Calderano Signs with Joola (#139)

[NextLevel]

When it comes to choosing players to be sponsored by the company, ranking position is not the decisive factor. This is especially true for Butterfly. They pay close attention to the player’s personality, the story surrounding them, the country they come from, and their marketability. They have to be marketable.


I think Hugo is ideal for Butterfly because of his personality—he has that rare athletic spark, he’s interesting from multiple angles, he’s simply classy. And he has a lovely girlfriend, Bruna

There have been excellent players with dull or problematic personalities, and that’s not appealing to Butterfly. Reputation comes first.

The decisive factor is whether signing the athlete will lead to more sales and whether the cost of signing him is worth it in extra sales. Hugo would give them a stranglehold on marketing in South America and more broadly Pan America. When we look at it, they have Fan Zhendong, Harimoto, Qiu Dang, Ovtcharo, Boll, Lin Shidong, Kallberg, Assar, Jha. There is an obvious gap in Latin America. Butterfly has squeezed lower ranked players on contracts which is why many of them go with Tibhar, Donic, Andro etc. Because thoae brands pay them more than Butterfly even if you think Butterfly produces better equipment. So players need to balance equipment quality with being paid enough.

Hugo would fill a major gap and give them the biggest name in a different market. And his ranking is important because it makes him the best possible player in that market similar to other players Butterfly has recently used.

I really hope DHS gets him.

 

[kapahoo]

XIOM.TT

© XIOM.TT All rights reserved.

xiom.global

XIOM.TT

© XIOM.TT All rights reserved.

xiom.global

No real successor to the HAL. The 36.5-blades seems to be back though.

 

[joshmak10]

It would be nice if he got a DHS contract and pushed DHS to make some decent hybrid rubbers.🫣

8-80 exists tho

 

[Zwill]

8-80 exists tho

Even better ones

 

[joshmak10]

Even better ones

Imo, 8-80 is just basically Dignics 09c with a slightly lower throw. And I think 09c is the best hybrid. It’s very subjective however.

 

[Zwill]

I think 8-80 is pretty good but one can always wish for better.

 

[longle]

8-80 exists tho

I don't think 8-80 even comes close to D09c, not even C55

I think Butterfly will suit Hugo better, if he makes the changes of equipment

 

[joshmak10]

I don't think 8-80 even comes close to D09c, not even C55

I think Butterfly will suit Hugo better, if he makes the changes of equipment

Interesting, what makes you think 8-80 not come close to 09c or C55? I haven’t tried C55 but 8-80 boosted is close to identical to 09c for me

 

[doppelmoral]

XIOM.TT

© XIOM.TT All rights reserved.

xiom.global

XIOM.TT

© XIOM.TT All rights reserved.

xiom.global

seems like XIOM lost hugo, which is unfortunate
the new catalogue is a mess, alot of renaming and rebranding and its hard to maintain an overview
I assume the quality of their products will remain very high though

 

[Migzkulit]

Imo, 8-80 is just basically Dignics 09c with a slightly lower throw. And I think 09c is the best hybrid. It’s very subjective however.

8-80 isnt fast enough 🥲
D09c has better feeling with or without boost.
C55 is faster than D09c, faster than 8-80.
Also three different sponge feelings,
Literally german, japanese, chinese sponge 🥴

 

[NextLevel]

Interesting, what makes you think 8-80 not come close to 09c or C55? I haven’t tried C55 but 8-80 boosted is close to identical to 09c for me

It's generally not hard enough for someone who likes to hit really hard. Everyone does it a little differently to be fair.

 

[golden_son]

Agreed, 8-80 feels like a first-generation precursor to D09c at best. Still a solid BH choice but not really in the same tier. That said I haven't used the Provincial version which is supposed to be livelier.

