history – 360TT Blog

Double Happiness: the story of DHS, the brand intertwined with Chinese table tennis

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:12:00 -0300

If you play table tennis, you have seen those three letters a thousand times: on your training ball, on your forehand rubber, on the colorful table in the World Championships broadcast. Few people know that DHS stands for Double Happiness, and that the name was born from two celebrations in 1959, one of them a world title. By the way, many players call a ball that clips the net and then the edge a double happiness: double luck for the hitter, none for the receiver.

Telling the story of DHS means telling the story of Chinese table tennis. Since the first title, the two have walked together, in a cycle that has repeated itself for more than 60 years: the team tests, the factory adjusts. When the rules change, both adapt together, and they almost always come out ahead.

This post is based on the DHS Service Guide, the brand’s technical handbook (4th edition, 2022, in Chinese), which DHS made available to 360TT as its official distributor in Brazil. It includes a timeline of the sport and of the factory. Since it is the brand’s own version of its history, I checked what I could against other sources and I point out when a figure comes only from DHS.

TL;DR: the ball reached China before the national team did: the sport landed in Shanghai in 1904 and the first Chinese ball came out in 1927 (before the national team, the ball). In 1959, China’s first world title gave the brand its name, and it debuted at the 1961 World Championships in Beijing, the same event where a 15-year-old Brazilian knocked out the champion. Then came ping-pong diplomacy, the 40 mm ball and the Hurricane (the world against China), the Ma Long era and Paris 2024. At the end, what this story teaches players.

The story in one picture: from the English dinner table to the tables of Paris (text in Portuguese). Infographic: 360TT

Before the national team, the ball

Table tennis was born in England at the end of the 19th century as a dinner-table game: rackets made of stretched skin, rubber or cork balls wrapped in wool so as not to damage the furniture, a net strung between two chairs. Around 1890, the Englishman James Gibb adapted a hollow celluloid toy ball, and the game got the ball we know. From there the sport went to Japan, where it became takkyu.

In 1904, Wang Daowu, the owner of a stationery shop in Shanghai, brought ten complete sets back from Japan and gave the sport the name that stuck: pingpang, after the sound of the ball. Curiously, in the West that name had an owner: the English company Jaques registered “Ping-Pong” as a trademark in 1901, and in the United States the rights went to Parker Brothers (today they belong to Escalade). That is why the federations adopted the name table tennis. In China, pingpang simply became the name of the sport. In 1926 the ITTF was founded and held the first World Championships in London that December. And Shanghai started manufacturing: the first ball made in China came out in 1927; in 1928 and 1929 the first racket workshops appeared (one of them made 2,000 to 3,000 a year); in 1937, the Lianhuan ball (“linked rings”) was the first Chinese ball good enough for competition. In English, DHS itself calls that ball Double Circle, and the two interlocked rings survive to this day as the mark of DHS’s training ball line, such as the Double Circle D40+. In 1946 the Hualian ball factory was founded.

Old Double Circle balls, made in Shanghai: the two rings of the 1937 Lianhuan still on the stamp. Photo: reproduction

An old Chinese racket, from the days of the first Shanghai workshops. Image: DHS Handbook

Meanwhile, world table tennis already had an owner. The handbook tells this story in five eras, and in each one the game and the equipment change together. From 1926 to 1951, Europe ruled: 109 of the 117 world titles, with the shakehand grip, defensive play and pips rubber with no sponge, which gave little speed and very little spin; the idea was to miss less than the opponent. From 1952 to 1959, Japan changed the game twice: it swapped the shakehand grip for the penhold, to attack from a distance with the forehand, and brought the novelty that changed everything, the sponge, which gave rise to sandwich rubber (rubber with sponge), still used today, and multiplied speed and spin.

China only joined the ITTF in March 1953, and that same year it played its first World Championships, in Bucharest: it beat Austria and Sweden and lost to England and Hungary. Between 1956 and 1958, Hualian and three other Shanghai factories became joint ventures with the state and formed the basis of what would become DHS. In 1957, Hualian made the first Chinese ball with a sealed seam. All that was missing was the name.

Packing balls in a Shanghai factory, in DHS's early years. Image: DHS Handbook

1959: two joys and a name

In 1959, in Dortmund, Germany, Rong Guotuan won the men’s singles at the 25th World Championships and became China’s first world champion in any sport. That same year, the People’s Republic turned ten. Two joys. According to DHS and the Chinese press, Premier Zhou Enlai named the ball made in Shanghai Hong Shuang Xi, “red double happiness”, the same name as the 囍 symbol the Chinese use at weddings. In English, Double Happiness. As an acronym, DHS.

The ball with the “double happiness” stamp. Image: DHS Handbook

The name came with a deadline. China was going to host the 1961 World Championships and wanted to play with its own equipment, so the country set up a joint technical effort with factories and research institutes. In September 1959, the new ball and table were tested by national team players, among them Xu Yinsheng, and approved. The same effort produced the first Chinese racket with inverted rubber and sponge. In 1960, the ball was approved by the ITTF, the first Chinese sports product to get that approval. It was the first turn of the cycle: the team tested, the factory adjusted.

