Table tennis culture in non-dominant Asian countries? (NOT China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan)

[d3nium]

This thread is very racist

You're an idiot.

 

[netdriver]

i dont know about the entirety of malaysia but to me the popularity is decent, not that popular however if we are to compare ping pong with badminton and pickleball

especially pickleball is steadily increasing in popularity among the youths (i am one of them lol)

its very hard to find people my age to play with (i am in my twenties), OTOH for badminton and pickleball its really easy to find people around that age range

 

[olive-nguyen]

Pickleball also seems much more common now in SG, but noise complaints certainly one of the opposition forces.

 

[olive-nguyen]

On semi-pro/pro side:

Singapore is sad
other than Singapore sport school and a few clubs/centers keeping proper youth development alive, all those monies to import Chinese players (and who have mostly all left, mere a few), there isnt really much growth (if we were to match it with inflation %). I am told education focus is too heavy, so sports kids is a huge minority and then to choose table tennis and to excel in it... well, the maths doesn't allow.

Malaysia is all individual based, no real funding.
Lots of centers to train. I am hosting a U15 player, who is top 3 in his center and due to that - he has reached a peak in terms of levels he can train with. In Taiwan, almost everyone is higher than him, so his 1 month training her will push him higher.

Thailand the womens tt is a threat for the rest of the world.
Other than the 3 famous womens player we know of, I saw a U19 yesterday and have very solid foundation.
I don't have the knowledge of domestic structure but womens on the world stage is showing results. This is very worrying for me, but huge respect for the Thai coaches in getting it right.

Philippines, one top junior girl is now living in 888, USA, she should be able to break records.
Yogibear can comment about the domestic structure.

Once when i played at my local CC, Community Club, i saw a young boy about 8-9, Thai, with a coach. The strokes are excellent for his age, and the coach was very harsh on him, but in that kind of hidden love. the coach was reassuring him to improve fast, and when he did backhand flick drills to underspin to the boy, i feel empathetic towards the boy. He seems to be putting s lot of effort, but not all the time crossing the net. His fact was flush red by then likely due to exhaustion, and they have been playing for 2 hours before we came, so by then about 3 and a half hours.

I have to say tho that the coach was surpportive, and I kind on envy him to have someone to coach him. My father had long stopped coaching me, busy with work.

Plus, there seems to be more surpport for table tennis in Thailand and even Vietnam then SG.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

i dont know about the entirety of malaysia but to me the popularity is decent, not that popular however if we are to compare ping pong with badminton and pickleball

especially pickleball is steadily increasing in popularity among the youths (i am one of them lol)

its very hard to find people my age to play with (i am in my twenties), OTOH for badminton and pickleball its really easy to find people around that age range

TT in Malaysia is mainly a hobby thing. It has a cult like following. Badminton is more a mainstream sport. Two badminton players greet each other is like two strangers asking how is the weather type conversation. However, when two serious TT player meet, even if they are strangers, it is like two long lost sorority BFF meeting again for weekend tea time party. They can talk for hours.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

TT in Malaysia is mainly a hobby thing. It has a cult like following. Badminton is more a mainstream sport. Two badminton players greet each other is like two strangers asking how is the weather type conversation. However, when two serious TT player meet, even if they are strangers, it is like two long lost sorority BFF meeting again for weekend tea time party. They can talk for hours.

in every country, there is hobby and semi-pro
you are just not in the semi-pro circle.

the Malaysian kid with me now trains over 6 hours a day, 6 days a week in a proper center. This isn't hobby stats.
kid can play, just not the level of national juniors in Taiwan, but that is expected

 

[olive-nguyen]

TT in Malaysia is mainly a hobby thing. It has a cult like following. Badminton is more a mainstream sport. Two badminton players greet each other is like two strangers asking how is the weather type conversation. However, when two serious TT player meet, even if they are strangers, it is like two long lost sorority BFF meeting again for weekend tea time party. They can talk for hours.

I'm not sure about the hobby thing. My mom's cousin's son plays for the state junior team in Sarawak, East Malaysia. He's very good, and i have been to his training center in the past when I went back to my hometown. There is definitely many levels, so it can't be concluded that it's just narrowed down to recreational persons.

Though in Singapore there are few and far between, but there is still people playing semi pro to pro in SG.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I'm not sure about the hobby thing. My mom's cousin's son plays for the state junior team in Sarawak, East Malaysia. He's very good, and i have been to his training center in the past when I went back to my hometown. There is definitely many levels, so it can't be concluded that it's just narrowed down to recreational persons.

Though in Singapore there are few and far between, but there is still people playing semi pro to pro in SG.

unfortunate, hobby players do not really bridge with semi pro
like one of the players I hosted last year, a U19 Singapore national junior player. The center he trains at is not for hobby players.

same thing with the U15 Malaysian junior player, his center isn't for hobby players too.

There is hobby centers and semi-pro centers every where in Asia.
the hobby will likely mostly want to play matches.
the semi-pro centers are all focused on training.

so it is also cautious to note when someone says go train in a center in China
because it might even turn out to be a hobby center and worse off than your semi pro center back at home.

 

[Table10Ice]

i dont know about the entirety of malaysia but to me the popularity is decent, not that popular however if we are to compare ping pong with badminton and pickleball

especially pickleball is steadily increasing in popularity among the youths (i am one of them lol)

its very hard to find people my age to play with (i am in my twenties), OTOH for badminton and pickleball its really easy to find people around that age range

How is table tennis organized on hobby level? Are there commercial table tennis halls where you pay per the hour or clubs with monthy/annual member fees?

Are there hobby level leagues and tournaments?

 

[Gozo Aruna]

How is table tennis organized on hobby level? Are there commercial table tennis halls where you pay per the hour or clubs with monthy/annual member fees?

Are there hobby level leagues and tournaments?

• pay per entry / session irregardless of length of time is available.
  pay per month is also available.
• TT entrance fee is dirt cheap, can be as low as USD 1.00 per entry & play until the center closes for the day.
• Plenty of locally organized tourney. Lots of amateurs players, however you will see the familiar faces. It is more of social rather than pro as there is some token prize money but no ranking points, hence usually only amateurs will attend.
• Once in a while some National squad members will play if they are hired / sponsored by some business people, where they will wear the sponsored jersey for advertisement.

 

[olive-nguyen]

• pay per entry / session irregardless of length of time is available.
  pay per month is also available.
• TT entrance fee is dirt cheap, can be as low as USD 1.00 per entry & play until the center closes for the day.
• Plenty of locally organized tourney. Lots of amateurs players, however you will see the familiar faces. It is more of social rather than pro as there is some token prize money but no ranking points, hence usually only amateurs will attend.
• Once in a while some National squad members will play if they are hired / sponsored by some business people, where they will wear the sponsored jersey for advertisement.

Lucky. In Singapore it is S$0.99 per hour for Under 18, and peak is S$4.99 per hour. As I don't have SingPass (Electronic Identification Method for Singaporeans) as I'm not yet 15, I can't book the courts, and require my parents to book for me. You can't physically book, all online sadly. 😢 I mostly just sneak in with the other adult players who book the court and play with them.