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Ian Marshall, Editor of Table Tennis Illustrated
Familiar Yet Unfamiliar
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Bercy, Paris, France, 20 May 2003.



Qualifying for the latter stages of the World Championships can be a tough task, especially if in the opening round you meet players with whom you are familiar and whose styles of play certainly keep you thinking.


Certainly, when Lily YIP and Tawny BANH of the USA faced the Canadians Marie-Christine ROUSSY and Chris XU they knew each other well being no strangers to each other; the quartet being regular competitors in North American tournaments.

Canadians in harmony
However, they had never faced each previously as doubles pairs; so there was no previous history as the four players each with their own distinctive style walked into Court 19 on Monday evening


Lily YIP is a penhold grip player in the traditional Asian style using short pimples, attacking with the forehand and blocking on the backhand; the reverse side of the racket is covered with long pimples but was rarely used in the ensuing encounter. Her partner, Tawny BANH is a shakehands grip player whose preference is to stay close to the table and attack from both wings with reversed rubber on the forehand and short pimples on the backhand.


Meanwhile, their adversaries from across the border combine defence with attack. Chris XU uses the shakehands grip and is a backspin player using a combination of long and short pimples to vary the returns whilst her partner Marie-Christine ROUSSY has a style of play that is all her own. The racket has reversed rubber on one side and anti-spin on the other; her style is based on fast attacks with a unique grip that enables her to use the reversed side of the racket for both backhands and forehands; a similar style to that employed by the SEEMILLER brothers two decades earlier.


The end result was victory for the Canadians, thus maintaining their hitherto unbeaten record in women’s doubles matches; the only other occasion when they have been partners was in the recent Canadian Top 12, an event they won to book their place in Bercy.
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