Founded by Flint Lane and set to debut in the middle of September, Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) is an exciting new addition to the US sports scene.
MLTT Teams
The 8 teams in MLTT are split between 2 divisions – East and West. Following the first ever league draft in August, the team lineups are as follows:
East Division
- Carolina Gold Rush – Enzo Angles, Hong Lin, Kai Zhang, Dupont Bastien, Romain Lorentz, Jeremy Hazin, Jabdiel Torres, and Petar Kostovsk
- Chicago Wind – Damien Provost, Dan Liu, Daniele Pinto, Alexandru Cazacu, Emily Tan, Aleksandr Khanin, (Sam) Yahao Zhang, and Timothy Wang
- Florida Crocs – Daniel Gorak, Matilda Ekholm, Daniel Gonzalez, Marc Duran, Brossier Benjamin, Mishel Levinski, Ojo Onaolapo, and Brian Mena
- Princeton Revolution – Jinxin Wang, Jishan Liang, Mathieu De Saintilar, Ievgen Pryschepa, Angela Guan, Edward Ly, Alexander Chen, and Kanamitsu Koyo
West Division
- Bay Area Blasters – Wenzhang Tao, (Stephen) Jinbao Ma, Lily Zhang, Lashin Elsayed, Tianrui Zhang, Aditya Godhwani, Oriol Monzo, and Alexis Douin
- Portland Paddlers – Jiwei Xia, Lei Kou, Rachel Sung, Jonatan McDonald, Tyrese Knight, Daniel Tran, Salim Karam, and Isaac Vila Ortiz
- Seattle Spinners – Nikhil Kumar, Aditya Sareen, Fabiola Diaz, Olajide Omotayo, Andrew Cao, Paul Zhenyu Qi, Johan Hagberg, and Ondrej Lapcik
- Texas Smash – Amy Wang, David McBeath, Hiromitsu Kasahara, Nandan Naresh, Darryl Tsao, Yoan Rebetez, Bruno Ventura dos Anjos, and (Emily) Ying Wang
MLTT Season Format
The regular season is built around division matches, which bring all 4 teams from the division to one of the league’s host cities for a weekend of competition. Each team plays a match against every other team in the division, and these head-to-head matches are structured as follows:
- Team 1 Singles A v Team 2 Singles A
- Team 1 Singles B v Team 2 Singles B
- Team 1 Singles C v Team 2 Singles C
- Team 1 Singles D v Team 2 Singles D
- Team 1 Doubles v Team 2 Doubles
- Golden Game
Each singles and doubles event is played over 3 games, with each game worth 1 point.
The Golden Game features all 5 players from each team, with players alternating every 4 points until one of the teams reaches 21. The Golden Game is worth 6 points.
In total, there are 21 points at stake in each head-to-head match. Every point earned by a team adds to their overall standing within the division.
Halfway through the season a Cross Division series is scheduled, featuring the best teams from both East and West Divisions.
At the end of the regular season, the top 2 teams from each division qualify for the Final Four. Ultimately, 1 team is crowned Major League Table Tennis champions.
MLTT Events
The first half of the inaugural MLTT season has been scheduled:
15-17 September 2023 – East Division: Daytona Beach (Ocean Center, Daytona Beach)
22-24 September 2023 – West Division: Santa Cruz (Kaiser Permanente Arena, Santa Cruz)
13-15 October 2023 – East Division: Myrtle Beach (Myrtle Beach Sports Center, Myrtle Beach)
27-29 October 2023 – West Division: Houston (Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy)
10-12 November 2023 – East Division: Chicago (Wintrust Arena, Chicago)
17-19 November 2023 – West Division: East of Oakland (Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton)
1-3 December 2023 – Cross Division: Rock Hill (Rock Hill Sports Center, Rock Hill)