July | 2021 |

Battle of the Sexes: China’s Men Versus Women Challenge Matches

July 11, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) Table tennis is an equal-opportunity sport. In many tournament in the US, adults play kids, men play women, and many of our para athletes play in the same events. So it could be possible for a tournament player to face a senior, a junior, a woman, and a wheelchair player – and […]

WAB Club Feature: Fullerton Table Tennis Academy

July 11, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) Fullerton Table Tennis Academy is located off Imperial Highway in Fullerton, California. The facility is near Bonita Pl and S Harbor Blvd/E Imperial Hwy in the neighborhoods of La Habra. This positions the club just North of Anaheim with easy access to all of the greater Los Angeles area. The Academy focuses on the […]

Tokyo, Covid, and How the Olympics is Taking Shape

July 9, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) In an announcement that was not a surprise, Japan has officially announced they will bar spectators from the Tokyo Olympic events. The announcement was made yesterday by the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee, and it follows the country’s declaration of a State of Emergency due to COVID infection rates. A few months ago, […]

US Nationals: Olympians (and Hall of Famers) Headline

July 8, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) A lot of familiar names are at the top of the leaderboard as the 2021 US National Table Tennis Championships comes to a close in Las Vegas. Olympian Zhou Xin won Men’s Singles, topping 2021 US Team member Sharon Alguetti 4-1 in the Final. Zhou entered the event as the top seed […]

Ovtcharov’s Gluing Technique

July 6, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) In a video posted in June (on a channel hosted by TT Smash City), Dimitrij Ovtcharov demonstrated his gluing technique. Watch the video below as he outlines how many layers of glue he uses and how he attaches the rubber to the blade. Included are a few pro tips: (1) pull the […]

Butterfly Favorites: Kanak Jha Interview with NBC Bay Area

July 6, 2021

Earlier this year when Kanak was back in Northern California beginning his Olympic preparations, he paused for an interview with the local NBC affiliate. Check out the full article and accompanying video here. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bay-area-table-tennis-player-gets-ready-for-tokyo-olympic-games/2519102/

EIGHT: Video Highlights of Timo Boll’s Key Matches at the Euro Championships

July 5, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) Despite a draw that required Timo Boll to tackle German teammate Benedikt Duda early (winning 4-3 in the Round of 16), and Dusseldorf teammate Anton Kallberg in the quarterfinals, and top seed Mattias Falck in the semifinals, it was Boll that cruised most of the way. When Boll faced Dimitrij Ovtcharov in […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Changing the Pace

July 5, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) A major weakness of many players is an inability to change the pace, and thereby throw their opponent’s timing off. Not doing so is a quick way of helping your opponent’s timing. Many players try to change the pace, but do so unsuccessfully – either because they don’t know how to do […]

WAB Club Feature: MK Georgia Table Tennis

July 4, 2021

(by Steve Hopkins) MK Georgia Table Tennis is in Duluth, Georgia just off of I-85 to the Northeast of Atlanta. Duluth is in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, and is a suburb with a strong Asian influence which includes about 10% of the population being of Korean descent. The club itself is located off Peachtree Industrial […]

Timo Boll Behind the Scenes at the Euro Championships

July 3, 2021

As Timo Boll worked to earn his eighth European title, he continued to take behind-the-scenes videos which have now been edited to include highlights from his matches. Watch below to see Timo’s VLOG entries from the European Championships in Warsaw. Check out all of Timo’s VLOG entries on his YouTube Channel.