There were plenty of stories to be told at the 2026 WTT US Smash in Ontario, California. Team JOOLA had 11 players in the draw at the prestigious Grand Smash event, one of World Table Tennis' premier global table tennis competitions.

This year was the second year that JOOLA supported the event as the Official Table Sponsor, with our new and improved Horizon Showcourt tables taking center stage. 

The qualification rounds were tough for JOOLA's squad, with most of the top 100 players in the world present at the event. Deni Kožul impressed by battling his way to the third round of qualification in the men's singles. He won in straight games over Singapore's Izaac Quek, then took out Mehdi Bouloussa in round 2, before narrowly missing out on the main draw spot in a 5-game showdown with Romania's Iulian Chirita. 

The main draw held the three main storylines for the team. 

A debut for Brazil's Hugo Calderano, the world number 8, looking to make a strong result at the US Smash. He took down Maharu Yoshimura in the round of 64, before dismantling China's Chen Yuanyu in the round of 32 - 11-5, 11-5, 11-2. Calderano's short game was impeccable during the match, and his usual powerful shotmaking closed out points in quick succession. 

An in-form Hiroto Shinozuka of Japan ended his run in the round of 16, with Calderano struggling to find form and rhythm against the quick pace of his opponent. 

Calderano paired with Bruna Takahashi, with the world number 2 ranked mixed team reaching the semifinals before losing out to China's Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha - the two singles world number 1s. 

A comeback was on the cards for England's Liam Pitchford. Having been absent from competition since last year's Europe Smash - this was Pitchford's first competition appearance in 10 months, since having crucial resurfacing surgery on his hip. The 4-time Team GB Olympian did not disappoint. with a spirited effort in the Round of 64. The match with Japan's Hiroto Shinozuka, fell to a small handful of key points. Pitchford led 10-7 and 1-1 in games, failing to convert the 3rd game. In the 4th everything was tied up at 9-9, and again the key points went to the Japanese left hander. 

Disappointment for Pitchford on his return, not because he had played poorly - quite the opposite in fact, however to have had a real chance to claim the win, and have it slip away. 

We are certainly extremely happy to see Liam back in action, also sporting his brand new JOOLA Liam Pitchford Aramid Carbon blade - coming soon! 

A homecoming for USA's Lily Zhang, with eyes on the USA's golden girl. Just days before the event she had an unexpected emergency dental surgery, but powered through the pain and recovery to win her opening match against Yuan Jia Nan of France. 

The win sent Zhang through to the round of 32 where she faced Germany's Han Ying.

It was a tough match up that Zhang was probably hoping to avoid, with the experienced defensive player, who had just defeated 2025 finalist Chen Yi in the previous round, taking the win comfortably over Zhang in straight games. 

All in all it was great to see our Team JOOLA players in action, a number of top 16 performances in doubles also from Surjan/Lupulesku, Kukulkova/Pistej, Zhang/(Moyland), Teodoro/(Izuka).

It was a fun event, thanks for everyone who stopped by and saw us at our JOOLA booth, we look forward to supporting future events and continuing to see great performances by our players!