An old table from the DHS collection. Image: DHS Handbook

1961: Beijing, the home debut

At the 26th World Championships, in Beijing, the ball, the table and the scoreboard were DHS: it was the first time sports equipment made in China appeared at a world championship. And at home, China won the men’s team event, the men’s singles and the women’s singles. For the handbook, this is when the center of table tennis moves from Japan to China, with fast close-to-the-table attack, and the game becomes China’s “national sport”.

The 26th World Championships, Beijing, 1961: the debut of DHS equipment. Image: DHS Handbook

🇧🇷 Biriba, 15, against the world champion

At that same World Championships, in April 1961, a boy from São Paulo wrote his name into history. Ubiraci Rodrigues da Costa, known as Biriba, aged 15, beat Rong Guotuan, the 1959 champion whose title had given DHS its name. It was in the third round of the men’s singles, in front of some 15,000 Chinese fans, and he reached the last 16. He received a telegram from Brazilian President Jânio Quadros, and his run was only matched by Claudio Kano in 1987 and surpassed by Hugo Calderano in 2021.

It was no bolt from the blue. At 11, Biriba was already South American champion among adults; at 13, he beat two Japanese world champions, Ichiro Ogimura and Toshiaki Tanaka, in exhibition matches at the Ibirapuera arena in São Paulo, the school that dominated the sport at the time. On November 18, 1958, the sports newspaper A Gazeta Esportiva put him on its front page alongside Pelé and tennis player Maria Esther Bueno: “the golden triangle of Brazilian sport”.

Biriba, aged 13, with Pelé and Maria Esther Bueno at the A Gazeta Esportiva offices, on November 18, 1958, each holding the other's tool. Photo: A Gazeta Esportiva

Biriba died in São Paulo on September 25, 2025, aged 80. This is 360TT’s tribute to the first great name in Brazilian table tennis.

The rest of the decade strengthened the partnership. In 1963, in an ITTF test, the DHS ball tied for first place with England’s Halex. In 1965, at the World Championships in Ljubljana, every Chinese player used DHS rackets (the “65” series), China took 5 of the 7 titles and the Chinese women beat Japan, which had dominated the women’s game for eight years.

The small ball moved the big ball

China stayed away from the World Championships for six years and returned in 1971, in Nagoya, Japan. That is where the most famous episode in the sport’s history took place. The American Glenn Cowan, 19, got on the Chinese team’s bus (by mistake, according to the best-known version). Zhuang Zedong, three-time world champion, went to talk to him and gave him a silk painting of the Huangshan mountains; Cowan returned the favor with a T-shirt bearing the peace symbol. The photos went around the world, and days later the American team was invited to play in China, one of the first groups of Americans to enter the country since 1949. This was “ping-pong diplomacy”, which brought China and the United States back together after 22 years of closed doors and paved the way for Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in February 1972. “The small ball moved the big ball”, as the Chinese say.

If you want the behind-the-scenes story, there is a great book: Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World, by American journalist Nicholas Griffin (Scribner, 2014). He tells how table tennis was used as a political tool from the 1950s on, and he even doubts the “chance” encounter in Nagoya: in his view, the Chinese were expecting Cowan.

Ping-Pong Diplomacy, by Nicholas Griffin (Scribner, 2014). Image: book cover reproduction

With the sport back to life in the country, DHS production grew again, and in 1972 its ball got the highest overall score in an ITTF test.

The 1970s, however, belonged to Europe’s comeback. The Europeans combined Chinese fast attack with Japanese topspin and caught up with the Asians. China’s answer came in 1981: after two years of rebuilding, the team won all 7 titles at the World Championships in Novi Sad, the first time a single country took everything in 55 years of the event.

In the early 1980s, DHS also went out into the world with the PF4 line (ball, racket and rubber), the first Chinese brand to open markets abroad. The PF4 still exists, today as a family of tacky-topsheet rubbers.

The old PF4 package. Image: DHS Handbook

DHS PF4The legendary rubber that took DHS to the world, updated for the 40+ ball: the same spin as always, with more speed in attack. Visit the store →

In 1988, in Seoul, table tennis became an Olympic sport. In 1995, DHS unified its brand into a single company, and its ball was the official ball of the World Championships in Tianjin, where China, once again, took all 7 titles. That is the birth of what the Chinese call “the world against China”.

The PF4 ball presented as the official ball of the 43rd World Championships, Tianjin, 1995. Image: DHS Handbook

The world against China

With China winning everything, the ITTF began changing the rules to make the game more competitive and easier to watch on TV. DHS was involved in those changes. In 1996, according to the handbook, the ITTF commissioned it to develop the bigger ball. The Sydney Olympics, in 2000, were the last major competition with the 38 mm ball, and a DHS ball: the first time Chinese equipment was official at an Olympic Games. That same year, the World Cup in Yangzhou debuted the 40 mm ball, also DHS. I covered that change in detail in the ball guide, from 38 mm to 40+. Next came 11-point games (2001) and the serve without hiding the ball (2002).

The Sydney 2000 ball, the last major competition with the 38 mm ball. Image: DHS Handbook

In rubbers, the turning point had come in 1998, when DHS launched the rubber already glued to its sponge at the factory. Until then, Chinese players bought the topsheet and the sponge separately. That is how the G888 (used by Wang Liqin and Yan Sen while the ball was still small) and the Kuangbiao family, known worldwide as Hurricane, were born. With the 40 mm ball, speed became the priority, and the Hurricane 2 and the Hurricane 3 were designed for it.

