By Becky Chan
Lily Zhang, the three-time U.S. Olympian in table tennis, stared at the ball held like a fragile egg in her palm. She looked as if she’s about to have a stern conversation with it. But she gently tossed it just above her head, never taking her eyes off it. As the ball came back down, she sliced it underneath with an almost flat paddle, sending it spinning barely over the net to her opponent. Zhang won the point during a match at the inaugural Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Feb. 23-25.
Zhang plays for the Bay Area Blasters in the MLTT, a league started by software entrepreneur and table tennis enthusiast Flint Lane. Lane founded the league in 2023 to promote a sport that is more watched universally than baseball, basketball, or football.
(Left) Bay Area Blasters Wenzhang Tao and Lily Zhang vs Portland Paddlers Rachel Sung and Kou Lei in the doubles match. (Photo by Becky Chan)
Although some might mistakenly think the game was invented in China, the dominant force in world competition since table tennis was introduced as an Olympic event in Seoul, South Korea, in 1988.
England invented the game called “whiff-waff” in the late 19th century for the elites to play after dinner parties. According to an article in the New York Times, cigar box tops were used as paddles, balls fashioned out of cork, and books stacked as nets.
The MLTT members play with real paddles with big name sponsors. There are 8 teams, four each in the east and west divisions. Portland Paddlers, Seattle Spinners, Bay Area Blasters, and Texas Smash are in the West Division. Carolina Gold Rush, Chicago Wind, Florida Crocs, and Princeton Revolution are in the East Division.
(Left to Right) Cao vs Tsao. Andrew vs Darryl. Spinners vs Smash (Photo by Becky Chan)
International and U.S. players compete in a team format. The teams play two singles, one double, and two singles. Each match has three games. One point is awarded to each winning game. The Golden Game concludes the competition. It’s played with 5 team members with each rotating every 4 points. The first team to score 21 wins the Golden Game, worth 6 points. After the Everett weekend play, the Seattle Spinners have 167 points, while the Portland Paddlers is just 5 points behind the leader Bay Area Blasters, 194 and 199, respectively. Texas Smash has 183 points.
The top player of the Seattle Spinners is Nikhil Kumar, who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately for the Spinners, Kumar fell ill upon his return from the 2024 World Team Championship in Busan, Korea. Kumar cheered his team from the sideline.
Another MLTT player, Nandan Naresh, also competed in Busan behind Kumar. Naresh is on team Texas Smash.
As Zhang celebrated with her teammates on their MLTT West Division lead, she took a moment to reflect on her being the first selected to the U.S. Olympic table tennis team. Zhang will compete in her fourth Olympic games in Paris this summer. She debuted at 16 in the 2012 London Olympics.
Zhang said, “It’s been a long journey. Lots of hard work. I am just over the moon about the selection.”
Earlier in the month, she had a come from behind win in the World Table Tennis Feeder Series in Manchester, England. Zhang had finished second the last four times.
Two spots are left on the women’s Olympic team. Top contenders from the MLTT are UCLA roommates Rachel Sung and Amy Wang. Sung, winner of the Women’s doubles of the 2023 U.S. National Table Tennis Championship among many of her trophies, plays for the Portland Paddlers. Wang, ranked 34 in the world and winner of Women’s title in the September 2023 Pan American Table Tennis Championship, plays for the Texas Smash.
Some of the Portland Paddlers celebrate a win. Seven countries are represented by this team, coached by Christian Lilieroos, not pictured. (Photo by Becky Chan)
Playing in the MLTT helped Wang flutter some butterflies in her stomach. She said the tension and excitement help her prepare for the bigger price.
One more week of regular league play remains for the West at Koch Arena, Wichita, Kansas on April 5-7. For the East, it’ll be at Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, March 15-17. The top two teams from each division will play for the MLTT Cup and $100,000 in the championship on April 27-28 at Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois.
For more information, https://mltt.com.
Becky can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.