of creating yet another Clipper clone. As a side note, if you were looking for a more modern Clipper, look to the Stiga Hybrid Wood.
So what has changed in the VII? Well, the Clipper Wood utilised a three ply thick core for speed, alternating red and wood coloured. The secondary plies were thinner for control and a thin Limba top for feel. On the other hand, the Optimum Seven reversed this formula and used a thin three ply core, very thick secondary plies and the usual thin Limba top. What this worked out as was a very hard blade with too much vibration and little feel. With the VII, Stiga has brought back the thicker core, but clad it in thin plies and placed two more thick plies on either side, then topped it off with a thin Ebony top for an overall thickness of about 6.3mm. This new configuration produces a more powerful core less prone to flex resulting in a high speed design with good control.
VII Ply structure: Thin surface Ebony (NCT coat), 1.4mm 2nd ply, 0.7mm 3rd ply, 1.4mm core, 0.7mm 3rd ply, 1.4mm 2nd ply, thin surface Ebony (NCT).
Both of these blades use the new STIGA Nano Composite Tech (NCT), which hardens the blade, increases speed and creates a more crisp feel.
Speed/Feel/Control
The Ebenholz V was a dream to play with in both the short and long game. Vibration was dampened but still present and gave clear, sharp ball contact. Speed on the bottom end was easy to manipulate with reasonable linearity. Touch was fantastic: use a soft hand and you don't get much out of it. Drops were easy to execute yet given a bit of power, the ball rockets away for controlled but high speed powerloops or textbook looping arcs if you were so inclined. Counterlooping felt easy and power was still good at mid distances. Stiga classes it as an OFF blade and so would I. It's comparable in speed to the Clipper CR, Nittaku Acoustic and so on, yet I'm not convinced that the NCT coating gives it a better feel; it feels a little too hard at times. Both Stiga Boost TC and TP rubbers worked brilliantly on this blade, along with softer Tensors such as Donic JP Gold and sticky Hurricane rubbers; a very versatile blade that matches most, if not all rubbers.
The VII's overall speed was a step and a half above the Clipper, placing it firmly in the Off+ region. It's comparable to some carbon blades in top speed yet retains a better feel, unless, of course, you prefer the carbon ping. Speed on soft strokes were fast, a little uncontrolled, mostly due to the low dwell time. Power play and hitting is where this blade shines and given a little time, it's possible to tee off and blast players off the table even from mid distances. Blocking and punch blocking came with little effort but great reward. Unfortunately the VII, even clad in the reasonably lightweight TP and TC felt like a brick, especially on the harder TP side. The ball tended to stretch long instead of arc and the lack of feel didn't allow easy adjustment to the angle. The softer TC side was easier to control and the blade seemed to mesh better with it, providing more gears and better touch. Hard Tensors and firm Chinese sticky rubbers felt unreasonably clunky with very little dell but soft and medium soft tensors such as JP Gold and Tango Extrem worked superbly. Overall, this blade appears to work far better with medium and soft rubbers (but not too soft, or it will feel like mush and you will have lost all the advantage of a high speed blade), with Japanese and European rubbers providing enough gears.
Final Comments
I highly enjoyed using the Ebenholz V which I felt was a class leading offensive blade, good at everything with no significant weaknesses. The Ebenholz VII's high speed and solid nature was great for hard looping and power hitting but came at the price of a heavy and low feel. Of course, if you like low/no vibration power blades, this could be the blade for you.
Addenum
The V NCT coating was uneven and rough in places. As a result, it splintered a bit. This V was a 1st batch, and I hear they've fixed it as the VII coating was immaculate. Beautiful blade.
New from XIOM
XIOM are famous for the beautiful and elaborate table tennis clothing. The XIOM Vibro shirt is available in small, medium, large and extra large sizing. Made in KOREA with quality materials.
 
OMEGA I rubber (German Tensor) in 2mm and maximum red and black, just $35.00 each!
This rubber plays like JOOLA Tango but with a harder/firmer feeling. See Rubber Clearance section of our website.
Three new flared-handle blades are now in stock in the XIOM Novus Swedish range; the Magellan, Amadeus and Michelangelo.
The Magellan: 
Michelangelo: 
Amadeus: 
In the next Aussie Table Tennis News we will be revealing some new brands we are adding to our range.
www.AussieTableTennis.com
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