Please advise a racket worth ± $ 50

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Hello everyone, I want to buy a racket for table tennis, and go with it to a new level. Please advise a racket worth ± $ 50. Thank you in advance!
 
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Hello everyone, I want to buy a racket for table tennis, and go with it to a new level. Please advise a racket worth ± $ 50. Thank you in advance!
 
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Hello everyone, I want to buy a racket for table tennis, and go with it to a new level. Please advise a racket worth ± $ 50. Thank you in advance!
 
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If you want a wood blade, you can get good Sanwei or Yinhe blades for $20 or 30 on Aliexpress.

If you want a carbon blade, I would personally recommend Stuor or Lemuria blades. Very impressed by the quality and play of these.
 
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I bought Yasaka Sweden Extra with two Yinhe Mercury 2 rubbers for two colleagues as the first "proper" racket and it played very nice.
It was about 50$ for the whole setup, but of course in other countries 50$ might not be enough to buy those items (that does not include the glue).
But whether that is a good racket as the first "proper" one - that should be answered by somebody more competent than me :)
 
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Hi Bagachov,

You've not mentioned your current level of play.. So, I'm going to just give you options, for different types of blades & rubbers..

Blades
  • Sanwei M8 - Superb blade.. .. unmatched price:performance.. around the same speed or even more than Stiga allround Evolution. .. I've seen it on Aliexpress for anything between $5 and $12
  • Sanwei Accumulator S - Sanwei touts it as an upgrade to M8.. I haven't played with it.. Costs around $15
  • XVT Archer -B Carbon - More of a woody feel than carbon ... decent blade - $10
  • XVT Black Wood - Fairly decent allround blade for beginners - $5 - $8
  • XVT Black Knight 7 - Stiff, Hard and pretty fast carbon blade.. Excellent for flat-hits, and blocks.. Not for beginners or even advanced beginners.. $10 - $15
  • Sanwei Fextra - 7-ply blade, kind of similar to Stiga Clipper, but a wee bit faster.. I'd recommend this, if you're an advance beginner.. I've seen this sell for $19 - $25
There're tons of other good blades in the above price-range, but these are the ones that come to mind right now, and ones I've tried or played with..

Rubbers
  • Friendship Focus III Snipe - Medium speed, do-it-all non-tacky (euro/jap) type of rubber.. works well with most blades.. Around $10 - $15
  • Sanwei T88-III - Medium speed, Medium hard, Medium Tacky rubber.. Offer very good control .. ... $10 - $15
  • Palio AK47 - There are 4 or 5 variants of the Palio AK47 series... I'd suggest either Blue, Yellow or Red sponge, depending on your skill level.. These are non-tacky, Euro/Jap style rubbers.. I've played with Blue, Yellow & Red, and I like them all .. All cost anything between $9 - $15
  • Palio HK1997 Gold - Hardísh medium-tacky rubber.. Offers good spin, & speed.. I can top-spin, flat-hit, and even block quite well with this rubber.. The tackiness wear-off after some time.. $10 - $12
There are many many more low-cost options in all types of rubbers from brands 729, Yinhe, Palio, LKT etc..

PLEASE NOTE : Most of the above-mentioned prices are from online stores, like AliExpress, Eacheng, Princett etc..

Hope you find a blade that suits your game, and budget... Good luck!
 
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How is the speed of hk1997 vs ak47?

Is it the same sponge but just harder version? Because they have the same package design, and they are often sold within the same product page online.
 
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How is the speed of hk1997 vs ak47?

Is it the same sponge but just harder version? Because they have the same package design, and they are often sold within the same product page online.

Yes, the HK1997 Gold has a similar packaging as the AK47 series, and on stores like AliExpress, it's often lumped together with the AK47 series..

So, I have the HK1997, on a Defplay V3, and the AK47, on a VKMO & a very stiff, hard and fast unbranded blade.. So, the blade would also play a part in my perception of the rubber..

HK1997 Gold vs AK47-Red - I'd say HK1997 seems to have a harder sponge .. Speed-wise, the AK47-Red seems faster at top-end... HK1977 seems more controlled. HK1997 seems to have more range in speed.. I feel, the AK47 Red produced a bit more spin, on serves, pushes, and even top-spins.. But, topspins produced by HK1997 seem to have a kick to them.. This is not my observation, but feedback from several opponents, only when I play with the HK1997. Both are good at Blocking and jabbing, but I'm more consistent with HK1997 .. I can flat-hit equally well with both rubbers..
 
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