(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU) Japanese T-League fans let out a collective sigh of relief as the league’s top player announced he will be staying in Japan for the near future.  Harimoto was the anchor of the Ryukyu Asteeda club and he won 18 of his 20 league matches this year, but this year Ryukyu […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU) Europe’s rising stars competed this week at the 2025 European U21 Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, and two of the youngest competitors left with singles titles in hand. In U21 Men’s Singles, Spain’s Miguel Pantoja did some heavy lifting early topping the highest seed, Eduard Ionescu, in group play.  Pantoja was […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Europe’s rising stars are competing this week at the 2025 European U21 Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia.  Under 21 events are sometimes a mixed bag in regard to gauging future talent – as some number of the top players have already “graduated” to the senior circuit.  So, for instance, Felix Lebrun […]

(by Steve Hopkins, full series at www.TTBL.de) With Timo Boll entering his last TTBL series before retirement, the German Table Tennis League has been running a series called “Tschüss Timo” (or “Bye Timo”) which has posted Part 8 today.  The original versions can be found at www.ttbl.de – in their original German or through auto […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The 2025 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships are set to take place in Doha, Qatar, from May 17–25, bringing 128 of the World’s best players to one of the sports’ largest stages.  The Lusail Sports Arena will serve as the primary venue, an arena built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with seating […]

(by Steve Hopkins) American Para Table Tennis star Jenson Van Emburgh delivered a sensational performance at the ITTF World Para Challenger in São Paulo last week, capturing gold medals in both the Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles events. In the singles competition, Van Emburgh faced stiff challenges early.  Van Emburgh nearly suffering a loss in […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The TTBL Season is coming to a close as the final four German League teams have been battling for a seat in the Final.  This weekend, Borussia Dusseldorf punched its ticket forward with its second win over TSV Bad Konigshofen.  All wins are significant for professional teams, but this is a rare […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Rhode Island Table Tennis has connected with a local Veterans support group to put on a charity ping pong tournament.  On its face, you can’t go wrong supporting a good cause and the local support group, Mission Boots to Briefcases, is helping veterans transition from service to the work force. Anytime our […]

(by Steve Hopkins) USA Table Tennis (USATT) has announced the names of the athletes set to represent TeamUSA at the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals.  The World Team Championships will be in Doha, Qatar this year from May 17-25. The men’s team will be anchored by Kanak Jha, fresh off Top 16 finishes at […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo WTT) Lin Shidong and Wang Chuqin remain No. 1 and No. 2 this week, but on the strength of his World Cup victory, Hugo Calderano has jumped up to No. 3.  Lin Gaoyuan has fallen out of the Top 10, dropping 8 spots to No. 17.  The rest of the Top […]