Ten years ago it would have been virtually impossible to watch table tennis online. I doubt any websites were actually uploading matches and live streaming certainly wasn’t available. Even if they were, chances are your internet connection wouldn’t have been able to handle it! Your only options were buying DVDs (which would get very expensive) or going to watch games live (often not practical). Keeping up to date with the world of professional table tennis, as a fan, was pretty difficult.
In 2012 things are very different. There are loads of ways to watch table tennis online, for free. I really enjoy watching the professionals play and I think it can really benefit your own game and development, as you subconsciously take things in while watching.
In this post I will be listing and linking to some of the best places to watch table tennis online, both live and on demand. These are all the websites I use on a regular basis. If I’ve missed any good ones, please let me know.
YouTube
If you’re wanting to watch some top quality table tennis videos on demand then YouTube should be your first stop. There are a number of guys on YouTube that upload all of the latest videos, pretty soon after they go live. They also usually cut out the gaps in between the points. This may be something you like, it may not, but it certainly shortens down the length of the video.
There are four main table tennis uploaders that I would like to promote;
- ttCountenance: The original and best. Started uploading back in January 2009 and now has over 14,000 subscribers and over 29 million views!
- GecaPhoenix: Began uploading in February 2010. The second most popular table tennis channel with almost 8,000 subscribers and over 7 million views.
- Janus770: Joined YouTube in May 2011 but already has almost 5,000 subscribers and over 4 million views.
- TableTennisEvents: The newest of the regular uploaders as they only joined in May 2012. Has almost 2,000 subscribers and almost a million views.
Make sure you check all of those channels out. The work these guys are doing to promote our sport and allow us to watch all the latest videos is amazing.
ITTV
Not to be confused with ITV, the UK TV network, ITTV is the video service offered by the ITTF, the governing body of world table tennis.
ITTV is a really strong service offering live streaming of current ITTF events as well as on demand coverage of previous tournaments. Currently you can watch full matches from the Polish and German Open, as well as the men’s and women’s world cup.
You can also choose from world events, continental events, junior events and education development videos. I’m sure they could do more with this video service but it’s pretty good at present.
Laola1.tv
Laola1 is a video site that has content for lots of different sports. Their table tennis section is particularly good. They have teamed up with the ETTU, the European Table Tennis Union, to produce great Euro content.
The current offering involves the European Championship, the European Youth Championship, the European Champions League and many other tournaments. They also have ETTU live, which is great for live streaming of top games.
Professional Leagues
If you follow the German Bundesliga or the French Pro A League then you are probably already aware of their online video sites. You can watch games live or catch up on the previous rounds.
The German site is excellent. You can filter videos by club, player, season or content. They are also really good at streaming all the games live and promoting the clubs.
The French site is great for French table tennis as a whole. They cover the men’s and women’s Pro A really well and also provide videos for other French games, tournaments, players and interviews.
Challenger Series
This is the last service I’m going to point out. The Challenger Series is an ongoing weekly tournament in Germany. I have written more about the challenger series in another post, so you can read more about it there.
The video service they offer is really good. They basically have a live stream of every match in their tournament, so you can watch it all.
Have I missed any good websites out? These are all the ones that I know of and use. Please drop me a line with any further suggestions.
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