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2023 Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams – By the Numbers

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(by Steve Hopkins) After two thousand six hundred and eighty six singles matches, a champion was crowned.  The winning team (Aria TT) had a combined rating of their three players of 8185.  The top player (Kou Lei) entered with a 2818 rating.  Kou Lei, and his teammates Eugene Wang and Angel Naranjo made it through […]

Euro Champions League – Saarbrucken Surprise Champions

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(by Steve Hopkins) From the beginning of the year, the European Table Tennis Union Men’s Champions League was really a story of two teams – Borussia Dusseldorf and Neu-Ulm.  The Dusseldorf squad had been at the top of the pecking order in both German League play and the Euro League matches for a decade – […]

Do You Need to Be a Top Player to Be a Top Coach?

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(by Larry Hodges) Does one need to be a top player to be a top coach? The question often comes up, and there’s an easy answer. No. However . . . and this is a big HOWEVER . . . it’s difficult to become a top coach without being a top player first. It’s a […]

Kou, Wang, Naranjo Win Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams

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(by Steve Hopkins) With the top two rated players (and 3 of the top 6 rated players) on the same team, Team Aria TT was a strong favorite entering the 2023 Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams.  Kou Lei, Eugene Wang, and Angel Naranjo closed out the tournament with a solid performance in the Finals, but […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Bridgeport Sports Club

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(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 […]

Everything is Ready in Puerto Rico

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(by Steve Hopkins) Most of the Butterfly/Bowmar Sports team arrived in San Juan on Monday night.  The US-based and Puerto Rico-based crews worked together Monday morning to unload tables and barriers from trucks.  An assembly line of volunteers put barriers together and placed them around the venue.  The tables were carefully unpacked (generally four guys […]

How to Win the Choice at the Start of a Match

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(by Larry Hodges) Technically, a match begins with the umpire tossing a coin to see who serves first. In reality, most matches aren’t umpired, and so they “hide the ball” under the table, and the other player chooses. Whoever wins gets the choice of either serving first, receiving first, or choice of side. (Once you […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Atlanta International Table Tennis Academy

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(by Steve Hopkins) With their location just North of Atlanta in Suwanee, Atlanta International Table Tennis Academy has a strong presence in the largest metropolitan area in the Southeast.  AITTA is the result of a 2014 merger between Yang’s Table Tennis Academy and Atlanta Table Tennis Academy.  They have full-time coaches across and have been […]

Latest Rankings

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(by Steve Hopkins) In the latest ITTF Rankings, Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Wang Chuqin continue to hold the top three positions.  In fact, when you include Liang Jingkun at No. 7 and Lin Gaoyuan at No. 12, and Lin Shidong at No. 19, China holds almost a third of the Top 20. Japan’s Tomokazu […]

When to Serve Long

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(by Larry Hodges) At the lower levels, most players serve long both because they haven’t learned to serve short effectively yet, and because opponents aren’t yet skilled enough to attack them consistently and effectively. As you reach higher levels, long serves become less effective if used too often. But if used at the right time, […]

Latest News

World Team Championships: Preview

April 19, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) One hundred years after the inaugural World Championships were held in London (1926),… Read More

World Table Tennis Day in Rhode Island

April 19, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins) With an official proclamation this week in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, the state… Read More

Jenson Van Emburgh back on the International Stage: Brazil to Slovenia

April 19, 2026
(by Steve Hopkins) After months of recovery and rebuilding, Jenson Ven Emburgh is heading back to the international… Read More

Marcos Madrid – 3 Point Forehand Loop

April 18, 2026
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Marcos Madrid is executing the 3 Point Forehand Loop Footwork… Read More

Don’t Move Backwards at the Point of Contact

April 17, 2026
Robot plays backspin to short Backhand, half long in Forehand or long in Backhand randomly. The player needs… Read More

Laurent Jutras Vigneault – Attack 2:3 of the Table

April 17, 2026
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Laurent Jutras Vigneault is working on his Backhand Smash with… Read More

Jeff Yamada – Amicus Training for Stroke Chemistry Training

April 16, 2026
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Jeff Yamada is using the Amicus Robot to show how… Read More

Shashin Shodhan – Learning the Backspin Serve

April 14, 2026
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Shashin Shodhan is breaking down how to execute the Backspin… Read More
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