World Championships of Ping Pong
(by Vlad R. Farcas)
Butterfly was proud to sponsor Vlad Farcas and Mishel Levinski at the 2020 World Championships of Ping Pong. The event (WCPP) is an annual tournament that has been held since 2011. WCPP has strict equipment rules, relying on old-fashioned wooden paddles covered with sandpaper.
Vlad advanced from the group stage with two straight wins and reached the round of 32. He had 2 match points but wasn’t able to convert either. This is his 6th participation at this tournament and he feels that his level improved and just need a little more inspiration in the key moments. Vlad’s match was live on the main stage in front of of 1000 people and live on SkySports.
Mishel didn’t advance from the group stage but played pretty well. For his first time he did great – especially considering everybody there has experience in sandpaper ping pong.
The BetVictor World Championship of Ping Pong was held in Alexandra Palace, London, January 25-26, 2020. The winner this year was England’s Andrew Baggaley – this was his fourth title (2020, 2019, 2016, 2015).
The World Championship of Ping Pong has promoted the event by noting that: “the game that fell out of favour with the advent of super-spin inducing rubber bats years ago is back in the mainstream thanks to a potent mixture of speed, power and old-fashioned skill courtesy of the technology-free sandpaper bats.”
The event has now completed its eighth year at the iconic Alexandra Palace, London. The World Championship of Ping Pong is a throwback to the early days of table tennis and is an attempt to catapult ping pong into the big league and onto the international television stage.
A few action of Vlad below: