(by Steve Hopkins) China is strongly favored in both singles events as they bring World No. 1 and World No. 2 as the top two seeds (in both Men’s and Women’s Singles).  For the Men’s event, both top seeds advanced as expected, with Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin each winning 4-0 in every round.  The […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTF) China has dominated major team events for several decades (in both Men’s and Women’s team events), so it is not unexpected at all that Chinese squads sporting players who are World Nos. 1-3 won a team event played in Hangzhou, China against Asia’s best.  China winning the 2023 Asian Games […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The biggest story of the team event at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China was Iran’s upset win over Japan in the Quarterfinals.  The underdog Iranian’s run, however, was short lived as they fell 0-3 to Korea today.  China also took care of business with a 3-0 win (3-0, 3-0, 3-0) […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Hangzhou is the host of the 2023 Asian Games.  The Team Events have progressed to the Final Four with China set to face Taipei on Monday, and Korea set to face…. Iran.  That’s not a typo, Iran topped Vietnam in the first knock out round and then topped Japan 3-0 in the […]

(By Steve Hopkins) Located in New Jersey, North of Newark not far from the George Washington Bridge (and New York City), Ready to Golf provides daily access to table tennis with great playing conditions. Their 14 tables (and 7 robots) are available for reservation online by the hour or for a per-day pass.  Their reservation system […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) No changes in the Women’s Top 5 this week with Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng, Wang Manyu, Wang Yidi, and Chen Xingtong forming a wall of Chinese dominance over the rest of the world.  At No. 6, Mima Ito is once again the top non-Chinese player in the rankings.  China’s Qian […]

(by Steve Hopkins) With four tough teams in the Women’s Team Event at the 2023 ITTF Pan American Championships, it was not unexpected to see the US faced off against Brazil and Puerto Rico against Chile in the Semifinal matches.  The ease with which TeamUSA dispensed of both Brazil in the Semifinal and Puerto Rico […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Pleasanton Table Tennis Center is located at the center of Pleasanton, California to the East of San Francisco Bay with quick access to I-580 and I-680 (and each of the major cities in the area).  Pleasanton Table Tennis Center was the first table tennis club in tri-valley to open every day. The club is […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ETTU) The final four teams in the 2023 Stupa European Table Tennis Championships were Germany, Portugal, Sweden, and France.  All four of these teams will compete in the Olympics next year in Paris.  Germany entered the event as the top seed, but they did not send their top three players by […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo USATT) With the delay in action on Monday in Havana (power outage), there was some question as to whether the Singles and Doubles Finals at the 2023 ITTF Pan American Championships would be played on Wednesday as scheduled. As it turned out, the organizers moved forward by adding extra rounds and […]