World’s best table tennis players coming to Las Vegas this week
The world’s best table tennis players will come to Las Vegas this month for the World Table Tennis United States Smash.
Several former Olympians and current top-ranked players in WTT will face off for $1.55 million in prize money from July 3-13 at The Orleans and MGM Grand Conference Center.
The multiday event will feature men’s and women’s singles and doubles matches and mixed doubles events.
On the men’s side, the field is highlighted by world No. 1 Lin Shidong and No. 2 Wang Chuqin from China, No. 3 Hugo Calderano from Brazil and No. 27 Kanak Jha, the top-ranked American. The women’s side features No. 1 Sun Yingsha and No. 65 Amy Wang, one of the top U.S. players.
Wang, 22, is a pre-med student at UCLA and is dividing her time between studying and pursing her table tennis dreams.
Wang began playing at age 4 and was a member of the U.S. national team by age 12. She is a two-time U.S. national champion, a two-time U.S. Open champion and the reigning Pan American Games gold medalist. Wang also represented Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won her first match but lost her second.
Wang said she still trains two or three days a week, but she’s been focused on school since the Olympics. She’s thrilled about the opportunity to compete in Las Vegas.
“It’s going to be really exciting, especially playing on home soil in front of an American crowd,” Wang told the Review-Journal. “It’s a very special event. I don’t think we’ve had an event this big in the U.S. before, so it’s really cool to see top players compete on home soil.”
Wang has played in Las Vegas previously, but before she turned 21. So she’s looking forward to experiencing all the town has to offer this time around.
For those who haven’t seen high stakes table tennis, Wang said it’s probably one of the fastest sports to watch and is an exciting, energetic experience live. She said the Las Vegas event should help grow interest in the sport.
“It’s definitely more exciting in person than on screen,” Wang said. “Once you’re sitting there in the audience you can definitely feel the intensity, the speed and the spin of the ball. I think table tennis is one of the fastest sports ever. If you watch it in person, you can see how fast the ball is going between each player.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
