(by Steve Hopkins) The Knock-out Rounds of the Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup are underway.  Thirteen of the 21 elite players who qualified played a group stage and the top 8 advanced to face the top 8 seeds. The first two matches in the Main Draw were Ma Long versus 22-year-old Slovenian Darko Jorgic […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The PongNow interview series discusses table tennis with some of the best players and personalities in the sport. PongNow is an interview series talking table tennis with some of the best players and personalities in the sport. The guest this week is Kanak Jha, the reigning U.S. National Champion.  The interview was […]

(by Steve Hopkins) We are just a matter of hours away from the start of the Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup.  The Nanhai Olympic Sport Centre has been reset after the Women’s World Cup completed last week, and the second event of the ITTF RESTART is ready to go in Weihai, China. Twenty one […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Fan Zhendong, Ma Long, Harimoto, Calderano, Ovtcharov and a long list of championship hopefuls are converging in Weihai this Friday.  The table tennis world has waited 8 months to see those players in competition.  The second of the ITTF RESTART events, the Dishang 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup is here. Twenty one […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo from ITTFWorld) Table tennis is officially back.  The first of the ITTF Restart events has ended as the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup concluded on Tuesday. Chen Meng defeated Sun Yingsha in the final 4-1, a victory of World No. 1 over World No. 3. The two Chinese players were […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo from ITTFWorld) Lily Zhang’s Run at the Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup ended on Monday afternoon (local time).  Lily had a great tournament – in fact, both Jennifer Wu and Lily Zhang had great tournaments. The U.S. had two players participating and both advanced out of the Group Stage.  In […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld) Update 2: Jennifer Wu was on fire from the first point.  Playing the top seed in her group, World No. 20 Petrissa Solja (GER), Jennifer won 11-5, then 11-4, and then in a closer third game pulled out an 11-7 win.  Jennifer dominated every aspect of the game, placing short […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld) After 8 months of waiting, the ITTF Tour is back this weekend.  The Dishang 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup, the first of the three ITTF RESTART events gets under way on Sunday.  Twenty one of the world’s best women players are emerging from an isolation period (to minimize potential COVID […]