(by Steve Hopkins) For several years, Dimitrij Ovtcharov has been the anchor on a Russian League team called Fakel Gazprom Orenburg. That Fakel team has been one of the strongest in the European Champions League and has been the dominant team in the Russian League.  Last week, Ovtcharov announced he would be leaving that team […]

(Steve Hopkins) Most articles aren’t written about the author – the journalist is more of a background observer.  In this case, I actually competed in the 2022 Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams Tournament – and I brought my family along for vacation.  For those of you that didn’t make it to San Juan this year […]

(by Steve Hopkins) At the top of the 2022 Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams Tournament were some of the best players in the hemisphere – Zhou Xin and Brian Afanador and Adriana Diaz and Lily Zhang all competed in the top division (and all advanced to the Semifinals). The tournament, however, extended out for six […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The final eight teams in the Puerto Rico Open matched up starting on Sunday.  The format in that top division was best 3 out of 5 matches.  The top seeded TTA/888 team beat Soderhamns UIF 3-0.  Soderhamns was a Swedish team with Casper Strindberg, Elliot Lundqvist, and Daniel Lindso – but they […]

by Steve Hopkins) Tan’s Table Tennis Training Club is the first full-time table tennis club in the greater Cincinnati area.  The club is located just to the Northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, a few miles from the 275 Expressway and just off of I-42.    The location provides easy access to greater Cincinnati and Dayton. The […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Sometimes its hard to tell from a distance what a shirt is really like.  A lot of us end up buying shirts based more upon color or design than how well the shirt would work for us in match situations.  My team chose Butterfly’s Higo shirt for our uniform at the Puerto […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The 4-Star Butterfly Puerto Rico Open Teams Tournament will be played next weekend. Action is set to begin in San Juan this Friday with teams jockeying for position on Friday before being split into Divisions that will play out on Saturday and Sunday.  The format is 3-person teams playing in a Swaythling […]

(by Steve Hopkins) The Rhode Island Club runs leagues on Mondays and Tuesdays, a juniors League on Sundays, and has open play on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Clinics and coaching are offered as well – with many of the juniors clinics numbering 30 or more.  The Rhode Island Club has great tables, lighting customized for table […]

(by Steve Hopkins) Post SV Muhlhausen all but secured the fourth and final playoff spot today with a win over TTC RhonSprudel Fulda-Maberzell.  Truthfully, they still need another match or two to fall their way, but at this point, they can lose both of their remaining matches 3-1 and still advance (so aside from a […]

(by Steve Hopkins) TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen logged a 3-1 win over TSV Bad Konigshofen on Friday to keep their slim playoff hopes alive in the TTBL (German League).  With one match left to play, Ochsenhausen is 12-9 and in fifth position – where only the top four will participate in the playoffs. In Friday’s match, […]