MAJOR LEAGUE TABLE TENNIS PRESEASON RANKING POLLS ARE OUT AND ALL WE CAN SAY IS….WOW
#1 overall draft pick Enzo Angles (FRA) will headline the Carolina Gold Rush’s prospects for victory in week one play, September 15-17, at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center main arena.
September 2, 2023 Over the course of two high-stakes and entertaining sessions in late August, the MLTT team coaches met with Major League Table Tennis Commissioner Flint Lane in the Brooklyn location of PingPod (notably in the shadow of the Barclay’s Center where the NBA holds its slightly more publicized annual event) for the inaugural 2023 MLTT Player’s Draft. With the eight teams divided evenly into East (Carolina, Florida, Princeton, Chicago) and West (Texas, Bay Area, Seattle, Portland) divisions, plus the requirement to select a quota of both US and female players, a lot of strategy and gamesmanship came into play. What resulted from a thrilling and rollercoaster draft were the eight final rosters now ready to charge into regular season battle from September to March, followed by MLTT’s version of a Final Four championship weekend.
Top female draft pick (#4 overall) Amy Wang saddles up for the Texas Smash. The first team matches in the Western Division will take place on September 22-24 at the Kaiser Permanente Center in Santa Cruz, CA.
So how did each team do? Which teams are the favorites and which are the underdogs? Which four teams will advance to the Final Four championship weekend in April, and which team is the early favorite to take home the title? In this article, we’ll offer our opinion on all these questions and more. One quick note on methodology: although we acknowledge the old sports adage “the best ability is availability,” our polling is based only on the top 5 players of each team (4 men, 1 woman). We are not accounting for attendance, which we know will be a huge factor in the upcoming season, but it just brings up too many variables. Maybe in a future article we will analyze the bench strength of each team, but for this poll we are only considering the best-case scenario lineups playing each other. Additionally, due to the importance of the Golden Game format in which many team matches might be decided by a critical 21-point game in which all 5 players on a team must rotate in for 4 points each, there is a premium placed on a team’s depth…in the Golden Game, a critical game-within-the-game situation, the #5 player on the team is just about as important as the #1. Got it? Then without further ado, we’ll start in reverse order with the Eastern Division.
#4 East: Florida Crocs
Daniel Gorak, Florida Man! Gorak in action from his days on the Polish national team. The Florida Crocs will lean heavily on the #2 pick this season.
We can already hear the howls of indignant fans throughout the Sunshine State…the comments section of several social media sites have been jammed with fired up Crocs fans talking up their squad in recent days, and so being picked to finish last in the east isn’t gonna sit well with them. But while Daniel Gorak (POL) is a natural choice as their #1, and Matilda Ekholm (USA) the 6x national champion of bordtennis-mad Sweden and former world #20, gives Coach Frank Arias multiple lineup options, the fact of the matter is that there’s a bit of a drop-off after these two. And while the Crocs may prove to be the league’s most entertaining team with firebrand veterans Daniel Gonzalez (PUR), Marc Duran (SPA) and Benjamin Brossier (FRA), the big question is whether these three can rise up to the level of competition in the east, where the rosters run deep. One thing we know for sure is that the fiery trio of Gonzalez/Duran/Brossier all have the ability to up their game to meet the moment. These guys are hardly noobs, each with extensive and impressive career resumés. So while they may start the season as the Least of the East, would it surprise anyone if they became the Cinderella team? One thing we can say for sure, this team is gonna be fun to watch and we will be lining up for the Florida Crocs merch as soon as it’s available.
#3 East: Chicago Wind
He’s both a scholar and a gentleman, and he will kick your butt in Mario Kart. Damien Provost takes on the top gun burden for the City with Broad Shoulders. The #5 draft pick is not only a formidable opponent but also an MLTT ambassador. Give him his props!
