#ITTFSmashback - Kong Linghui vs Vladimir Samsonov | 1997 World Table Tennis Championships (SF)

Enjoy the highlights of the #ITTFSmashback best of 1996-2000! Kong Linghui v Vladimir Samsonov faced off in 1997 at the World Table Tennis Championships

#TableTennis #Sport

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PingPong, Tischtennis, Bordtennis, tenisdemesa, tennisdetable, 乒乓球, 桌球, 卓球, 탁구, настольныйтеннис

[powerplaylive]

EVEN back in 1997 the camerawork quality was better than what is now in 2020 -_-

[dimakogan]

The best match from Vladimir Samsonov that I have ever seen !!

[albertswirta]

Dear ITTF, please upload more KLH matches, his style is so unique and in the internet there aren't many vids in good quality with him like this. I suggest also his doubles matches from Sydney and Athens Olympics, 2003 WTTCs - especially doubles final and singles quarter-final against Qiu Yike (who eliminated Timo Boll, that time No.1).

[太麻里小狼狗]

How good is the quality of 1997 match video.

Even pirated porn have better quality than ITTF nowadays.

[mongotree]

Samsonov is always credited for his passive Skills - his Blocks, his touch, serves and receive! But people forget that he was an offensive machine as well! His Bh-Topspin was and still ist rock solid!

[benhabot]

When you're a descendant of Confucius, you already know you're about to succeed in life.

[viktorzavialov]

Столько лет прошло, а Самсонов играет до сих пор также классно!)

[dimakogan]

This is Vladimir Samsonov at his best form ever

[robertrowles]

A great match. One of Vladi's best; Kong played well too. Still amazes me he beat 4 Chinese players on his way to the final - including Kong, Ma Lin and Wang Liqin.

[philcawser]

So glad to finally be able to see this match. I wanted to see how well Vlad played to beat Kong & reach the final in 1997....since the only widely available video of him in this tournament is in the final itself, when he ran into the brick wall that was a mature and unbeatable Waldner and was overwhelmed.

And, Vlad did indeed play aggressive and excellent stuff!

[pukulu]

Samsonov remained world class for longer than any other player that I can think of except possibly Waldner. It should also be mentioned that Jorgen Persson has remained a strong player for a long time too.

[FreeSpeech]

In the 90s, besides Waldner, Samsonov and Schlager were China's greatest threats. That's because their players had many weaknesses, i.e. Kong relied mostly on his forehand while Liu depended solely on his serves. All these weaknesses were gone when Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Fan Zedong, & Xu Xin were on the team.

[outalingamcrap]

Vladi and Linghui may have retired BUT their shots are really iconic; a real reincarnation of the Swedish game legacy transcended from Waldner and Persson

[must_overcome]

Definitely, Vladi is one of the best players of all time

[petershen]

BH chop-block is embedded in Kong's DNA!

[gilekopi]

I think this is one of most diffcult match for kong & match againt kim taek soo.

[ling.lingvs]

Nem sei como é gue se ganha devo apanhar todas perder todas nesse esporte

[pluckoa]

what a match!! grandmaster vs grandmaster

[detherocablest]

Samsonov playing like an old fox even when he was young! Always the schemer, just when you think you won the point, he’s suddenly well balanced and makes a strong topspin block.

Is there any player who has consistently beaten Samsonov? Challenging his consistency and spin seems so awkward.

[Galimah]

wow Samsonov at his top. beating one of Chinas best player. and then he got dominated by some North-European guy in the final.