Singapore Smash Preview: Could this be Three in a Row for Fan?

March 3, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) With 1.5 million USD in prize money, a star-studded lineup is heading for the 2024 Singapore Smash. All 20 men in the current Top 20 Rankings will be present. In fact, only two players in the World’s Top 50 will not be present. On the women’s side, the representation is similar – […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Broward Table Tennis Club

March 2, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) The Broward Table Tennis Club offers regular tournaments, camps, and coaching opportunities. They have been a host of an ITTF World Veterans Tour event and just a few months ago hosted a WTT Feeder Event. There are regular clinics on Tuesdays and Saturdays, courses for kids on Friday and Sunday, and a […]

Be the Lawnmower

February 26, 2024

(by Larry Hodges) Many players enter tournaments with the primary goal of beating stronger (i.e. higher-rated) players. And that’s an admirable goal. But thinking that way is also a way of making sure you don’t improve as quickly and beat more and more of these stronger players. Why? Central to beating anyone is having a […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Bridgeport Sports Club

February 25, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) At over 14,000 square feet, the Bridgeport Sports Club one of the largest table tennis clubs in all of North America. The club is located in Richmond, just South of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. They are located near Highway 99 and 9, with easy access to the greater Vancouver area. The […]

World Team Championships: A Narrow China Sweep

February 25, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) China won. Many articles about past team events could have been summed up with just those two words. In this 2024 rendition of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan, China won – but the margin of victory was not what we have come to expect. There were clear challenges […]

World Team Championships: Outside of the Finals

February 25, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) China will face France today in the Final – and most of the press will focus on that result. However, the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships has encapsulated a lot of great story lines – here are a few: The best record by an individual player went to Kazakhstan’s Kirill […]

World Team Championships: Chinese Teams Pushed in Saturday Matches

February 24, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) The Chinese men reached the Final today, and with their team comprised of World No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 there is very little surprise to report in that half of the draw. Perhaps, the biggest news from the top half of the draw was, in fact, that China […]

The Laziness of Simple Serves

February 19, 2024

(by Larry Hodges) When coaching or rooting for a player, why does is sometimes seem like every opponent has nasty serves that your player struggles to return, while your player just serves to keep the ball in play? It’s even worse if you are the player with simple serves, while the opponent is throwing all […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Boston Table Tennis Club

February 18, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins) The Boston Table Tennis Club is in Medford, just North of Cambridge and Somerville and only four miles from Boston’s city center. The club is just off I-93 (Northern Expressway), and near the Orange and Blue Lines, providing easy access to the greater Boston metropolitan area. The BTTC is a 3000 square foot […]

World Team Championships: USA Men Top England

February 18, 2024

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) Nikhil Kumar logged wins over England’s top two players (Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall), and Jishan Liang added a win over Drinkhall to give TeamUSA their first win at the ITTF World Team Championships in Busan. Kumar (World No. 379) took out World No. 25) Pitchford 3-1 to give the […]