The G888, from 1998: DHS's first rubber already glued to its sponge. Image: DHS Handbook

DHS G888DHS's first rubber already glued to its sponge is still in production: a very tacky topsheet for maximum spin in mid-distance attack. Visit the store →

In blades, it is a comeback story. Since the 1980s, the Chinese team had used almost only foreign blades. In 2003, DHS studied the game of eight national team players and launched Hurricane blades named after each of them. In 2005, at the World Championships in Shanghai, the Hurricane Wang helped Wang Liqin win the singles and the mixed doubles. In 2006, the Skyline 2 and Skyline 3, made for Ma Lin and Wang Hao, completed the lineup, and 70% of the team’s forehands were already on DHS rubber.

Wang Liqin at the 2005 World Championships in Shanghai. Image: DHS Handbook

In 2008, DHS supplied the Beijing Olympics, and China won the team events and the top three places in both singles.

The table of the Beijing 2008 Games. Image: DHS Handbook

Shortly afterwards, on September 1, 2008, the ban on solvent-based speed glue came into force (I told that story in Why Is Your Glue Water-Based Today?). It is the best example of the cycle: DHS tested less tacky rubbers and thicker pimples with the national team, and the players’ answer was to keep the rubber tacky. So the factory worked on the sponge instead. That is how the NEO line was born, with a sponge treated at the factory to be “stretched”, imitating the effect the glue used to give.

DHS Hurricane 3 NEOThe rubber that has followed the Chinese team from the 40 mm ball to the present day, with a factory-treated NEO sponge. Visit the store →

The Ma Long era

Ma Long signed with DHS in 2008, and the history of his blades shows the cycle in detail. According to the handbook:

2008: the first Hurricane Long, built on the blade he was already using;
2011: he switches to a seven-ply, all-wood blade and puts together 51 straight wins starting at the Suzhou Open. DHS launches the Hurricane Long 2;
2012: the Hurricane Long 3, with improved internal glue at his request, and the blue handle with the yellow crescent that became his trademark;
2013: the Hurricane Long 5, with inner carbon and aramid layers, with which he wins the National Games;
2016: after the gold in Rio, the Long 5 gets a smaller blade face;
2021: the Golden Slam edition, to celebrate his Tokyo feat.

The evolution of Ma Long's blades (labels in Portuguese). Images: DHS Handbook; layout: 360TT

Ma Long and the Hurricane Long 5 Golden Slam. Image: DHS Handbook

I covered that evolution, and what it teaches about changing blades, in the post Ma Long’s Lesson. In 2015, with the Long 5 and Hurricane 3 on both sides, he won the World Championships, the World Cup and the Grand Finals. In 2021, in Tokyo, with the same setup, he completed the Olympic, World Championship and World Cup singles titles for the second time, the “golden grand slam”, and was the first player ever to do it.

Meanwhile, the ball changed again. In 2011 DHS announced a ball made of a new material, and the ITTF decided to retire celluloid, which had been used for more than a hundred years. The change took effect on July 1, 2014. Besides changing the game, it solved a practical problem: celluloid catches fire easily and was shipped as dangerous goods; the plastic ball travels by air without restrictions. DHS’s first new ball was the official ball of the World Championships and the Rio Olympics; in 2017 came the ABS plastic ball that led to the DJ40+, the Tokyo ball.

The figures DHS publishes about the Chinese team and the market show how big this is. They are the brand’s own data, from 2022, but they are impressive:

97%of the Chinese team's forehands on DHS rubber

46%of the team's blades are DHS

50%+of the world's table tennis balls are made by DHS

70%of major competitions use the DHS 3-star ball

The handbook also shows a lesser-known side. In 2010, the top four in the men’s singles at the World Championships all played with DHS equipment. In 2017, the brand launched the Gold Arc 5 and Gold Arc 8, non-tacky, European-style rubbers, made in Germany by ESN and tested by Wang Liqin and Ma Long. And, in 2022, the colored Hurricane 9, after the ITTF allowed colored rubbers. On the backhand, DHS rubber also gained ground with the 40+ ball: 32% of the team’s backhands in 2022.

From Paris 2024 to today

The handbook dates from 2022, so from here on the sources are the ITTF and the specialized press. At Paris 2024, DHS was the official supplier of the tables and nets for the Olympic and Paralympic tournaments, with a table made for the Games based on the Rainbow II. It was the seventh Olympic Games in a row with DHS equipment, from Sydney to Paris.

In April 2025, the ITTF renewed DHS as the official table supplier for the World Championships Finals from 2025 to 2028, starting in Doha, with the Rainbow table. It was on that table that Hugo Calderano reached the World Championships final, the best result ever by a Brazilian.

