(by: Major League Table Tennis)
She’s a four-time U.S. Olympian. She’s a six-time U.S. women’s singles champion. She was a major part of MLTT’s first season. And she’s making her MLTT Season Two debut in seven days.
You read it right: Local hero Lily Zhang is rejoining the Bay Area Blasters for our Week 7 showdown in Pleasanton, CA. Tap that big red tickets button below to secure your spot to see her first stateside professional table tennis appearance since the 2024 Paris Games (we’re looking at you, Steph Curry).
SEE LILY AND THE BLASTERS IN WEEK 7!
Can’t make it to the Alameda County Fairgrounds? Just keep it locked on this edition of MLTT’s Weekly Round-Up: Powered by Butterfly. We’ve got the news, notes, and highlights to make you feel like you’re sitting courtside.
Week 7. Lily Zhang. Let’s Go.
A reminder: Lily’s coming off her best Olympics performance in four career trips.
She had her playing breakthrough at the 2024 Paris Games, defeating Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi to advance to the Round of 16 in women’s singles play. And she had her pop culture breakthrough with Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards cheering her on in the stands.
She’ll face a much different challenge at the start of 2025 than she did in the summer of 2024. MLTT is at the midway point of its second season and Zhang’s Blasters sit at third place in the West Division.
Can she help put them over the top in Pleasanton? We’ll soon find out — but if history is any indicator, Lily loves her some home court advantage.
Follow MLTT’s newsletter so you’ll never miss any breaking news about Lily — or any of our other world-class players. — ever again.
It’s almost that time ⌚
Lily isn’t the only superstar we’re bringing to the Bay Area. She’ll be joined by six — count ’em — five players in the top 10 of our league Power Rankings.
Here are all the stars who just ONE WEEK AWAY from Week 7 action:
Bay Area Blasters
🚀 No. 31 Wenzhang Tao (C)
🚀 No. 8 Taehyun Kim
🚀 No. 22 Eric Jouti
🚀 No. 32 Elsayed Lashin
🚀 No. 58 Lily Zhang
Texas Smash
🤠 No. 38 David McBeath (C)
🤠 No. 15 Hiromitsu Kasahara
🤠 No. 26 Amy Wang
🤠 No. 36 Amir Hodaei
🤠 No. 48 Nandan Naresh
🤠 No. 50 Artur Abusev
Carolina Gold Rush
⛏ No. 1 Enzo Angles (C)
⛏ No. 3 Sid Naresh
⛏ No. 7 Edward Ly
⛏ No. 17 Hong Lin
⛏ No. 60 Kai Zhang
⛏ No. 61 Romain Lorenz
Princeton Revolution
💥 No. 21 Jinxin Wang (C)
💥 No. 5 Benedek Olah
💥 No. 13 Jiangshan Guo
💥 No. 24 Mathieu de Saintilian
💥 No. 27 Koyo Kanamitsu
💥 No. 49 Ievgen Pryschepa
MLTT Season 3?
Bigger than EVER. ➕➕
We’ve got more big news to share than what’s going on in Pleasanton.
MLTT announced our third season will feature not eight, not nine, but 10 TEAMS. New team names and locations are still TBD; we’re fielding input from everyone. Drop a comment on our Instagram announcement if you’ve got major thoughts on MLTT’s 2025 expansion plans.
You can read more about those plans here. And if you know any qualified investors interested in team ownership, encourage them to email investors@mltt.com.
Volunteer Spotlight:
Rajiv Mallik 🔦
So many of you have volunteered your time to help MLTT and expand the appeal of table tennis in the United States. Today, we wanted to thank a special volunteer: Rajiv Mallik, who helps run North Carolina Youth Table Tennis Association at Triangle Table Tennis Club in Raleigh, NC.
Here’s what Rajiv had to say about his own MLTT volunteering experience:
“MLTT holds a special place for me, and I’m excited to be part of the table tennis community because the sport truly deserves more recognition. A big shout-out to Flint Lane for not just dreaming, but making those dreams a reality. There’s a real need to raise awareness about table tennis, and MLTT provides a fantastic platform to showcase the incredible players and the respect they deserve, just like other major sports—cricket, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and more. Table tennis is much more than a game; it’s a wonderful way to stay healthy, with numerous benefits, including for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia… I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for MLTT and contribute in any way I can.”
We’re grateful for volunteers like Rajiv. And we need more ushers, ticket takers, and general helpers for our upcoming meet in Pleasanton, CA.
Click this link to volunteer your time and help us all grow MLTT into the league we know it can be.
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