(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld) In the first match of the day, France’s Alexis Lebrun advanced by providing the biggest upset of the tournament.  World No. 30, Alexis Lebrun has defeated World No. 3 Liang Jingkun 3-2.  Lebrun won the first game, but then quickly lost the next two.  After finding himself down 1-2, he […]

(by Steve Hopkins) We are through to the Final 16 in Macao at the $800,000 WTT Champions Macao event.   Four strong Chinese players have advanced (Ma Long, Wang Chuqin, Liang Jingkun, and Fan Zhendong), three Germans have advanced (Dang Qiu, Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and Patrick Franziska), and three Swedes have advanced (Truls Moregard, Anton Kallberg, and […]

(by Steve Hopkins) All of the World’s Top 10 ranked men (and 8 of the Women’s Top 10) headline a massive $800,000 prize money event this week in Macao.  Thirty two men and 32 women qualified to compete in the singles competitions.  The first round is underway, and Kanak Jha is one of the early […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Fans of Kanak Jha have seen him wear a number of shirts.  TeamUSA’s top ranked player often takes the court with a U.S. flag or “USA” emblazoned across the front.  And as Butterfly’s top ranked male player in this hemisphere, most of his jerseys (including the TeamUSA uniforms) have the classic Butterfly […]

(by Steve Hopkins) As the dust has settled at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu, the host Chinese squads have claimed both titles.  The Chinese women clinched on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Japan, and the Chinese men clinched on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Germany. The dominance of the […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Only the Finals remain at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu.  China and Germany are the final two teams – a result that most would have expected a few months ago.  That said, when Germany decided to send a team that didn’t include many of their biggest stars, and […]

(by Steve Hopkins, photo ITTFWorld) We are down to the Final 8 at the 2022 ITTF World Team Championships Finals in Chengdu.  Top seeded China, dominated their Round of 16 match against India 3-0 to advance.  China will face a Swedish squad the topped Belgium 3-0.  The other two teams in the top half of […]