(by Steve Hopkins) As organizers are putting the final touches on what promises to be one of the premiere table tennis events of this Spring, there has been some good news from officials in Puerto Rico regarding travel restrictions.  More specifically, the strict rules requiring a period of isolation for unvaccinated travelers have been softened […]

(by Steve Hopkins) North Texas Table Tennis is a premier table tennis club operating two locations in Plano, Texas.  Their Independence location, which used to be called the Xtreme Table Tennis School, operates out of HuaYi Education on Independence Parkway in Plano.  HuaYi Education provides after school programs and camps designed for social and academic […]

(by Steve Hopkins) A few different stories of interest this week in the TTBL (Tischtennis Budesliga – Germany’s very competitive professional league). The top storyline is that both Borussia Dusseldorf and Saarbrucken won again – continuing to dominate at the top of the league.  Dusseldorf is now 14-1 (in league play) and Saarbrucken is 12-3 […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Ochsenhausen dominated Muhlhausen today.  If one were to judge by the standings, 3rd place Muhlhausen was favored over 6th place Ochsenhausen.  However, by ITTF Ranking, Ochsenhausen’s squad had a decided advantage.  Ochsenhausen played with Simon Gauzy and Kanak Jha (both Top 30) and added young Polish Champion Sam Kulczycki (World No.327).  The […]

(by Steve Hopkins) With their location in Fremont, California, Table Tennis America is great position to serve the large table tennis community in the Southern San Francisco Bay area.  The group’s founder, Hailong Shen, was a Chinese-trained professional who has been coaching in the bay area for 15 years.  Table Tennis America is the home […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Patrick Franziska and Omar Assar headlined a large field in Dusseldorf this week at the WTT Dusseldorf II Feeder event.  Eight players advanced from Qualifying Rounds to slots in the Round of 64.  Franziska advanced as expected, but he had no 4-0 wins until the Final.  He topped Alexander Chen 4-2, Kim […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Only Chinese players advanced to the Quarterfinals in Macao – a star-studded list of players that included Zhendong, Xu Xin, Ma Long, and Gaoyuan as the favorites.  After those four matches, it was two of the lesser-known competitors grabbing the headlines. World No. 1 Fan Zhendong fell to Xu Yingbin 3-1.  Xu […]

(by Steve Hopkins) American fans will be able to follow Kanak Jha with his German squad for another year.  USA’s top player has extended his contract with TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen through the 2022/23 season (with an extension possible for the following season as well). Kanak Jha has an 11-6 record for Ochsenhausen thus far this […]

(by Steve Hopkins) You could argue that the two squads are moving in opposite directions.  Borussia Dusseldorf sits alone atop the standings (now 12-1) while Ochsenhausen has dropped from first to sixth (by dropping 6 of 7 of their most recent matches).  Both teams were not at full strength today – Dusseldorf was missing Timo […]