The Rainbow table at the 2025 World Championships in Doha, before play began. Photo: ITTF

🏓 Curiosities from the handbook

The 44 mm ball: in 2003, DHS launched a bigger ball, slower and with less spin, for recreation and beginners. Today it is used in physical education classes in Chinese schools.
The racket gauge: the device that measures rubber thickness at racket control in international competitions is supplied by DHS.
A museum table: the Rainbow table from the London 2012 Games, with arches shaped like the Olympic rings, was kept permanently by the International Olympic Committee at its headquarters in Switzerland.
The Beijing table: the table for the 2008 Olympics was designed from the Chinese character for Beijing, 京.
The two-color ball: in 2014, DHS and the Chinese federation tested a two-color ball, which makes spin more visible on TV and for the receiver.
The World Championships trophies: each of the 7 titles has a trophy with its own name, such as the Swaythling Cup (men’s team) and the Corbillon Cup (women’s team). They are made of silver and pass from champion to champion: the winner only gets to engrave their name.

The London 2012 Games table, now in the IOC collection. Image: DHS Handbook

The two-color ball, from 2014. Image: DHS Handbook

DHS D40+ ABS Bi Colour ball (box of 10)The two-color version of the D40+: you can see the spin as it rotates, great for training how to read spin. Visit the store →

Leaf through the handbook

For those who want to see the original, here are some pages from the DHS handbook: the cover, the nine timeline pages this post is based on, the page on Ma Long’s blades and the one on the history of the balls. Click any of them to enlarge it.

Cover

1890–1937

1946–1963

1965–1989

1995–2000

2000–2005

2007–2009

2010–2014

2014–2020

2021–2022

Ma Long's blades

History of the balls

Pages from the DHS Handbook (Service Guide, 4th edition, 2022, in Chinese). Images: DHS Handbook

What this story teaches players

🤓 360TT technical view

Reading the whole timeline, one thing stands out: equipment changes because the rules change. The 40 mm ball, the end of speed glue, the plastic ball: every ITTF change forced manufacturers to rework rubber, sponge and blade. DHS had the advantage of being inside those decisions and of testing everything with the strongest team in the world before it reached the shop.

That is why Chinese rubber is the way it is. The Hurricane, tacky and hard, was born for the Chinese style, which generates speed and spin through technique: technique is what puts real energy into the hard sponge. With little energy, the rubber feels slow; with technique, it becomes practically two rubbers in one, with control on passive balls from the tacky topsheet and power from the hard sponge. I explained this in detail in So, which rubber should you use? The null hypothesis method, where I also tell how the rest of the world adopted tacky and hybrid rubbers, driven by the German company ESN, the same one that makes the DHS Gold Arc.

The other lesson is simpler: what the Chinese team uses is available in the shop, with differences in quality control between versions (I explained this in the Hurricane 3 guide). Since 2023, 360TT has been the official DHS distributor in Brazil, and it was as a distributor that we received from DHS the handbook this post is based on.

Now I want to hear from you: what was your first piece of DHS equipment? A PF4, a Hurricane, a box of balls at the club? Did you know this story? Tell me in the comments.

See DHS rubbers in the shop

From the 38mm Ball to 40+: A Complete Guide to Choosing Yours

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:18:00 -0300

Equipment guide

The ball is the smallest piece of equipment in table tennis, yet it is the one that has changed the game the most over the last 25 years. Changing your racket is a personal choice. Changing the ball was imposed by the ITTF itself — and every change reshaped the way the game is played at a high level.

If you have been training for a few years, you have probably heard “40mm ball” and “40+ ball” spoken of as if they were the same thing. They are not. Understanding the difference explains why that “impossible to receive” serve from the old era is easier to handle today — and why choosing the right ball changes your training in practice.

TL;DR: the ball changed three times in 25 years: from 38mm to 40mm in 2000 and from celluloid to 40+ plastic in 2014, with less spin and longer rallies. The stars measure manufacturing precision, not quality, and the color is chosen for contrast with the table and the background. The buying guide shows the right ball for each level, from training to competition.

The era of the 38mm celluloid ball (1900–2000)

The first official table tennis ball, made of celluloid and 38mm in diameter, was introduced in 1900 and barely changed for 100 years. It was light and extremely responsive to spin — the friction between rubber and celluloid allowed extreme rotation, and by the late 90s professionals were already generating spin at the physical limit of what the ball could take.

Add another detail of the time: the serve could be made while hiding the contact between racket and ball. Combined with extreme spin, this made the serve almost unbeatable — in practice, most points ended within the first 3 balls of the rally. The result: a game that was too fast, hard to follow even from the stands — and the ITTF itself recognized this as a problem for the sport on TV.

The switch to 40mm (2000–2014)

In 2000, after the Sydney Games, the ITTF increased the ball diameter from 38mm to 40mm — still celluloid — to slow the game down and lengthen rallies. A bigger ball meets more air resistance, loses speed faster and is less receptive to extreme spin.

But that was not the only change of the period — and together, they reshaped the sport:

2001: the end of the 21-point system, turning games into the 11-point sets we know today, making matches more dynamic.

2002: a serve rule requiring a minimum vertical toss of 16cm and a clear view of the contact, ending the “hidden” serve of the previous era.

2008: the ITTF banned speed glue because it contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) harmful to health.

Each of these changes, on its own, seems small. Together, they took away much of the advantage that came only from “supercharged” equipment and gave weight back to technique. And, as a bonus, the athlete’s physique had to evolve — a lot.

