(by Steve Hopkins) When the Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight”, few could have imagined either the immediate or long-term effect.  The song introduced rap to millions and changed the path of hip hop.  It took an urban sound, spun it into a cultural movement.  It popularized a different type of rhythm and rhyme.  In short, […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The Folsom Table Tennis Club has two locations nestled in the greater Sacramento region of Northern California.   The two locations each provide distinct offerings to players of all levels.  Whether you are trying to push yourself through competition or just looking to sharpen your skills, this club has options for everyone. Folsom […]

(By Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) The surprises ended on the final day, as the higher seed won each of the final three matches at the WTT Champions Series event in Macao.  The pattern repeated itself in all three Men’s Singles matches Sunday with high seeded Hugo Calderano dispensing with surprise Semifinalist Anders Lind 4-0, the top […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) The ITTF Pan American U11 & U13 Championships concluded last week in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala.  Americans swept the singles events with strong performances across the board in the featured events. The Boys’ U13 Singles event saw all four American entries reach the Semifinals.  Chirag Pradhan defeated Andrew Huang in one […]

(By Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Anders Lind headlined the penultimate day with a 4-3 upset win over World No. 1 Lin Shidong reaching the Semifinals of the WTT Champions Series event in Macao. Shidong had been cruising, winning his previous two matches 3-0.  In fact, Shidong led at 1-0 and 2-1 before Lind managed two straight 12-10 […]

(By Steve Hopkins) World No. 1 Lin Shidong won both of his matches 3-0 as he easily moved to the Quarterfinals at the WTT Champions Series event in Macao.  Shidong is set to face Anders Lind who upset Darko Jorgic in the first round, and then outlasted Chen Yuanyu in the Round of 16. Hugo Calderano […]

(By Steve Hopkins) Essential Table Tennis operates two club locations.  The Oklahoma City location is just South of downtown Oklahoma City off of I-35.  The club operates every day in this main location.  They also have weekend hours at the Moore Community Center in Moore, a few miles South of the City on Highway 35. […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The opening weekend of Major League Table Tennis featured six matches at Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. The first two matches were played on Friday – the Texas Smash versus the Bay Area Blasters and the Florida Crocs versus the Portland Paddlers.  The Texas Smash won 15-6 over the Blasters, with Hiromitsu […]

(By Steve Hopkins) World No. 1 Lin Shidong will face Kao Cheng-Jui, just one of many exciting first-round matchups at the WTT Champions Series event in Macao that begins on Tuesday.  The second seed, Wang Chuqin will face Sora Matsushima.  World No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto will face Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and World No. 4 Hugo Calderano will […]

(By Steve Hopkins) The old saying “Third Time’s a Charm” rang true for Shunsuke Togami today as his third trip to a WTT Final netted his first career WTT event championship at the WTT Contender Series event in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Togami came out on fire today taking the first two games over China’s Zhou Qihao easily […]