Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Viktoria Balics Wins Women’s Hardbat Singles”) There were six women in the Hardbat Women event, so they decided to play it as a complete round robin – with one catch. They wanted a real final, and so after […]

Sponsored by Mecano Sports, presented by Caliente.mx, sanctioned by ICTTF (by Larry Hodges, photo by Larry Hodges: “Down 0-6 in the second, top seed Alexander “Flash” Flemming serves to Jan Olek.  Will he come back?”) Play began at 8:15AM on Friday, Jan. 5. There were 50 players competing in ten groups of five, with two tables for each group. The top […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

(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 […]