The plastic era: the 40+ ball is born (2014–today)

The celluloid ball is highly flammable — the same material used in the earliest cinema — and that was always a real problem: warehouse fires, ever-tighter air transport restrictions and rising insurance costs. The ITTF decided to replace the material.

From July 2014, every official ITTF event started using plastic (poly/ABS) balls. Since they can be up to 0.5mm bigger than the old 40mm celluloid balls, they got the “40+” marking to tell them apart. In 2023, celluloid was officially removed from the rules — today every table tennis ball is made of plastic.

The effect on the game was real: the friction between rubber and plastic is lower than between rubber and celluloid, and professionals initially reported a 10 to 15% drop in their ability to generate spin — a significant number at the elite level. The sport reacted in a chain:

Tacky and hybrid rubbers, like those in the DHS Hurricane line, practically became the standard to recover part of the lost spin.

Blades with carbon fiber and a thicker core, like the DHS Fang Bo Carbon B2X and the DHS Hurricane Long 5X, gained ground to compensate for the ball’s lower response with more structural power in the racket.

Players had to become more athletic. Without the “help” of the ball and speed glue, generating the same power now demands more real physical preparation — legs, trunk and hip explosiveness became part of the technical equation for good.

What the stars mean (1★, 2★, 3★)

The star rating indicates the ball’s level of precision and consistency — it is not about “good or bad quality”, it is about manufacturing tolerance:

1 star: a training ball, with greater tolerance in weight, roundness and hardness. Ideal for multiball, robots and heavy everyday use.

2 stars: intermediate, a balance between durability and consistency — good for more serious training or recreational play.

3 stars: competition standard, approved by the ITTF for official tournaments, with maximum consistency in weight, roundness and hardness.

The DHS DJ40+ is a good example of how strict this selection can be: even though it is already within the margin the ITTF allows (weight between 2.67g and 2.77g, roundness with a tolerance below 0.25mm, hardness between 0.68 and 0.81mm), the most carefully selected batches of the ball use only a much smaller fraction of that range — the smaller the percentage of the total margin used, the higher the precision of the ball.

White or orange? Color is not aesthetics, it’s a rule

The ITTF rule is straightforward: the ball can only be white or orange, always matte — and the main color of the player’s clothing must be clearly different from the color of the ball chosen for the match. It makes sense: if the ball and your opponent’s shirt look alike, you literally lose sight of the ball against their body.

This matters more today than it did a decade ago. For a long time, the standard at major competitions was a blue or green table — today green has practically disappeared, and black has established itself as blue’s partner at the main WTT events (the DHS W1000 table, for example, is black and has been used since 2023 at stages such as the WTT Grand Smash and the Cup Finals). In other words: the choice between a white and an orange ball is not about “which one looks nicer” — it is about which one contrasts best with the table and the background where you play or compete.

Buying guide: the DHS balls we have at 360TT

As an official DHS distributor — the world’s largest ball manufacturer and official WTT sponsor — we bring the complete line, from training to competition:

Ball	Stars	Recommended for	Notes
Double Circle (white/orange)	Training	Beginners, clubs, multiball and robots	The most economical of all, with surprising quality and durability — best value for training and multiball
D40+ 1★ (white/orange)	1★	Recreational training and daily use	Great value for everyday play
D40+ 2★ (white)	2★	More serious training and recreational games	A balance between price and consistency
D40+ 3★ (white/orange)	3★	Club and regional competitions	Competition standard with good value
DJ40+ 3★ (white)	3★	Competition and advanced players	Official ball of the Tokyo 2020 Games and the WTT circuit — renewed as the official WTT ball for the 2021-2028 cycle, the benchmark for feel and spin in the DHS line
RS40+ 3★ (white)	3★	Competition and advanced players	Also official WTT, made with recycled plastic (PCR), slightly stiffer and faster feel
D40+ Dual Color	—	Technical training, seeing spin	Helps you see the ball’s rotation during practice

Choose the right ball for your game

Choosing the right ball is not about spending more — it is about matching your level of play to the ball’s tolerance, and also about using each model wisely for its specific purpose. If you train every day, the Double Circle or the D40+ 1★ do the heavy lifting without wasting your budget. If you are moving up a level or already compete, the D40+ 3★ is the natural next step. And if your game already asks for the best there is — in a real match, not in multiball — DJ40+ and RS40+ are the balls the best players in the world use.

Tip

If the back wall where you train is white, buy orange balls!

Now I want to hear from you: do you already know which ball fits your game? Tell me in the comments.

See the full line of DHS balls

Who Is the GOAT of Table Tennis? 100 Years of History and Magic

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:02:00 -0300

The ITTF has just released an epic documentary (video above) celebrating the centenary of our sport (1926-2026). It is 40 minutes of pure history, but since the video is in English, I made a point of dissecting every detail to bring you what really matters. This is not just a retrospective; it is the story of the revolutions that shaped the racket you hold today.

TL;DR: the ITTF documentary tells how the game was born in British basements, was turned upside down by Hiroji Sato’s sponge, saw the Swedish miracle and the Chinese symphony, and ends with Hugo Calderano’s 2025 World Cup. At the end, the coach picks his GOATs: Deng Yaping, Waldner and Ma Long.

Tip

The video is in English. While watching, turn on the automatically generated captions in English and, if you want, set up the automatic translation into your own language, so you can follow along with subtitles you read easily.

