Cho! and my response

Hi Conrad :), i understand you well. I had the same experience for a big while. It is annoying after your opponent screams for example: CHO! or CHORE! after every point especially bad ones. Try to just ignore his screams as well and if you want to get back at them just do this: Play serious like you always do. However pretend to not be playing serious even though you are. Try not to show your opponent your angers or that your being annoyed by him. Then if you are winning, instead of you being bothered, you will notice that your opponent will be even more bothered. He will think that you are not making much effort to beat him while you actually are beating him. But i want you to know that even if he beats you, there are 2 reasons: Either hes a better player than you or that he has more experience playing as well. However it is Ok to scream if you are in a big tournament making good points. This actually helps your motivation.

I think that keeping calm and not reacting anyhow to those screams works best.

In my opinion, if your opponent is saying "CHO" to motivate himself, I think that is perfectly fine unless its overly loud or when they hit a lucky point. But I know some players only do it to frustrate their opponents and I find those players to have very bad sportsmanship :(

I think it depends a lot on where you play. For example, here in Japan, a lot of students are taught to "cho" after hitting a clear winner, or winning a difficult point. Cheering for your teammates and keeping yourself motivated by "choing" is considered the right attitude.

That said, overdoing it can be viewed as poor sportsmanship. As for your reaction to it, I think it's perfectly fine in any non-serious match.

If the "choing" is really bad, there are things you can do to help clear your head. Maybe take a few extra seconds before serving, or spending a few extra seconds getting the ball. Don't overdo it, though!

Most of the chinese players say 'ah ya ' when they make a mistake,    So we all mimic them  and laugh. Its really funny!!  some times our mimic is not appeciated! 

I don't usually have a problem with other players saying it, but it irritates me they say "cho!" instead of just saying "Yes!" or something. Mainly because my club is English, I would understand if they were Chinese but really when your English it just makes no sense to me. But if it makes them more confident then I just have to accept that.

Personally I don't say anything at all, I just clench my fist if I win an important point near the end of a match and that's about it.

I think you all know what your individual ability is so you need to be confident in how you play,  and just ignore the petty stuff!!  its competitive,   however, lt is just a game,  pingpong to me is the next best movement sport to dance which I  loved.  so do what you love!! 

Wanted to add. There a players in our club who think they are superior to others which is really annoying!!  throughout the years they have refused to play with or discriminated against players who are weaker!! We have hung in  and improved our game and actually now we are doing great and these bullies just look like fools.  they play like 7 days a week and they are not that great!! ignore things you cannot change!    keep working to get better for yourself!!  Alois and Jeff give us the gift of confidence over failure!! 

I think it is hilarious when you say, "bless you" after your opponent blurts out "cho"...lol :) When I used to play competitive table tennis in college many years ago, nobody that I played with ever used "cho" when winning a point. I have the World Championships on VHS from many years ago, and I don't recall hearing players using that term. I find it interesting when I played back in my college years and ten years afterward (before I took a long break from the game) the Swedes were mainly the best at that time but nowadays the Chinese are so good in table tennis compared to the rest of the world that people want to talk like them too while playing! lol :)