Sharath Kamal is rising in the Rankings again

Photo by courtesy of the ITTF

Good news for Indian Table Tennis fans! The June Table Tennis Rankings are out.

Sharath Kamal, with a string of good wins over players such as Gorak, Daniel (POL) Such, Bartosz (POL) Platonov, Pavel (BLR) Baggaley, Andrew (GBR), rises 20 places in the World ranking and is now World No. 63 and climbing steadily. Amalraj also edged up ahead. In the women's section, Poulomi Ghatak joined Mouma Das in the top 200.

Zhang Jike is now the World No. 1 and displaces Ma Long at the top of the table. Xu Xin is now ranked 3rd after his stellar show last month, where he beat the entire Chinese Olympic Table Tennis team (Zhang Jike, Wang Hao, and Ma Long).

Timo Boll Spirit with Platin and Genius Plus Optimum

Letters from readers:

Reader: Dear Editor, I want to buy a Table Tennis assembly (Blade+Rubbers). I play state level and my style is offensive. My main weapon is backhand, from where I mainly open and also play with spin. On forehand, I tend to loop. I would like a racket that can help me do good services. Pushes have to be stable.

Editor: You can go for either Timo Boll Spirit, Tibhar Force Pro (if price is a factor which Samsonov himself uses). As for rubbers, since your backhand is your main strength, our recommendation is Rakza 7 Soft or Xiom Omega. For forehand, you can simply go for Donic Platin or Tibhar Genius + Optimum

Regards
Editor, www.TableTennisBug.com

US Open 2012 at Grand Rapids Michigan (MI), USA June end

The prestigious US Open Table Tennis tournament is at Grand Rapids, MI this month end! The prize money is around $100 000.

The tournament runs from June 30-July 4, 2012 at DeVos Place and many events run simultaneously. Last year, at Milwaukee, 700 players from 22 countries participated.



Tickets are available at the Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place box offices, Ticketmaster outlets, including D&W stores and select Family Fare and Walmart locations; to charge by phone call 1.800.745.3000 or order online at www.ticketmaster.com

Tenergy Alternatives? Substitutes?

Many players are actively looking to replace Tenergy rubbers with new generation rubbers that claim to perform like Tenergy, so which are they? We will soon cover them one by one.

Tenergy series: 
Tenergy 05, 05 Fx
Tenergy 64, 64 Fx
Tenergy 25

Alternatives?
Rakza 7, Rakza 7 Soft (Our Top Choice @ just $ 49!)
Tibhar Genius + Optimum (plus Optimum) (Available with us at 20% discount)
Andro Hexer HD (Available with us at 20% discount)
Andro Rasant
Donic Bluefire series (Available with us at 25% discount)
Stiga Calibra (Available with us at 25% discount)
XIOM Omega (Available with us at 30% discount)
Donic Acuda S1 (Available with us at 25% discount)
DHS Tinz Arc?

All these are available at prices much lower than Tenergy and hence the attraction to Tenergy seekers.

State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament Dates

We wrote to about 20 State Table Tennis Associations for information on State Ranking tournaments. Response received - zero.
The good news? Andhra Pradesh has already professionally published the full dates. Gujarat for the first 2 tourneys and I have a volunteer offering to report.
Only Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Assam Facebook readers (forgive me if I forgot anyone) have sent some info.
I always hear complaints about how Table Tennis is not popular. Who is responsible? Let's try to make Table Tennis better!
Share, like, push your officials, do the best possible. Eager to see how many support. Fight!

Editor
www.TableTennisBug.com

Australian Table Tennis Team for the Olympics

Robert Frank
Age:	22
State:	VIC
Team

Justin Han
Age:	20
State:	NSW
Singles Team

William Henzell
Age:	30
State:	VIC
Singles Team

Jian Fang Lay (Hong)
Age:	39
State:	VIC
Singles Team

Miao Miao
Age:	31
State:	VIC
Singles Team

Vivian Tan
Age:	34
State:	NSW
Team

Le Meridein Players Cup District Ranking Table Tennis Tournament

District/Local Table Tennis Tournaments:

1st Le Meridien Players Cup District Ranking Table Tennis Tournament is being held at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune from May 28 - June 3. The tournament has attracted a huge number of entries.

The tournament is held under the aegis of PDTTA and it is the first tournament in this year's calendar.

Drinkhall selected for the London Olympics

Paul Drinkhall, former runner-up of the World Junior Table Tennis Championships, has been selected to represent Britain in the London Olympic Games. He will be joined by Liam Pitchford and Andrew Baggaley. The Women's team comprises of Joanna Parker, Na Liu, and Kelly Sibley.

Paul has recently been selected by Werder Bremen to play at this season's Bundlesliga (German league), where some of the best players in the World compete. Chuang Chih Yuan, Adrian Crisan, Constatin Cioti will be his team mates at Bremen, where he will stay and train.

He has just entered the top 100 in the World recently.

Men
Andrew Baggaley
Paul Drinkhall
Liam Pitchford

Women
Joanna Parker 
Na Liu
Kelly Sibley

Table Tennis events coming soon in New South Wales (NSW)

Sun – 3rd 
NSW Veterans - Closed Championships,  Sports Halls – Sydney Olympic Park – 8am to 6 pm

Mon - 4th to Wed - 6th, Oceania Championships, Fiji

New South Wales is an important state on the Australian Table Tennis map due to the presence of two important cities - Sydney and Canberra.

Ariel Hsing hopes to retain title at North American Cup

Ariel Hsing of USA will attempt to retain her title at the ITTF-North American Cup Table Tennis Tournament to be held at Mississauga, Canada. Her main rival will be Zhang Mo, whom she beat in the finals last year.

In the Men's section, Pierre-Luc Hinse, Timothy Wang from the United States and André Ho will battle for the honours. Incidentally, all three qualified from the North America zone for the Olympics.