The beginning: when rackets were corks

Did you know that table tennis started out as Whiff-Waff in British clubs? In the late 19th century, it was an elite after-dinner pastime. It was only in 1926 that the ITTF was founded in London. Back then, Hungary dominated everything. The legendary Victor Barna, with his surreal 41 medals at world championships, was the face of the sport.

The game changed its name, its table and its rules, but its competitive essence was born in London basements and conquered the planet.

The sponge revolution and the end of “Marty Supreme”

The documentary highlights a painful break in 1952. Until then, the American Marty Reisman, “Marty Supreme”, was the king of hardbat. Everything changed when the Japanese player Hiroji Sato showed up with a thick, soft sponge. Sato didn’t make the classic sound of impact; the ball came out silent, but with a spin and speed that Reisman couldn’t read. It was the beginning of modern table tennis.

Sweden: the miracle and the Glenn Östh orchestra

Many say that Jan-Ove Waldner faced China alone, but the documentary and history prove he was the sun of a flawless constellation. Under the strategic command of Glenn Östh, Sweden built the greatest challenge the “Wall” has ever faced:

Jan-Ove Waldner (the Mozart): the first man to complete the Grand Slam. He won Olympic gold in Barcelona (1992) and was a two-time singles world champion (1989 and 1997). The video highlights his absurd feat in Manchester in 1997, where he was world champion without losing a single set, 21 to 0 overall.
Jörgen Persson: the pillar of consistency. Singles world champion in Chiba (1991), Persson was Waldner’s ideal partner, reaching historic finals and keeping Sweden on top for almost two decades.
Mikael Appelgren: the master of control and counter-attack. He was a three-time European singles champion and a world doubles champion. His left hand was the Chinese players’ nightmare, and it was fundamental in the team victories.
Team dominance: Sweden didn’t just win, it dominated. There were four team world titles (1989, 1991, 1993 and the historic return in 2000). The documentary reverently recalls the 5-0 over China in the Dortmund final in 1989, a score that shocked the planet.

Names like Erik Lind and Peter Karlsson rounded out this team of legends, proving that the Swedish miracle was, above all, a triumph of teamwork and tactical intelligence.

China: the unbroken symphony

Since 1996, China has won almost 90% of all world titles available. The documentary details how this hegemony was built through legends who shaped the modern game:

The women’s dynasty: the video pays tribute to the era of Deng Yaping (the first great sovereign), followed by Wang Nan and the “invincible” Zhang Yining, who retired at the peak as Olympic and world champion.
The tactical architects: the transition to modern table tennis went through the hands of Liu Guoliang (master of the short pips and of the serve) and Kong Linghui, the first to unify the major titles.
The golden trio: the documentary highlights the era of Wang Liqin (the giant of physical power), Ma Lin (the master of touch and of the classic penhold style) and Wang Hao, the man who revolutionized the reverse penhold backhand (RPB) and was the direct mentor of the next generation.
The modern phenomena: you can’t talk about history without mentioning Zhang Jike, the “mad dog”, who holds the record for the fastest Grand Slam in history (445 days), and his immediate successor Fan Zhendong, who consolidated his greatness by inheriting the world throne with impeccable technique.
The captain: and, at the center of it all, Ma Long. The video crowns him as the only man to win the double Grand Slam, defining what it means to be perfection on two legs.

The video points out that the Austrian Werner Schlager, in 2003, was the last non-Chinese player to win the men’s singles world title, a reminder of how relentless the Chinese training system is.

Brazil: Hugo Calderano and the future

The climax for us Brazilians is seeing the spotlight given to Hugo Calderano. The documentary celebrates Hugo as the great force that changed the balance of the sport in the WTT era.

Hugo’s title at the 2025 World Cup is cited as the milestone when the world realized that Chinese hegemony has real cracks. Brazil is no longer just a participant; we are protagonists in the ITTF’s hundred-year history.

The verdict from the coach: who is your GOAT?

Note

GOAT is an acronym for “Greatest of All Time”.

After 100 years of evolution, who are the greatest of all time? Here is my pick:

🏆 Women: for me, it’s Deng Yaping. Her aggressiveness and mindset were from another planet. She didn’t just win; she dominated her opponents’ souls.
🌍 Men (Earth): Jan-Ove Waldner was the greatest of all time on Planet Earth. His creativity and his “feeling” were human, yet brilliant.
🌌 Men (Galaxy): Ma Long… well, Ma Long is the greatest of all time in the Galaxy. That guy is not human. He is an efficiency machine built by aliens.

The video mentioned Victor Barna, Angelica Rozeanu, Waldner, Deng Yaping, Ma Long, Hugo Calderano and so many others. Who gets the GOAT title for you? Is there any other name the video forgot?

Now I want to hear from you: who is your GOAT? Leave your comment below, let’s debate these 100 years of passion!

Why Is Your Glue Water-Based Today? The "Speed Glue" Crisis

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:56:00 -0300

If you’re a veteran player, you probably remember the smell. A strong, chemical smell that took over every competition hall. If you’re a newer player, maybe you’ve heard people talk with nostalgia about the “click”, the iconic sound the racket made in the 80s and 90s.