DHS is interesting. They're sort of resting on their laurels as far as equipment goes; they don't seem to be innovating nearly as much as the other manufacturers. But I guess why would you when you have a singular rubber (H3; or pair if you count Neo) that is just as popular nearly 25 years after release? They have partnered with ESN for a pretty good Euro-style rubber (Gold Arc 8/9) so I imagine they could easily do so for a true hybrid if they wanted to, but I guess the thinking is why bother when a player can just buy H3 (or even H8-80) and boost.

From an EJ perspective, I imagine we'd get more out of a Hugo+BTY partnership. From a fan perspective, it would be more interesting to see Hugo+DHS. Does DHS sponsor any non-Chinese pro players currently? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

 

[GreenAura123]

Does DHS sponsor any non-Chinese pro players currently? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Andreas Levenko is DHS. And most members of the Korean National Team keep use DHS blades, mostly W968, but I believe Shin Yu Bin is fully sponsored by DHS since she had used her own blade in the past.

 

[zeio]

I have no idea why DHS doesn't publicize their overseas sponsored players. Besides the recent ones from AUS and USA, there were 29 of them as of 7/2024.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/dhs-sponsored-players-list.35714/post-490374

As of 7/2024, DHS has 29 overseas contract players from JPN, KOR and SGP etc., 13 of which within the top 100 in WR.

“奥运经济”持续升温 中国运动品牌加速“出海”
https://finance.sina.com.cn/jjxw/2024-07-25/doc-incfhhzs6810756.shtml

　　上述上海红双喜相关人士表示，近年来红双喜品牌全球影响力不断加强，除了中国队外，红双喜国际签约队员共计29人，其中13人排名世界前一百。目前已有9名国际球员拿到奥运会门票，公司签约的国际球员分布于日本、韩国、新加坡等地。

 

[SilvestriDaVini]

I wasn’t really believing the rumor, but after seeing the 2026 XIOM catalogue, it seems to indicate that he’s leaving, right? No photo or even a name mention of the company’s star player. It’s unfortunate, because I really liked their partnership. Hugo to DHS would be very interesting...

 

[JackJohnson]

Andreas Levenko is DHS. And most members of the Korean National Team keep use DHS blades, mostly W968, but I believe Shin Yu Bin is fully sponsored by DHS since she had used her own blade in the past.

I do wonder how do those Koreans get their DHS blades and rubbers from if they are sponsored by other table tennis brands. Would DHS be reluctant to give them player version blades and rubbers at a cost or do these players have to buy from third parties.

 

[TTLOVE]

I wasn’t really believing the rumor, but after seeing the 2026 XIOM catalogue, it seems to indicate that he’s leaving, right? No photo or even a name mention of the company’s star player. It’s unfortunate, because I really liked their partnership. Hugo to DHS would be very interesting...

Yeah I saw the catalogue, no Hugo, they rebrand all the blades, apart from Lee seung soo blades.
I hope Hugo goes Butterfly.
If that happens I think there will be a Calderano CNF, wood feeling that hugo like maybe little bit harder than revoldia cnf

 

[longle]

Interesting, what makes you think 8-80 not come close to 09c or C55? I haven’t tried C55 but 8-80 boosted is close to identical to 09c for me

the #80 sponge is not strong enough if you do BH counter attack. I have played a lot of DHS rubbers and have to admit most of their sponges are.. mediocre, only some versions of H3 sponges are good (Recently they have this 710s sponge which is really, really good, but hard to buy. I am using the H8 version of this sponge, which is called H8-20, I can say it has almost same shot quality as D09c on BH)

 

[SilvestriDaVini]

Yeah I saw the catalogue, no Hugo, they rebrand all the blades, apart from Lee seung soo blades.
I hope Hugo goes Butterfly.
If that happens I think there will be a Calderano CNF, wood feeling that hugo like maybe little bit harder than revoldia cnf

Hugo moving to Butterfly is probably what makes the most sense for both parties.

I hope Hugo continues having unique game shirts like he did with XIOM. The current Butterfly ones are a bit bland lol

 

[Nolemsk]

Look like DHS right ? Inner blade with a carbon fiber, and a large outer ply