(by Steve Hopkins)
The USA’s pull in our sport is increasing. WTT events now regularly grace our shores, the United States Smash (the first of this highest level of WTT tour events) will be played this July in Las Vegas likely bringing the highest level of prize money for a single table tennis tournament that we’ve seen in this country, Major League Table Tennis is in the middle of its second professional season and is launching minor league affiliates, and while its still several years away – expect to see more and more major events on US soil as the world gears up for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
For a few generations, if American players wanted the best competition, they had to leave and play in Europe or Asia. And while those countries benefitted from recruiting players from all over the world to play in their leagues and clubs, we saw the negative impact of our best often not being able to compete here. At the highest levels, some of that is still true (and will continue to be true), but there has been a shift. We now have strong international players based here in the US for much of the year, we have a professional league helping to support those that want to pursue table tennis as a career, and our top clubs continue to grow offering more and more prize money and drawing more and more players. These things benefit the development of players at home, and helps to raise the level of play across the board. It also makes this next question a little more complicated than it used to be – Who’s on Top?
USATT released a Men’s National Team Ranking that assigns points for ITTF World Ranking, performance at the US Nationals and US Open, as well as two National Ranking Tournaments. Kanak Jha is currently on top in the Men’s National Team Ranking list with 12423 total points, Sid Naresh is in second with 8275 total points, followed by Jishan Liang and Nandan Naresh.
A search of the USATT Rating site (limited to Games Eligible US Citizens only) shows that Kanak Jha leads the way with a 2828 USATT rating with Nikhil Kumar in second at 2753. Because of the way the USATT rating systems work, things get a little quirky thereafter with Zhou Xin third on the list despite not playing since 2023, and then Ilija Lupulesku in fourth despite not having played since 2018, followed by Jinxin Wang and Sid Naresh.
Perhaps the most interesting search for table tennis fans here in the US is searching for those who have played a tournament on US soil in the last three months. For this list, Kanak Jha (our US Open Champion) is still on the top of the list with a rating of 2828. However, Enzo Angles (2804) just won a tournament in Westchester a few weeks ago, Kou Lei (2804) is now based in California, Jinbao Ma (2795) has been traveling the world playing in WTT Series events and is based in California, Kayama Yu (2792) and Chen Weixing (2791) played at the NA Teams, Taehyun Kim (2775) and Ohal Benedek (2774) played in the US Open, and seven other players rated over 2700 have played in US events in the last 3 months.
For fans interested in seeing high quality table tennis up close, for kids who need role models, for players who need coaches and the best competition, and for an entire system that needs an influx of money and opportunities – American table tennis is on the rise. What a great time to be a part of this sport.
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