(by Steve Hopkins, photo by ITTFWorld) The ranking points system can be confusing – and adjustments made during COVID complicated it further.  This week, there were some major changes in the World Rankings – changes that were largely due to COVID adjustments expiring.  For instance, this is the first week where results of the Olympics […]

(by Steve Hopkins) After two thousand six hundred and eighty six singles matches, a champion was crowned.  The winning team (Aria TT) had a combined rating of their three players of 8185.  The top player (Kou Lei) entered with a 2818 rating.  Kou Lei, and his teammates Eugene Wang and Angel Naranjo made it through […]

(by Steve Hopkins) From the beginning of the year, the European Table Tennis Union Men’s Champions League was really a story of two teams – Borussia Dusseldorf and Neu-Ulm.  The Dusseldorf squad had been at the top of the pecking order in both German League play and the Euro League matches for a decade – […]

(by Steve Hopkins) With the top two rated players (and 3 of the top 6 rated players) on the same team, Team Aria TT was a strong favorite entering the 2023 Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams.  Kou Lei, Eugene Wang, and Angel Naranjo closed out the tournament with a solid performance in the Finals, but […]

(by Steve Hopkins) At over 14,000 square feet, the Bridgeport Sports Club one of the largest table tennis clubs in all of North America.  The club is located in Richmond, just South of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.  They are located near Highway 99 and 9, with easy access to the greater Vancouver area. The […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Most of the Butterfly/Bowmar Sports team arrived in San Juan on Monday night.  The US-based and Puerto Rico-based crews worked together Monday morning to unload tables and barriers from trucks.  An assembly line of volunteers put barriers together and placed them around the venue.  The tables were carefully unpacked (generally four guys […]

(by Steve Hopkins) With their location just North of Atlanta in Suwanee, Atlanta International Table Tennis Academy has a strong presence in the largest metropolitan area in the Southeast.  AITTA is the result of a 2014 merger between Yang’s Table Tennis Academy and Atlanta Table Tennis Academy.  They have full-time coaches across and have been […]

(by Steve Hopkins) In the latest ITTF Rankings, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Wang Chuqin continue to hold the top three positions.  In fact, when you include Liang Jingkun at No. 7 and Lin Gaoyuan at No. 12, and Lin Shidong at No. 19, China holds almost a third of the Top 20. Japan’s Tomokazu […]

(by Steve Hopkins) World No. 1 Fan Zhendong and World No. 2 Ma Long seemed destined to meet in the Final.  Both swept through the early rounds almost unchallenged – with Fan not losing a game until the Quarterfinal and Ma Long not losing a game until the Semifinal.  Ma Long continued to cruise with […]