That smell and that sound came from the same place: “speed glue”. For decades, it was the elite’s secret for generating absurd speed and spin. But it was also at the center of a health crisis that forced table tennis to change forever.

To understand why your TENSOR rubber is so elastic and why your glue is water-based today, we need to tell this story. Our analysis is largely based on a fantastic historical article by Jens Fellke, the author of the Jan-Ove Waldner biography (“When the Feeling Decides”). In a report for USA Table Tennis Magazine (Mar/Apr 2009), he detailed this saga.

Chapter 1: the magical “click” (the discovery)

The story begins by accident in the 70s with the Hungarian player Tibor Klampar. During a practice session, frustrated with his game, he peeled off his rubber and glued on a new one. He didn’t like it, peeled it off again and re-glued the original. Suddenly, he heard a “click”.

Klampar realized that his original rubber was suddenly much faster and had more spin. He had found the jackpot: applying fresh glue with volatile solvents (VOCs) before playing “supercharged” the rubber. The game became faster and more aggressive, allowing the famous topspin-against-topspin rallies with players meters away from the table.

Chapter 2: the hysteria and the dark side

Klampar kept his secret for more than a year. But once it was discovered, the table tennis world changed. Gluing became a “hysteria”.

The ritual was to apply coat after coat of glue before every practice and every match, sometimes six times a day. Players traveled with cans of highly flammable glue smuggled in their suitcases.

🤓 360TT technical view: the real risk

The problem was health. The solvents were toxic. Fellke’s article cites several alarming incidents:

A player in Scotland passed out after spilling a jar of glue and inhaling the fumes.
Doctors warned about neurological risks, headaches, concentration problems and even a link to birth defects.
The situation got so serious that doctors advised athletes to wear gas masks while gluing.

The legendary Stellan Bengtsson had a famous story: he told of parents arriving to pick up their beginner kids at the club and seeing the main team’s players wearing gas masks, thinking they had walked into a “chemical warfare exercise”. The sport’s image was being seriously damaged.

Chapter 3: the ban and the modern era

The ITTF tried to ban speed glue in 1993, but failed. Pressure from players and the lack of a reliable test made the federation back down.

However, the pressure for a “green” and safe sport continued. In 2004, the ITTF voted for a definitive ban on all solvents (VOCs), a rule that took effect on September 1, 2008, right after the Beijing Olympics.

Chapter 4: the solutions (today’s game)

The ban created a vacuum. How do you get speed without speed glue? The industry, which was already preparing for this, answered with two innovations that define today’s game:

“Tensioned” rubbers (TENSOR / High Tension): manufacturers such as ESN (with TENSOR technology) and Butterfly (High Tension) figured out how to put the “spring effect” in from the factory, inside the rubber. They come “supercharged” permanently and safely.
VOC-Free glues (water-based): the new glues, safe and approved by the ITTF, were created. They are 100% water-based and their job is no longer to “supercharge”, but to fix the tensioned rubber to the blade as efficiently as possible.

360TT expert analysis

The speed glue era was exciting, but it was a “chemical war” that fortunately ended. It changed the game forever, forcing the sport to become faster and more athletic.

It’s even a little ironic to look at how the market has evolved. In the 90s, many of us used classic rubbers like the Yasaka Mark V with a 2.5mm sponge. With speed glue, that sponge swelled and easily reached 2.7mm. Curiously, one of the biggest releases of 2025, the Butterfly Zyre-03, is treated as a major innovation precisely because it has a sponge of… 2.7mm. The sport has come full circle.

Fortunately, today we no longer need gas masks. Performance now comes from the technology built into the rubbers (TENSOR) and from modern glues that, besides being safe and 100% within the rules, also help performance. Solutions like EasyGlue Green and EasyGlue Carbon (with its carbon technology) are the best example of this evolution: maximum performance, with total safety and respect for the current rules.

Now I want to hear from you: did you live through the speed glue era? What is your memory of the “click”? Tell me here in the comments.

Discover the full EasyGlue glue line

From VHS Tapes to 'Bashing': A Reflection on Table Tennis Today

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 20:38:00 -0300

It has been a while since watching matches was as fun as it used to be. Let me explain: I stopped playing in 1995 or ‘96, I don’t even remember exactly. Back then, to watch a recent match, we waited months for a VHS TAPE (ask your dad or grandpa what that is… lol) to arrive from Europe or Asia. That’s how it was with the 1995 World Championships, won by China’s Kong Linghui, who was a complete unknown to us. I watched the match in early 1996, when I got hold of a tape with the final, the full match, no highlights, commentary in a language I didn’t understand, no subtitles and pretty mediocre picture quality.

From VHS to live

Back to 2025: today we watch a World Championships final LIVE, in ultra-high resolution, with an electronic scoreboard on screen, replays and even a VAR called TTR. Along with those great advances came changes to the game to make it more “TV-friendly”. Since the ban on speed glue and the switch to the 40+ ABS ball, the game has changed a lot. Before, it was much more serve and third ball; today, there are far more rallies. That’s great for television, but now the game is much more physical, players have to be far more athletic and, because of that, we joke that it’s just bashing. This is not about disrespecting the impressive athleticism of today’s players, just a personal preference. With Xu Xin retired, there are only a few crazy ones left, like Simon Gauzy, playing interesting, creative matches.

