YORKTON - For many table tennis is just a recreational activity typically played in basements, garages and game rooms.
But it is much more with millions playing worldwide and the sport competed in at the highest levels.
That high level now includes a professional league in the United States.
Major League Table Tennis was founded in 2023 by software entrepreneur and table tennis enthusiast, Flint Lane, the first match of the season taking place in Daytona Beach on Sep. 15, 2023.
MLTT features world class players — the best in America — representing 40 total countries, and competes in an innovative team game format. It’s an 8-team format, and the 8 teams are the Bay Area Blasters, Chicago Wind, Carolina Gold Rush, Florida Crocs, Princeton Revolution, Portland Paddlers, Seattle Spinners and Texas Smash, notes the league’s website.
“Of course it’s (the league) really quite a deal,” offered Edward Ly, a player from Montreal playing in MLTT with the Carolina Gold Rush.
Ly, a Canadian Olympian in table tennis said having what is essentially a domestic pro league for North American players was always something hoped for, but that for years seemed unlikely.
Then MLTT launched and Ly said he was immediately impressed.
“I saw it was a really professional league. I was really happy,” he said.
The early results suggest MLTT is carving out a place in US sports, with the league already announcing it will expand by two teams next season. So, down the road could that mean a team in Canada?
“I don’t know if the league is going to be in Canada,” said Ly, but added as it is the MLTT provides an opportunity for top Canadian players to play closer to home.
The league also offers players an opportunity to play against top level talent drawn to the opportunity to play in the US is a league with a unique format.
“At every team match, there are 21 points at stake. For every game won by a player, each team is awarded one point. There are three games per match-up, and the match-up format is two singles, one doubles, two singles. It all concludes with the Golden Game, a pulse-pounding race to 21 points where every member of each 5-person team rotates in every four points. The winning team gets another six points, which can dramatically change the outcome,” explains the website.
Ly, who at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta., won three gold medals representing his home province of Quebec, said typically matches are a best-of-five in international table tennis, but the three-game format changes things, especially as every game is a potential team point.
“You’ve got to stay focused,” he said, adding you can win the first two but want the third one for the point too.
The format is a draw for talent.
“They want to experience the new format. . . No where else in the world plays like this,” said Ly. “. . . It’s great experience for any player.”
Certainly in Ly’s case he brings a wealth of international experience to MLTT his first major games being the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The following year, in July, Ly was named to Canada’s 2023 Pan American Games team. Ly would help the Canadian men’s team to a silver medal at the Pan American Championships in September 2023. The win also secured 2024 Olympics qualification for the team.
At the 2024 Pan American Cup, Ly was called up last minute to replace Eugene Wang. Ly would go onto win the gold medal at the event, jumping his world ranking to 36th. In June 2024, Ly qualified to compete for Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Now Ly is focused on MLTT, which he sees as a vehicle to drive the sport to higher prominence on this continent. He said having a pro league raises the sport profile and from there “I think the sport is going to grow a lot.”
Ly added if people just give table tennis a real try they are going to like it.
“Table tennis is a sport for anyone,” he assured.
