Angelica Rozeanu played all defense, all the time. She was also women's singles World Champion for six consecutive years (1950-1955), a record then as it is now. World #25 Han Ying of Germany won the Düsseldorf Women’s Masters today. While defenders in the modern game are a minority, the vast majority play a hybrid defense-offense, a style at which Han excels. The long pips on her backhand return the hapless attacker's own spin, and the smooth inverted rubber on her forehand is equally adept at loading a ball with vicious backspin and suddenly firing surprise loop attacks, à la Ding Song or Joo Se-hyuk. Born in China, Han helped her adoptive homeland Germany win silver in the 2016 Olympics women's teams event. She also helped secure her team's return to the Olympics, contributing to an upset win over Romania in the gold medal match at the 2019 European Games. The 37-year-old Han was the top seed at the Düsseldorf Women’s Masters, shown on German TV and livestreamed to fans worldwide who were unable to attend the proceedings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this morning's semifinal, Han cruised past her compatriot and #3 seed, Shan Xiaona, (11-8, 11-5, 12-10). "I played pretty relaxed and hadn’t won against Shan for a long time," said Han after her semifinal win. "I didn’t have any pressure and attacked very well, so maybe that made her a bit insecure. She also didn’t play as well as I expected." In the early afternoon final, Han faced the tournament's Cinderella, Sophia Klee, who had been playing much better than expected. The unseeded 20-year-old, ranked a distant #481 in the world, had upset her compatriots Yuka Tsutsui, world #369 and, notably, Nina Mittelham, the world #39. Han Ying, however, was having none of the fairy tale business, chopping down the upstart Klee, (11-2, 8-11, 11-3, 11-7) for the title. "Overall, my tournament performance was fine, even if I played a bit too relaxed in the final," confessed Han. "Congratulations to Sophia, she fought very well." Along with South Korea's Suh Hyowon (world ranking #23) and Japan's Hitomi Sato (WR #17), Han is one of the best defenders in the world. While offensive players like Jan-Ove Waldner and Xu Xin prove that there is room for creativity and expressiveness in the attacking game, the shrinking number of defenders inevitably leads to stylistic homogeneity. This, in turn, diminishes the diversity of role models for young players, further concentrating the world's talent into the same old attacking mold. American table tennis legend John Tannehill, who passed away last week at 68, had long lamented the Procrustean modern attacking game, which he called "anathema to the senses." Tannehill went so far as to imagine players assuming the characteristics of the robots they practiced with, the creeping mechanical uniformity becoming a "metallic disease like cancer around the globe." While Tannehill's bleak vision may sound like the paranoid sci-fi of the "Terminator" franchise, there is something of a battle for humanity at stake in the arms race for the latest, greatest, fastest, spinniest sponge rubber. With John Tannehill just now joining Angelica Rozeanu around the TV in the great rec room in the sky, they and generations of diverse, inventive players can all celebrate Han Ying's victory together. When Han Ying wins, we all win.

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