Site Products
Impressive year end, China on point in Riva del Garda and Astana

December Pongcast: Impressive end to the year, China on point in Riva del Garda and Astana

(by Simon Daish)
Impressive year end, China on point in Riva del Garda and Astana
Relive the major table tennis moments of last month by watching the Nittaku ITTF Monthly Pongcast video for December 2017 which is now available on the ITTF YouTube channel.

Las Vegas was the destination for the final continental qualification tournament ahead of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and much to the delight of the local crowd the two qualification places up for grabs both went to USA stars with Kanak Jha and Crystal Wang securing their places at the main competition in Buenos Aires.

Also taking place in December was the 2017 World Junior Championships which saw Team China came away with all seven titles in Riva del Garda, Italy.

Sun Yingsha came out on top in her first appearance at the tournament, claiming the Girls’ Singles with a narrow seven games victory over two times champion Wang Manyu while Xue Fei defeated surprise finalist Truls Moregard  of Sweden in the Boys’ Singles final.

Astana, Kazakhstan hosted the year’s big finale as the world’s best performing competitors from the 2017 ITTF World Tour battled it out for a share of the $1 million prize money up for grabs at the Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals.

Top seed Chen Meng comfortably prevailed over Zhu Yuling in the Women’s Singles final to dethrone her fellow compatriot at the summit of the women’s world rankings table and there was also success for China in the Men’s Singles event as Fan Zhendong inflicted a straight games defeat on Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Disappointment in the gold medal contest for Dimitrij Ovtcharov but an opening round victory over Japan’s Koki Niwa proved enough to see the German star guarantee his place as the new world no.1 ranked male player with Ma Long’s amazing run of 34 consecutive months at the top of the rankings table coming to an end.

For full article, please click here

Latest News

Racket Up All the Time

July 18, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls to 2/3 of the table (Backhand), Forehand topspin from Forehand/ middle… Read More

Keep the Swing as Compact as Possible

July 16, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls to 2/3 of the table (Backhand, only Forehand topspin from this… Read More

Reviewing Bugller with Logan Rietz

July 15, 2025
(by: Logan Rietz) I love pips.  I like chopping with them, hitting with them, anything I can do… Read More

Keep Your Elbow Closer to Your Body

July 14, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve long serve to elbow and Robot plays topspin to Forehand, Forehand spin block or counter… Read More

#3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and leads to a quick attack

July 14, 2025
[Feature] [Special feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and… Read More

Ten Tips for Faster Footwork

July 14, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) Tie your shoes tight so there’s less give when you move. Grippy shoes on non-grippy… Read More

Rogelio Castro – Third Ball Attack

July 14, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Rogelio Castro is executing the “Third Ball Attack” using his… Read More

MLTT Featured Team: Chicago Wind

July 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Chicago Wind plan to blow over competition in the upcoming Major League… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.