Joola Liam Pitchford Z vs Kenji Matudaira Z

[CallMeZaddy]

Both blades are going to be released on 7/21 and looks like they have the same composition. Is the only difference the color in handle? @Matt Hetherington

KENJI MATSUDAIRA Z *PRE-ORDER ITEM Kenji Matsudaira Z, Kenji Matsudaira Racket, Pre-order, Release July 21 2026, Table Tennis Blade [TGRAC023000000] - 21,250円 : TT-JAPAN TABLE TENNIS STORE TOMIOKA OF JAPAN

Kenji Matsudaira, Table Tennis, Blade, Pre-order, ARY-c, Shakehand, 2026 Release

tt-japan.net

LIAM PITCHFORD Z *PRE-ORDER ITEM Liam Pitchford Z, Liam Pitchford Racket, Pre-order, Release July 21 2026, Table Tennis Blade [TGRAC022000000] - 21,250円 : TT-JAPAN TABLE TENNIS STORE TOMIOKA OF JAPAN

Liam Pitchford, Table Tennis, Blade, Pre-order, ARY-c, Shakehand, 2026 Release, Great Britain Ace

tt-japan.net

 

[piligrim]

Koto and Limba

 

[CallMeZaddy]

They both have speed 8, control 9 though

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Pitchford blade is koto outer, Kenji is limba outer.

 

[ck1407]

Pitchford blade is koto outer, Kenji is limba outer.

Are they equivalent to zqh 90 & 45? I notice pitchford and kenji are "made in China" while zqh blades are made in Korea

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Are they equivalent to zqh 90 & 45? I notice pitchford and kenji are "made in China" while zqh blades are made in Korea

They are in some ways, different supplier and cured aramid carbon composite layer.

 

[ck1407]

They are in some ways, different supplier and cured aramid carbon composite layer.

Oh... Thanks for sharing the info. Hope u stocked up enough zqh 90s for your own usage

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Oh... Thanks for sharing the info. Hope u stocked up enough zqh 90s for your own usage

I tend to keep hold of my blades for longer so I use them for a lengthy period of time. There will be more updates on that blade at some point in the near future

 

[Novarac23]

Pitchford blade is koto outer, Kenji is limba outer.

Do you know when Liams blade will come to US market? Was eyeing the website for one for a bit (mostly to support Pitch and to try it out for fun) but it looks like its not out yet here in the US of A

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Do you know when Liams blade will come to US market? Was eyeing the website for one for a bit (mostly to support Pitch and to try it out for fun) but it looks like its not out yet here in the US of A

It’s moving along slowly, Pitch is still recovering so it’ll probably align with his comeback debut 😁

 

[Kawa]

Any updates on those blades?

 

[mocker88]

According to my Joola contact they will be shipped out to retailers in the end of November this year.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Do you know when Liams blade will come to US market? Was eyeing the website for one for a bit (mostly to support Pitch and to try it out for fun) but it looks like its not out yet here in the US of A

I have some heading to the US currently, hoping we may be able to launch in early October, we will see how the timing looks for everywhere else

 

[NextLevel]

Looks like Pitchford is back and in great form - what is he playing with now?

 

[Novarac23]

Yeah would love to hear more about Liams blade and what he is using now

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Yeah would love to hear more about Liams blade and what he is using now

Hybrid aramid carbon with a koto outer, just got some in to US so should be available within the next week. He went 4/4 so far in TTBL! 💪🏽

 

[NextLevel]

Hybrid aramid carbon with a koto outer, just got some in to US so should be available within the next week. He went 4/4 so far in TTBL! 💪🏽

Is he using the Hugo rubbers with purple sponge? It would be funny after all these positive reviews of Hugo's rubbers if he is still using his old Xiom rubbers as some have rumored...

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Is he using the Hugo rubbers with purple sponge? It would be funny after all these positive reviews of Hugo's rubbers if he is still using his old Xiom rubbers as some have rumored...

Why would that be funny? Also if people are making positive reviews it’s because they like the rubber, so even if Hugo changed to hardbat tomorrow how would that impact other people’s opinions of his rubber who have tried them?

 

[Matt Hetherington]

Is he using the Hugo rubbers with purple sponge? It would be funny after all these positive reviews of Hugo's rubbers if he is still using his old Xiom rubbers as some have rumored...

Rumors are rumors for a reason. I prefer to deal with facts 😅

 

[NextLevel]

Why would that be funny? Also if people are making positive reviews it’s because they like the rubber, so even if Hugo changed to hardbat tomorrow how would that impact other people’s opinions of his rubber who have tried them?

It would just be weird - it is like finding out you built one of the best cars in the world but you prefer to drive another car lol.