(by Steve Hopkins, photo TTBL) Four weeks in to the new season of the German Professional League (TTBL), and there are no undefeated teams – and 8 of the 12 teams are within one match of the lead. Preseason favorite Saarbrucken (who added Fan Zhendong to an already incredibly talented roster) lost their first match […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) Two weeks from today, on October 12, action will being in Rock Hill, South Carolina at the 2025 ITTF Pan American Championships.  This edition of the ITTF Continental event will bring the top table tennis teams of the Hemisphere with the winners punching their tickets to the 2026 ITTF World […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Action kicked off on Sunday with half of the main draw seeing action at the China Smash, where Smash events are the top category of WTT tour events.  On the Men’s side, all of the Top 50 players are present except for No. 39 Yuta Tanaka.  With so many of […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Eight players fought through the Qualifiers to reach the main draw at the China Smash, the premiere WTT event being played this week in Beijing.  Poland’s Samuel Kulczycki emerged from one group of eight, winning three matches including a 3-1 win over USA’s Ma Jingbao.  The other qualifiers are Kazakhstan’s […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Fremont Table Tennis Academy (FTTA) has locations in both Fremont and San Ramon. Regular tournaments, open play, and coaching options are all features of FTTA.  The club locations provide plenty of hours (morning, afternoon, and evening).  They have facilities open 6 days each week. Group and private table-tennis lessons are available for […]

(By Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The second weekend of Major League Table Tennis featured six matches at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first two matches were played on Friday – the New York Slice and the Florida Crocs kicked off at 4pm.  The Slice won a tight 13-8 match that needed a […]

(By Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) USA’s Daniel Tran took top honors in the U19 Boys Singles event at the WTT Youth Contender Series event in San Francisco.  Tran entered as the fourth seed, but eliminated the top seeded Lin Chin-Ting of Taipei before taking out Australia’s Chulong Nie 3-1 in the Final.  Two other Americans won […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) China’s top two paddlers swapped spots in the latest World Rankings, with Wang Chuqin claiming No. 1 ahead of Lin Shidong. Shidong could reclaim the top position as soon as October 7, as both players will compete at the China Smash and with only 50 points separating them, the player […]

(by Steve Hopkins) When the Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight”, few could have imagined either the immediate or long-term effect.  The song introduced rap to millions and changed the path of hip hop.  It took an urban sound, spun it into a cultural movement.  It popularized a different type of rhythm and rhyme.  In short, […]