(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT)
Major League Table Tennis moves to Compass Arena in Willowbrook, Illinois, this weekend, September 25-27, for Week 2 of Season 4. The Portland Paddlers, New York Slice, Bay Area Blasters, and host Chicago Wind will all be in action. Tickets are available now at mltt.com.
Three of the four teams will be playing their first matches of the year. Portland arrives as the defending champion, having gone 16-2 in the regular season before winning the MLTT Cup with a 21-18 victory over Carolina in the final. The Paddlers are the favorite in the West again, but the Bay Area Blasters, led by Lily Zhang and Jinbao Ma, will be hoping to close the gap. The Slice, now in their second season, are looking to build on their debut year.
Chicago is the only team in Willowbrook that has already played. The Wind left Duluth last weekend at 1-2, with a 21-18 loss to Atlanta and a 21-14 loss to Princeton sandwiched around a 21-9 win over the Los Angeles Spinners. Robert Gardos and Mo Zhang each swept their singles matches in that win, and Emmanuel Lebesson and Sean Zhang were also key contributors. Now the Wind get to play at home, hosting New York on Saturday at 7:30 PM and Portland on Sunday at 2:30 PM.
Every match follows the MLTT format: four singles matches and one doubles match, with games played first to 11. The Golden Game follows, a race to 21 where all five players on each roster rotate in every four points. The winning team gets six bonus points, so a lead going into the finale is never safe. It is the second year of open-serve doubles, where players can serve from anywhere to anywhere on the table.
With the West wide open and three teams just getting started, Willowbrook may set the tone for the season. Tickets are on sale at mltt.com.
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