I got the chance to play 4-time Olympic Medalist, World Cup winner, and recent World #1 Dimitrij Ovtcharov 7 years back this weekend. I was happy to give him his toughest match at the 2013 LA Open losing 3-1. Ovtcharov had just won 2 medals at the 2012 London Olympics. Thus he was ranked top 5 in the world at the time. Here are highlights:
Dimitrij Ovtcharov defeats Shashin Shodhan 3-1 in the prelims of the 2013 LA Open.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXBxyMK2OSo[/embedyt]

2026 Fremont TTA Butterfly May Open tournament
The second tournament of 2026 hosted by Fremont Table Tennis Academy, at the Siliman Center, took place this past weekend. The 2026 Fremont TTA Butterfly May Open featured around 100 players battling for top honors in the usual rating, age, or open events. There were many multiple event winners this time around led by Ruoxi Wang who won 1st place in the Under 1000, Under 1300, and Under 1600, 2nd place in Open Doubles, and 3rd place in Juniors 18 Years and Under. The other multiple event winners were Anchit Nayak…

