It's more laborious to catch the backhand ball with a straight board, but it's much easier to exert force with a horizontal board than with a straight board. In recent years, the rules have been changing, the ball has become bigger, and the living space of the straight board has become smaller and smaller. At least the famous new generation in the national team are all horizontal boards, but there is no straight board in the left hand, so Xu Xin is called the last glory of straight board.
China's Zhao Zihao, ranked second in the world, is the same age as Xiao Pang, ranking 24th. I wonder if he can play. The remaining straight racers are Zheng Peifeng, ranked 130 in the world, as well as Xue Fei and Xu Haidong, but all ranked 100+ in the world. We can only see if Zhao Zihao can fight, which should be difficult to compare with Xu Xin's absolute dominant position among his contemporaries, but it is almost the only hope for this generation.
As a straight person's experience, it is also important to pass on the meaning of several generations. Originally, only Liu, Wang Hao and Xu Xin became the main players in the straight game, but Xu Xin's play changed greatly after changing the ball, which was no longer the traditional straight game. In short, the space is really small, and it is more difficult to convey the experience than the horizontal version.