(by Steve Hopkins, photo by ITTF *Remy Gros) The top sixteen men and top sixteen women competed this weekend in Montreux, Switzerland.  As a complete change from the first days of very predictable matches with few upsets, the final day was full of surprises.  When the dust settled, it was Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic taking the […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The top sixteen men and top sixteen women are competing this weekend in Montreux, Switzerland.  Thus far, the top seeds are dominating with Timo Boll and Patrick Franziska still potentially on a collision course for the Men’s Finals. On the men’s side, Timo Boll entered the tournament as the top seed.  He […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Ochsenhausen had a big win yesterday to keep their playoff hopes alive.  At this point, the shorthanded squad that is missing two of its top three players, needs to win all of their remaining matches to have a chance.  Muhlhausen holds the fourth spot, but because of COVID rescheduling, Muhlhausen has to […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Princeton Pong’s 10,000 square foot table tennis facility is in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.  They are located between Philadelphia and New York City – centered in one of the largest population centers in the United States.  The elite facility features 14 professional tables,  custom sport flooring, high ceilings, great lighting, a player’s […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The World Table Tennis Contender event in Metz, France concluded this week.  A pair of Americans made deep runs in the event, Sid Naresh (who was the top seed in the U19 Boys Singles event) and Sarah Jalli (who advanced to at least the Quarterfinals in both U19 Girls Singles and U17 […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Rhode Island Table Tennis has been running juniors clinics (usually on Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons) off and on for about 15 years.  Most years, these events have included 6-8 kids of varying ages – numbers that are on par with a small club functioning in the USA’s smallest State. Things changed […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Ochsenhausen’s playoff hopes took a real hit today, as they were upset by 11th place Grenzau. Because Ochsenhausen was highly favored, they chose to proceed today without two of their normal three singles players – neither Simon Gauzy nor Samuel Kulczycki played.  The Ochsenhausen squad proceeded with Kanak Jha in the anchor […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The top of the TTBL seems secure for the Borussia Dusseldorf in the top position and Saarbrucken as the second seed.  Barring a complete meltdown, these two teams will host semifinal playoff matches in a few weeks when the season concludes.  The early matches of this 18th weekend were played today and […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The race for first is probably over, as Dusseldorf is now up three games on second-place Saarbrucken.  Saarbrucken remains one game ahead of third-place Muhlhausen.  Each of those top three squads will play each other in the final weeks, so second place could be decided in head-to-head competition.  However, since No.2 and […]

(by Steve Hopkins) On Friday, the ITTF released the names of their Hopes Squad selections.  Ten boys and ten girls will participate in the 2022 pathway events.  Included in the list of girls are two Americans –  Mandy Yu and Tashiya Piyadasa.  Included in the list of boys is USA’s Ryan Li and Puerto Rico’s […]