(by Steve Hopkins) Early action is underway at the Asian Cup in Shenzhen, China. Unlike the Pan American Cup, the top seeds start in groups (and are not seeded automatically into the Main Draw).  This can make for some exciting matches early on, as players get used to the conditions – perhaps before reaching their […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The 2025 Pan American Cup began with Preliminary Rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday.  In Men’s Singles, three Americans fought through Preliminary Rounds to claims 3 of the 8 available slots in the Main Draw.  Jishan Liang topped Rohan Lewis of Jamaica 3-0, Sid Naresh defeated Diego Gallardo of Mexico 3-0, and Xiangjing […]

(By Steve Hopkins) Joyous Table Tennis Club provides 8 professional tables in one of the largest professional table tennis clubs in Northern New Jersey.  The club welcomes walk-ins, offers private lessons, has afterschool programs, and provides winter/summer camps.  Their mission is to provide a fun and competitive environment for players of all levels. The main […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The 2025 Pan American Cup, the ITTF Continental Cup for the Americas, starts this week at the 888 Table Tennis Center in Burlingame, a suburb of San Francisco.  The event will have $20,000 in prize money, the players will earn ITTF ranking points, and those that reach the semifinals (in Men’s Singles […]

(by Steve Hopkins) USA’s Kanak Jha has been busy, and the hard work is paying off.  Jha’s list of accomplishments include winning the US Open, and most recently a Top 16 finish at the Singapore Smash.  Jha has been consistently logging success after success in the German league.  He is 10-3 in total matches against […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Japanese defender, Yuto Muramatsu, was the surprise winner at the WTT Feeder Series event in Dusseldorf.  China’s Chen Yuanyu entered as the top seed, but he fell in the Round of 16 to Korea’s Kim Minhyeok.  The second seed was Germany’s Ricardo Walther, and he lost to 19 year old German Wim […]

(by Steve Hopkins) All four of the top spots shuffled in the latest World Rankings.  Lin Shidong rode his Singapore Smash win all the way to World No. 1.  Wang Chuqin dropped one position to World No. 2.  Liang Jingkun jumped up one spot to No. 3, overtaking Tomokazu Harimoto who falls one spot to […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) A press release this morning from World Table Tennis (WTT) seemingly reverses direction on participation requirements in key WTT Series events.  WTT announced today that they will remove mandatory participation requirements for all WTT Grand Smashes effective immediately.  Further, two annual exemptions will be possible for WTT Champions events, allowing […]