Friday Fireworks
‍

What a weekend in Pleasanton! Six matches in three days, packed with twists, turns, and breakout performances. If you tuned into TableTennis.TV, you saw why this league doesn’t waste time warming up—every showdown felt like a final. Let’s dive into the highlights, commentator-style.

• ‍Texas Smash vs. Bay Area Blasters - The Smash came out looking like they’d been waiting all year for this. Kasahara, Wang, Monteiro—boom, boom, boom. Up 9–6 before the Golden Game, and then they slammed the door 21–17. Smash 15, Blasters 6.
  

Meanwhile, the Blasters shuffled their lineup—no Taehyun Kim, no Baek Kwang-Il. That opened the door for free agents Senura Silva and Ved Sheth. Sheth, the Cal Berkeley student and NCTTA standout, swung with all his might and showed plenty of fight. He pushed two matches to golden points and battled to 9–9 in two others, but ultimately went 0–9 in games. The crowd loved his energy, and while he wasn’t able to put points on the board for his team, he earned plenty of respect for stepping straight into MLTT’s elite level.

• Portland Paddlers vs. Florida Crocs - The Paddlers were dialed in. Hampus Nordberg, Kotomi Omoda, and Dongsoo Kang turned the Crocs into spectators, building a 10–5 lead and finishing the job with a Golden Game win for a 16–5 score. Florida, missing Liam Pitchford, dug themselves into an early hole and never found the momentum to climb out. After the initial loss, the Crocs clearly needed a spark to get their Season 3 campaign going—or risk landing in the early hot seat. What came next was unreal.
  

Saturday Surprises
‍

• Florida Crocs vs. Texas Smash - Now this was drama. Florida trailed 7–8 heading into the Golden Game, with their backs against the wall. Enter Marc Durán, Daniel Gorak, Peiyu Zhu, and Chihwei Yeh. The Crocs pulled together, fighting for every rally.
  

Zhu backhand pick-hit, and forehand smashed her way onto center court, stunning Olympian Amy Wang 3–0 in singles. She wasn’t done—later in the Golden Game, Zhu nipped Wang 5–3 to set up the Gorak vs. Monteiro heartstopper. Zhu also took down Bay Area’s Ge Chi (2–1) before finally dropping a thriller to Kotomi Omoda, who quietly went 2–1 for Portland.

The Golden Game came down to the ultimate golden point—21–20. Daniel Gorak, looking like his vintage Season One self, stepped up and delivered. One serve and a backhand attack later, and Gorak had toppled João Monteiro to give the Crocs a 13–8 victory. That’s the kind of finish that defines MLTT.

• Portland Paddlers vs. Bay Area Blasters - Portland didn’t let up. Another 16–5 win. But the match gave us one of the weekend’s highlights: Jens Lundquist, trailing 3–9 against Ved Sheth, clawed back to win 11–10 on a Golden Point. The Veteran Viking showed he still had it.

Sunday Showdowns
‍

• Blasters vs. Crocs - Elsayed “The Arab Lion” Lashin owned the weekend. Three matches, three wins. He played with style, speed, and heart, helping to seal a 13–8 Blasters victory. Against Portland, Nordberg even said it felt like playing Xu Xin out there. High praise—and well deserved.
  

• Smash vs. Paddlers - Two 2–0 teams, one chance to stay perfect. Texas delivered a statement win, 16–5, and it was convincing from the start. Kang Dong-Soo gave Portland an early spark with a 2–1 win over David McBeath, and Hampus Nordberg added another by outlasting Hiromitsu Kasahara 2–1. But Texas took everything else. Amy Wang was rock solid, sweeping Kotomi Omoda 3–0, Kasahara/Liang dominated doubles, and João Monteiro edged Nikhil Kumar 2–1.
  

The Golden Game was all Texas. Wang, McBeath, Naresh, Kasahara, and Monteiro combined for a 21–12 rout, slamming the door and moving the Smash to 2–1 on the season. Monteiro showed grit all weekend, Amy Wang was rock solid vs. Omoda, and Nandan Naresh again looked fearless in his Golden Game rotation—exactly the depth that makes Texas dangerous.

Tactical Nuggets
‍

• Kang the Chopper - Portland’s Dongsoo Kang went 3–0, chopping everything in sight. He literally chopped the cover off the (Butterfly R40+) ball. And when he wasn’t chopping he was ripping loops from both sides!
  

• Open Serve Doubles - Aggression wins. Teams that forced the offense walked away with the points. Expect more experiments as coaches look for that perfect pair.

• Hometown Hero - Lily Zhang made one appearance for the Blasters, taking the court against Portland’s Kotomi Omoda. Kotomi came in fearless, unleashing her all-out attacking style to claim a huge win over the Olympian. It was one of the weekend’s standout moments and a reminder that MLTT gives rising stars the chance to shine against the very best.

Standings After Week 1
‍

West Division

• Texas Smash: 2–1 (.619)
• Portland Paddlers: 2–1 (.587)
• Bay Area Blasters: 1–2 (.381)
  

East Division

• Florida Crocs: 1–2 (.413)
• Atlanta Blazers, New York Slice, Carolina Gold Rush, Princeton Revolution: waiting in the wings.
  

What’s Next
‍

‍The league shifts east to Charlotte, September 19–21. That’s when we’ll finally see the Atlanta Blazers, New York Slice, Carolina Gold Rush, and Princeton Revolution. If this weekend was any indication, the Golden Game will keep deciding matches, and new stars are about to hit the spotlight.

And for the stat-heads, the Spindex Ratings and Power Rankings are already updated. Portland’s Kang Dong-Soo leads the Power Rankings at 794.8, while Texas star Nandan Naresh climbs to #2, boosted by his fearless Golden Game play.

Check out the latest updates and grab your Charlotte tickets here:

• MLTT Results
  
• Spindex Ratings
  
• Power Rankings
  
• Tickets for Charlotte