Coach Eric Owens had his work cut out for him as his team drafted from perhaps the most challenging position (4th team to select out of the east) in the draft. He wisely decided to go with a heavy dose of veteran savvy, starting with his top pick Damien Provost (FRA), a true workhorse of a player with strong character and who brings a ton of positive leadership qualities to the squad. Dan Liu (USA) and Alex Cazacu (ROM) also provide a wealth of tournament and league experience…but on paper at least, they’re looking up at their counterparts among the east’s elite. One of the big surprise picks of the draft in an otherwise veteran-laden lineup was lefty heartthrob Daniele Pinto (ITA) who obviously impressed Owens with his spectacular performance at the east combine…beauty before age is all the rage these days, and Pinto is a charismatic young performer on the rise who has the potential to elevate his play and will be hunting upsets. Emily Tan (USA) will be a battler if matched up against the other women in the east, but her attacking style and fast footwork may prove to be highly valuable as part of a doubles tandem. Although we have them ranked #3 in the east, Chicago is also our dark horse pick of the season, given their intriguing balance of maturity and youth. Only time will tell which way the Wind will blow, for now we have them just out of playoff contention…just barely. Cause it’s almost a toss-up between Chicago and…(keep reading):
#2 East: Carolina Gold Rush
Think you’re good? Hong Lin could switch to shakehands grip and still bust you up. The Carolina Gold Rush hit pay dirt when they selected her as the 2nd woman in the draft with the #16 pick overall.
When you have the #1 pick in the draft, you’ve got one job and that’s to land yourself a stud to headline your team…and Enzo Angles (FRA) certainly fits the bill. A top 100 player in the world who at 28 years old is in the prime of his playing career, fully committed to the league and a lefty for doubles too? Yes, please! Coach Alex Yang certainly ticked off many boxes on his team’s draft wish list when he selected Angles, while simultaneously ticking off many other coaches by taking him off the board. With the 2nd round pick, Yang selected arguably the top woman available in the east, penholder Hong Lin (CHN). This was a huge risk-reward pick, as other teams subsequently scooped up many of the remaining top male players. When it was their turn again, Coach Yang turned to youth and potential. Kai Zhang (USA) and Bastien Dupont (FRA) are rising young talents with tremendous upside, but they will be facing formidable veterans almost every time they step onto the court. How they perform this coming season will be critical to the team’s title aspirations. The absolutely heaven-sent addition of Romain Lorentz (FRA), who had inexplicably dropped to the 5th round of the draft (seriously, how did that happen?), gives the Gold Rush a plus-plus backstop at the end of their rotation. It’s for this reason - the Enzo angle, so to speak - and the strength of Lin as the top woman in the east that we are giving Carolina the slight nod over Chicago. But it’s a sliver of a margin.
#1 East: Princeton Revolution
Class is in session, and Jinxin “The Professor” Wang is now teaching PONG 501 at Princeton, a graduate level course on the physics of pummeling your opponent into submission. The solution for that pain you feel can be described as Force = Mass x Acceleration.
Class dismissed!
Tough to find any major weaknesses in Coach Mathias Habesohn’s squad. Top to bottom, the Revolution will be sending up players who are used to winning. A lot. In “The Professor” Jinxin Wang (USA) at the #1 spot, and Jishan Liang (USA) at #2, they’ve got two absolute bangers who can also team up to form perhaps the east’s most formidable doubles pairing. De Saintilan (FRA) is a defensive style player who is known for his fiery disposition and spectacular shot-making. Like Lorentz for Carolina, Ievegeni Pryschepa (UKR) probably should have been drafted much earlier and so he provides Princeton with a silent assassin in the cleanup spot. Angela Guan (USA) is also a chopper (Princeton is the only team with two defensive players on their roster), a patient and committed defender who will test her opponents’ composure all season long. Here’s how we see it: although the eastern division teams are all very close, no other team in the east can quite match Princeton’s depth. It’s the most well-constructed roster on the right side of the Mississippi. So we are officially spilling the tea: put a target on their backs, every match is going to be a dogfight but we think The Revolution is the team to beat in the east!
WESTERN DIVISION RANKINGS
Are the best all in the west? Given the number of top players - both male and female - who declared themselves exclusively for the West Division, logic dictates that the powerhouse teams might all be from the west. On the flip side of the coin, this also led to a tendency for the western teams to be top-heavy in their construction. This also led to some fascinating rosters. So strap yourselves in, here we go with the predictions for the MLTT western conference!
