Over 60 at the Classic Hardbat World Championships: Randy Hou and Other Pips-Out Penholders Dominate By Larry Hodges At the US Nationals a month ago, Randy Hou won two golds (Over 70 Singles, Over 60 Doubles), a silver (Over 50 Doubles) and two bronzes (Over 50 Singles, Sandpaper Singles). Other than the sandpaper singles, it […]
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ITTF Pan Am Youth U19: TeamUSA Girls Win Teams, Puerto Rico Boys Win
Posted on(by Steve Hopkins) Rosario, Argentina is host this week to the 2022 ITTF Pan American Youth Championships (U19). The tournament includes Boys and Girls Singles, Boys and Girls Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Boys and Girls Teams. The singles and doubles events will conclude on Sunday, but the teams events concluded on Thursday. TeamUSA’s Girls won […]
Classic Hardbat World Championships: Women’s Singles
Posted onWomen’s Singles at the Classic Hardbat World Championships: Xin Li Dominates with the Backhand By Larry Hodges (photo by Larry Hodges) Many players struggle in making the transition from sponge to hardbat. Less so for Xin Li, who just won Women’s Singles here at the Classic Hardbat World Championships. While she’s a standard shakehand player […]
Calderano Wins in Tunis
Posted on(by Steve Hopkins) Calderano entered the event as the second seed and he played a nearly flawless tournament – winning 3-0, 3-0, 4-0, 4-1. The tournament’s top seed, Tomokazu Harimoto fell early – losing to 18 year old French phenom Alexis Lebrun 3-0. Lebrun’s run may have been the biggest story of the tournament, as […]
Classic Hardbat World Championships: Alexander Flemming – Who Will Clash with “The Flash”?
Posted onBy Larry Hodges Alexander “The Flash” Flemming was a top sponge player in Germany before he got into sandpaper. He once finished third at the German Nationals in Men’s Singles and won Men’s Doubles twice. But in 2012 he tried out one of those “oldfangled” sandpaper rackets . . . and now he’s the World […]
Classic Hardbat World Championships: Interview with Steve Claflin
Posted onInterview with Steve Claflin Founder and Director of the Classic Hardbat World Championships By Larry Hodges How did you get started in table tennis? Weren’t you a top junior player once? I am from Port Huron, Michigan. Port Huron had a weekly club and my parents made sure the entire family played every Monday. I […]
Coaching Tip of the Week: Serving – the Trick Part of Table Tennis
Posted on(By Larry Hodges) Serving is considered the “trick” part of table tennis, and this is where you can be most artistic. While you don’t want to rely too much on trick serves to win, having a few tricky ones really helps – both in scoring a few “free” points and making your other serves more […]
WAB CLUB FEATURE: South Jersey Indoor Sports Club
Posted on(by Steve Hopkins) South Jersey Indoor Sports Club (“SJISC”) is a multi-sport facility in Voorhees Township in Camden Country New Jersey about 15 miles to the east of Philadelphia. The club offers table tennis as well as badminton and pickle ball. There are 15 table tennis courts (8 badminton courts, and 10 pickle ball courts) […]
Latest Rankings: Fan on Top, Harimoto Jumps to No. 4
Posted on(by Steve Hopkins) In the latest rankings, Tomokazu Harimoto jumped up to No. 4. China still holds the top three slots with Fan Zhendong in first, Ma Long in second, and Liang Jingkun in third. To make room for Harimoto, Moregard drops to No. 5 with the rest of the top 10 in order Hugo […]
Coaching Tip of the Week: Develop an All-Around Game
Posted on(by Larry Hodges) Long ago, I used to coach developing players to return serves aggressively. But then I noticed something – players who did that often never learned to handle the opponent’s attack as well, while those who were more willing to push serves back long as they developed became comfortable when the opponent attacked, […]
WAB CLUB FEATURE: Texas Table Tennis Training Center
June 21, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins) The Texas Table Tennis Training Center (“TTT”) has about 50-60 regular members, as well as a… Read More
United States Smash Preview
June 21, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins) The world’s absolute best are converging on American soil in just ten days, and this… Read More
Shunsuke Stuns in Slovenia
June 21, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins) Ljubijana was the host of this week's tour stop, as the WTT Star Contender series… Read More
🎥 Episode 11: Ask The Expert Live With Logan Rietz | How to Choose the Best Table Tennis Shoes
June 18, 2026
(by Bowmar Sports) Not sure which table tennis shoes are right for you? In this episode of Ask… Read More
Can Players Trained in the U.S. Compete With Chinese Players?
June 18, 2026
(by Coach Bob Chen) This is a question many people ask. Can a player trained in the United… Read More
Butterfly joins WTT Champions Yokohama 2026 as Official Equipment Partner
June 17, 2026
(By Butterfly Global) NEW TRAZOX TABLE TO DEBUT AS BUTTERFLY BECOMES OFFICIAL TABLE AND BALL PARTNER FOR WTT… Read More
Coach Raymond At The ITTF World Masters Championships Gangneung 2026
June 17, 2026
(by Butterfly Americas) Butterfly Americas coach Raymond Zhang recently attended the ITTF World Masters Championships Gangneung 2026 in… Read More
Why You MUST Attack the Deep Serve
June 15, 2026
(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Against a short serve, you can take… Read More
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