The end of pure penholders

These changes killed the pure penholders (one rubber). Penholders in the men’s game have very slim chances at the top level, where we once had a World Championships runner-up with this style. Short pips penhold like the old-school Chinese players? Unthinkable. The heavier, slower 40+ ball took away part of the speed and the “venom” of pips, demanding a physical strength that tips the equation against these styles. And that made the game a bit samey: serve, smash and more smashing. Is it fun? Sure, but I admire creative variety more than raw power. That’s where it got kind of uninteresting.

Women’s play is still creative

On the other hand, for a while now I have preferred watching the women’s matches. Penholders still perform very well. We have the pips “little auntie” Ni Xia Lian, over 60 and still wreaking havoc; North Korea’s Kim Kum-yong with long pips on the backhand and an absurdly effective style; Germany’s Sabine Winter, who swapped her backhand rubber for an anti-spin and has played memorable matches; not to mention the Indian players and their pips bathed in the Ganges River (credits to Marcelo Hilário… lol). I can’t leave out Adriana Diaz of Puerto Rico, who seems to work magic at the table, and the incredible Sun Yingsha of China. Even with conventional equipment, their matches are a joy to watch.

At the end of the day

In short, men’s matches have become boring to watch, and women’s matches are great fun.

Now I want to hear from you: do you agree with me? Which playing style do you enjoy watching most today? Tell us here in the comments.

Ma Long's Lesson!

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 21:01:00 -0300

In table tennis, the greatest hero of all time, Ma Long, did not use the same “weapon” his whole life. The story of his blades is the story of his evolution as an athlete. Many players, especially beginners and intermediates, look for the “perfect blade”, believing they will find one model that will serve them forever. Ma Long’s career teaches exactly the opposite: choosing a blade should be a journey, a process that follows and boosts the player’s technical development.

Chapter 1: the start with a pure wood blade (2011-2013)

The story: At the beginning of his domination on the world stage, Ma Long played with pure wood rackets, with no synthetic fibers. Models like the Hurricane Long 2 and, above all, the Hurricane Long 3 (7 plies of pure wood) were his choices. It was with a pure wood racket that he played the 2013 World Championships in Paris, a period marked by sublime control, extreme spin and unmatched ball feel.

🤓 360TT technical view

Ma Long, the master, started with the foundation. And that is the lesson for everyone: starting with a pure wood racket (no fiber) is essential. This is the stage where you develop correct technique, ball touch and reading of the game. A blade without carbon fibers “forgives” mistakes less and therefore forces the athlete to refine the fundamentals. It is the foundation of a great player.

Chapter 2: the great turn to carbon (2013-2014)

The story: In 2014, the sport went through a drastic change: the introduction of the 40+ plastic ball. Slower and with less spin, the new ball required athletes to generate more power on their own. Ma Long, always a strategist, realized he needed a new tool. That is when he made the transition to the legendary Hurricane Long 5 (HL5). This blade represented a technological leap, with a structure of 5 plies of wood and 2 inner plies of Arylate-Carbon (5+2 AC). He started using it back in 2013, when he won the Chinese National Championship, and from 2014 on it became his inseparable partner.

🤓 360TT technical view

This is the crucial moment in a player’s journey. When technique is solid and strokes are consistent, but speed is missing to close out points, it is time to consider a blade with fiber. Ma Long’s HL5 is the perfect example of an intelligent transition: the carbon is placed internally, next to the core. This adds speed and power but keeps a high degree of control and feel, making it the ideal step for anyone coming from a pure wood racket.

Chapter 3: the golden era of the Grand Slam (2015-2021)

The story: With the Hurricane Long 5 in his hands, Ma Long became a force of nature. It became his “champion blade”. In 2015, using the HL5 and Hurricane 3 rubbers on both sides, he won the World Championships, the World Cup and the World Tour Finals. The peak came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when he used the same setup to become the only man in history to win the Double Grand Slam (two-time Olympic, World and World Cup champion). The feat was so monumental that DHS released a commemorative edition, the Gold Slam Hurricane Long 5.

🤓 360TT technical view

Reaching your maximum potential is not about having the fastest blade from day one. It is about having the right blade at the right moment of your development. Ma Long’s most victorious phase came after he made a strategic equipment change, aligning his new blade with the maturity of his game and the new demands of the sport. That proves that proper equipment progression is a key to unlocking your best table tennis.

The 360TT expert analysis

The story does not stop. Even at the top, Ma Long and DHS kept innovating, with versions like the Hurricane Long 5X, which uses a thicker-core technology to adapt even better to the 40+ ball.

The lesson from Ma Long’s journey is clear. Don’t look for the “best blade in the world”; look for the “best blade for you, right now”. Think of your career as chapters. Start with a pure wood racket to build your fundamentals. When your game evolves and asks for more speed, make a controlled transition to a blade with inner carbon. Your blade is not a static piece; it is your partner in evolution.

Ready to find the next step in your evolution? At 360TT you will find everything from classic 5-ply blades to modern ones with Arylate-Carbon. Start writing your own story.

Now I want to hear from you: which blade do you play with today, and which chapter of your evolution do you think you are in? Tell me in the comments.

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