#4 West, Portland Paddlers
Jiwei Xia sure cleans up nice…but can we request the return of the topknot? Xia and teammate Kou Lei will need to rack up the wins for Portland if they’re to make The Paddlers a force in the west.
You gotta play the hand dealt to you, right? With just the 4th and 5th picks out of the west, Coach Christian Lillieroos must have been feeling positively Rip City when both Jiwei Xia (USA) and especially the mighty Kou Lei (UKR) tumbled for undisclosed reasons in the draft, and squarely into his lap. The consensus #1 player in all pre-draft reports, Kou was expected to go much earlier…but Texas, Bay Area and Seattle all employed different drafting strategies. Portland therefore finds itself with a two-headed monster at the top of its roster, and a solid player in Rachel Sung (USA) as well. But after that is when the roster starts to feel a little stretched thin, as Portland’s drafting position meant a lot of sitting on his hands before Coach Lillieroos could round out his starting five. He went with a Swedish connection when selecting 22-year old Jonatan McDonald (SWE), and then sailed to the other side of the world seeking island breezes and Barbados’ national champion Tyrese Knight (BAR), a charismatic young defender. Portland ends up being one of the most fascinating teams in the league, with class-of-the-league level talent up top, but big question marks down the line. You can almost write in the wins for Kou and Xia, but how far they go this season will depend on so much on what they get from Rachel, Jonatan and Tyrese. And we are totally here for it!
#3 West, Seattle Spinners
We don’t understand why Seattle drafted a movie star instead of…wait a second, what’s that? Technical difficulties, please stand by…
Oops sorry, a case of mistaken identity. But if you ask us, Seattle’s #1 Nikhil Kumar is way handsomer than that other guy!
The youth movement is in full swing in the Emerald City and we love that Coach Luda Sadovska has fully embraced it…on the downside, look for her to be alone at the hotel bar after the kids have gone to sleep. These young guns from Seattle might be youthful in appearance, but their games are anything but green. Nikhil Kumar (USA) is often mentioned as the most cerebral and intelligent US national team member. Aditya Sareen (AUS) is the current U-15 Boys’ champion of Australia and wields a blockbuster backhand that reminds us of prime Jimmy Butler. They form a potent one-two punch up top with the potential to beat anyone thrown their way on any given day. Fabiola Diaz (PUR), the youngest of the Diaz Dynasty, is a dead ringer in style with her older sister (world #13 Adriana) down to that signature backhand punch shot that was on full display at the eastern combine last month. Andrew Cao (USA), a rapidly improving junior with a power game rounds out this squad along with Olajide Omotayo (NGR), the “geezer” on this team at the ripe old age of 28, who in 2019 defeated none other than Quadri Aruna to claim the gold in men’s singles at the African Games. While one could say this team is a year or two of seasoning away from seriously contending, patience isn’t usually a virtue found in the young, so don’t expect Seattle to be playing the long game. As with Chicago in the east, Seattle is our dark horse pick for the west. ‘Nuff said, just cue up “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and let these kids rock!
#2 West, Texas Smash
Texas’ main man of few words but plentiful action, David MacBeath (pronounced “MacBeth”)
“It is a tale…full of sound and fury” - William Shakespeare
Coach Jorg Bitzigeio was undoubtedly thinking Texas Big when he made perhaps the most surprising pick of the draft at #4 (and the first pick out of all West Division teams) when he selected world #68 Amy Wang (USA), one of the top 2 women available and maybe the coolest cat in the league…does her heart rate ever go over 80? Bitzigeio displayed additional savvy when he lassoed internationals David McBeath (ENG) and Hiromitsu Kasahara (JPN) with his next two picks. McBeath probably fell in the draft after struggling at the east coast combine. While the famously laconic MacBeath refused to make any excuses, it was known that he’s still on the comeback from recent surgery. Assuming he’s fully healed and back into his usual form, he will be a mainstay for The Smash. Kasahara is an enigmatic player, who made a name for himself in the early 2010’s but then disappeared from international play for a number of years. He’s had some big wins since returning, however, including a big win over Kou Lei at the 2019 US Open. Coach Bitzigeio then rounded off his lineup with young guns Nandan Naresh (USA) and Darryl Tsao (USA). And while the Seattle lineup might still seem flashier and more dynamic, we are giving the slight tip of the cowboy hat to Texas here because of the experience factor and “Cool Hand” Amy.
