Vega China VM

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Sep 2013
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4 out of 5 rating for Vega China VM

A great substitute for a DHS H3 / H3 Neo rubber.
The Xiom Vega China comes with a ESN/Tensor sponge, but pretty hard sponge.
The topsheet is pretty lively and only has a gentle tack to it (can't hold the balls for more than 3 seconds).

This is almost like a hybrid (half chinese half euro), but I will push the scale more towards Chinese for the sake of the hard sponge, which allows these benefits:
- Great service possiblities
- Great blocking possiblities

The Tensor sponges also allows a powerful forehand top spin game, from close to mid distance from the table.
The harder sponge allows a "on the bounce top spin drive" extremely deadly.

The con is the weight, as this is likely one of the heavier alternatives in the market. But if you pair it with the right blade and other rubber, the total weight can be manageable.

I recomend this to be a forehand rubber - an alternative to H3/H3 Neo.
I rank it in the range of provincial versions, and I did not tune/boost mine.
Durability went well for over 6 months of "random coaching/fun play"
 
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Jul 2015
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4 out of 5 rating for Vega China VM

Looping

This rubber is supposed to play like a boosted Hurricane/Skyline rubber. From my experience, its sponge is softer and more elastic than of a commercial Hurricane 3, but still harder than of a heavily boosted one. It is very difficult to create topspin with this rubber: you have to literally squeeze it out of the hard sponge. To loop a mere flat ball off the block with decent speed and spin you need to have a nearly horizontal swing over the top of the ball with a plenty of racket speed. To powerloop, you need to close the bat even more and swing with all your body, including wrist. However, if you do things right, the result will exceed all expectations. The rubber is impossible to bottom out, the harder you swing, the faster and spinnier the ball goes out. Counterlooping is "easy", almost like looping a flat ball. Looping backspin hard is delightful if you can create enough racket speed.

Blocking

Tackiness slows down the incoming ball considerably, so the rubber gives you great control in this aspect.

Durability

From my experience, durability of this rubber is quite bad. I have used 4 sheets, 2 black and 2 red ones within 8 months, and I have to say that after 1-1.5 months the rubber becomes unplayable. The topsheet becomes slippery at some spots, as the result, the ball drops from the racket unexpectedly. After two months tackiness wears off and the rubber becomes faster. Depending on the season, I play 10-16 hours per week, sometimes I do multiball and play with robot. You may think that it is OK for a rubber last that short under such playing schedule, but Vega Europe that I used before on my BH was literally immortal. So I'm migrating from Vega China to something more practical...

Weight

The rubber is heavy and heavier that its "true" Chinese counterparts.

Conclusion

If you like to swing hard on your forehand to end the point as soon as possible with a lightning fast powerloop -- this rubber is pretty good. Otherwise, you probably need something softer.
 
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