Table Tennis Profile: Wang Hao - The reverse side master
Wang Hao is a Chinese table tennis player born on December 15, 1983. Although Wang was a very high class player but like any other Chinese player it was very hard for Wang to prove himself in the sport that has so many legends within his own country but
Wang made his way through by a win at the 2009 World Championships as he defeated the defending World Champion Wang Liqin.
Wang mentioned that on winning the championships his coach Liu Guoliang told him that he should work even harder for the next events and winning the championships shall only be motivating him towards the tougher training but Wang did not listened to his
coach as he was too excited by the win and by the time he realised to what Guoliang said to him his career was going downwards. Wang Hao commented about Guoliang as he said, “To me, he is a coach, a senior, and the person who knows me best”
The 27-year-old’s top performances have answered many questions raised against his style and his dominance for a long time explains the usefulness of this new style and he will be remembered always for his contribution to the sport. Wang Hao has dominated
the ITTF ranking from October 2007 to December 2009 before he faced a defeat by Ma Long bringing an end to Hao’s 27 months winning streak. Wang Hao has again achieved the top position as he is currently at the first position as per ITTF ranking of April, 2011.
On May 15, 2011 at Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands Wang Hao posted a 4-2 victory against team-mate Ma Long and qualified for the final. The second finalist was Zhang Jike who overcame Timo Boll, the strongest European player by a score of 4-1.
In the final match between Wang Hao and Zhang both the players fought well, Zhang Jike showed his best form throughout. The world’s Number one player and defending champion Wang Hao put on a courageous fight and made good come backs but couldn’t stop Zhang
Jike from becoming the Men’s Singles World Champion as game finished with Zhang Jike 4-2 Wang Hao.
Hao uses a Butterfly Sriver (Red) for his backhand and a DHS Hurricane Hao blade with a DHS skyline III (Black) for his forehand which allows him to spin the ball to a great extent.
Wang Hao commented after the World Championships as he mentioned during an interview that he tried his best and it was a wonderful match and a close match for the audience as he mentioned that his back hand has played an important role in his performance
but he has learnt from his weaknesses and will come back as a lot better player in the future.
He uses the reverse-side for most of the shots on the backhand side with few exceptions for slow and deep balls placed during the service, unlike many other penhold players. Wang was not considered as a very good player when he joined the national team because
of the unorthodox reverse-side use.
Most of the penhold players have to step around the table to cover their weaker backhand but Wang’s reverse sided backhand is a standout stroke as he doesn’t need adjustments to use his forehand that gives him a huge advantage over many of his opponents.
Liu Guoliang who coached Hao invented the technique but remained unnoticed as it was considered as untraditional and was rarely used at the professional level, until Wang mastered it to perfection and secured many big events with his surprising performance
and style.
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