#1 West, Bay Area Blasters
Pong. Or pong not. There is no try. Bay Area Blasters’ Wenzhang Tao is a Jedi-level master of the game, as find out you soon will Padawans and Younglings, when Order 11-0 he executes.
As close to a perfect lineup as you’re gonna find in the west. Coach Maggie Tian has done a masterful job constructing a roster that is equal parts experience and power. You know what, let’s just her ask for a tour! Walking through the Bay Area’s Golden Gate, what’s the first thing we see? Oh, it’s master penholder Wenzhang Tao (USA) demolishing his opponent with a devastating serve and 3rd ball attack. Then it’s Ma Jinbao (USA), equally indomitable from either forehand or backhand sides and utterly relentless in pressing his attack. Already you can see that many opposing teams are looking at an early hole against the Blasters. What’s this?! Could it really be world #26 Lily Zhang (USA)! OMG she will give anyone she faces more than they can handle, likely extending the winning streak for the NorCal squad. Up next is the crafty Cybershape-wielding Lashin Elsayed (EGY) weaving his magic spells and sorcery..think Gandalf, but much cooler and with rock-hard biceps…holding up his stop sign of a paddle while bellowing YOU SHALL NOT PASS! If the league plans on giving an award to the player who exhibits the most joy while playing, our money’s on Elsayed, his love for the game is infectious, an absolute pleasure and privilege to watch. Finally, in the #5 spot is Tianrui Zhang (CHN) who essentially beat everyone he played at the west coast combine. OK that ends the tour but do you believe us now? Bay Area’s got the Western Conference on BLAST.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
We will publish a revised mid-season team ranking poll after the midway point of the season, or more specifically, after the much-anticipated Cross Division Event on Nov 30-Dec 3 in Rock Hill, SC, which like interleague play in the MLB, will pit East Division and West Division teams against each other. In the meantime, here is our final, very unscientific preseason poll of all eight teams ranked:
#1 Bay Area Blasters
#2 Princeton Revolution
#3 Texas Smash
#4 Carolina Gold Rush
#5 Chicago Wind
#6 Seattle Spinners
#7 Florida Crocs
#8 Portland Paddlers
We’re awarding the top spot to The Bay Area Blasters as their roster is a distinct step above Princeton and the rest of the comp. Also, we had a virtual tie between Texas, Carolina, Seattle and Chicago for the 3rd spot, but ties are a weak sauce cop-out so we forced ourselves to rank them and experience/depth proved to be the deciding factor to award that 3rd spot to Texas. Just be aware that the difference between these teams is really, really miniscule. This obviously bodes well for exciting and close competition this season. Florida and Portland, you have your locker room bulletin board material. Print it out, pin it up, and play with a chip on your shoulders. Nothing would make us happier than you guys proving us wrong, because your teams are going to be entertaining as hell. Texas/Carolina/Seattle/Chicago, which one of you is going to rise up out of the pack and challenge the favorites? And Bay Area, you’ve officially got the bullseye on your back!
So there you have it, the first MLTT preseason poll. Do you agree, disagree, disagree vehemently, disagree so vehemently that you want to find out this reporter’s identity and punch him in the face? Make your opinion heard. We know that these rankings will rankle some, but it’s all meant in good fun to stir the pot and add to the debate about which team is gonna take home the title at the end of this season. We’ll see you table side soon!
Eastern Division September Event will take place at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center Arena, Sept 15-17.
Buy your tickets now here.
Western Division September Event will take place at the Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, CA, Sept 22-24. Buy your tickets now here.
And for the first half of the season’s competition schedule and event location info, click here.
