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Sandpaper Students at the Ping Pong World Cup

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Under 18 Student Champion Bryce Milford, their coach, AJ Carney, and Finalist Sara Gulabani”) Originally, it was an Under 18 event. But there was interest in Under 23 students (i.e. college students), and so they combined the events. […]

Sandpaper Seniors at the Ping Pong World Cup

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Senior Finalist Steve Claflin and Champion John Sabalik”) There were two groups of five, with the top three advancing to the money rounds. All other players advanced to the Consolation brackets. In Group 1, the fourth seed, Sergio […]

Sandpaper Women at the Ping Pong World Cup

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Ying Yuyue and Cao Jing of China celebrate sweeping Sandpaper Singles”) There were two groups of four, with the top two advancing to the money rounds. All other players advanced to the consolation brackets There were no big […]

Sandpaper Singles to the Semifinals at the Ping Pong World Cup

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Jungang Huang of China right after his win over Andrew Baggaley in the Sandpaper Open Quarterfinals) Play began at 8:15AM on Thursday, Jan. 4. There were 75 players competing in 15 groups of five, with two tables for […]

ICTTF and the Internationalization of Ping Pong

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo: “The historic first meeting of the ICTTF”) The first Ping Pong World Cup starts tomorrow (Jan. 4-6, 2024), in Mexico City, with events for all three major classic surfaces – hardbat, sandpaper, and plain wood. Events include Open Singles for all three, and Women, Over 55, and Under 18 for […]

Micky “Miky” Huidobro – Rocking with Pong

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, PHOTO ABOVE Miky Huidobro on right – with beard – discussing TT issues with Director Steve Claflin in front of the Big Board, as Mike Babuin puts up results on left. Photos by Larry Hodges.) How did Micky “Miky” Huidobro – a […]

Mike Babuin and the US Classic Association

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges) Mike loves playing sandpaper table tennis. In fact, he’s off to the Philippines in two weeks to play in a “Liha” sandpaper tournament, just for fun. But it’s as an administrator that he would have a world-class rating. He was on the […]

$36,000 Mecano Sports Ping Pong World Cup – PREVIEW

(by Larry Hodges) Hardbat and Sandpaper and Wood, Oh My! That’s what’s coming up in Mexico City, Jan. 4-6, 2024 – the $36,000 Ping Pong World Cup. That’s no typo – $36,000 in American dollars, over 600,000 pesos. (That’s a lot of money for the game of ping pong!) Here is the entry form, with […]

Are You Too Backhand Oriented?

(by Larry Hodges) A common problem for players at all levels is being too backhand oriented. Backhand orientation (BO for short) means that you favor your backhand too much over your forehand, and try to cover too much of the table with the backhand. Some players are better on the backhand, and so should cover […]

Why Aren’t You Pushing Heavy?

(by Larry Hodges) It never ceases to amaze me at how many players push serves back safely, essentially patting it back, perhaps with good backspin, and then mentally pat themselves on the back for making this excellent return. And this works . . . at lower levels. But why put good backspin on the ball when […]

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