(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT)
This week, the Carolina Gold Rush captured the 2025 MLTT Cup. The team has been among the strongest in both years of the Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) history. But this year, there was no upset – as the Carolina Gold Rush defeated the Texas Smash to claim the 2025 MLTT Cup in front of a big crowd at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Enzo Angles of Carolina (2741) won two of three games against Texas’ Amir Hodaei (2706). Angles dominated the pace and the score but in the third game, Amir fought back to tie the score at 10-10 and in the MLTT format, the game is decided by a “golden point” which went to Amir. So, Texas sneaks away from the first match down just a single game 1-2.
In the second singles match, Texas’ Nandan Naresh (2620) had a two-point lead at 9-7 and 10-8 over Romain Lorentz (2648) before Lorentz tied the score at 10 – but it was a Naresh backhand down the line that gave the game to Texas. Naresh gained an early lead in the second game and the game followed the same script with a 10-8 lead for Naresh before Lorentz tied the score 10-10. This time, it was a crosscourt Naresh winner to take the Golden point – giving Naresh a 2-0 lead, and more importantly giving Texas a 3-2 lead. Game three went to Lorentz 11-9 – tying the match score at 3-3.
In Doubles, Carolina scored the first seven points in the first game as Angles and Edward Ly dominated Texas’ team of Kasahara and David McBeath. The score tightened a little, but the game went to Carolina 11-6. The second game was a little closer, but again it was Carolina up early and nursing that lead to an 11-9 win. In the third game, Texas came back winning easily to block the sweep 11-9. In doubles, just like the previous two singles – it’s a 2-1 win. That makes it Carolina 4 and Texas 3 going into the final singles matches.
Texas’ Angela Guan (2469) won the first game on a golden point and then dominated the second game over Carolina’s Hong Lin (2598). That left a lot riding on the third game, but it was a 3-0 sweep going to Guan who wore down Hong Lin with her defensive play. that puts Texas in the driver’s seat up 6-4.
The final singles match is between Carolina’s Satoshi Aida (2751) and Texas’ Hiromitsu Kasahara (2738) – both Japanese players who are very familiar with each other. Aida won the first game easy, won the second game on a golden point, and that leaves the two teams tied at 6-6. Aida finishes off the final game, sweeping Kasahara.
In MLTT, there is one final Golden Game to 21 to finish the match. The score starts with the game score – so in this case, Carolina begins with an 8-7 lead. The coaches then pick five players to compete, and as the teams are co-ed, this can mean men and women play against each other (one of the few professional leagues where this crossover occurs).
Today, it will be McBeath, Kasahara, Naresh, Hodaei, Guan for Texas against Ly, Aida, Lin, Angles, Lorentz for Carolina. In the first pairing, Ly topped McBeath 3-1 giving Carolina an early lead. In the second pairing, Aida and Kasahara split, leaving the score 5-3. In the next pairing, it is US Men’s Team Member Nandan Naresh against US Women’s Team Member Hong Lin, and Nandan Naresh won all four points leaving Texas up by two 7-5. In the next pairing, Enzo Angles won all four points, giving Carolina a 9-7 lead. This now places Romain Lorentz against Angela Guan – and he won 3 of 4 to extend the lead to 12-8 for Carolina. Ly takes the table with a four-point lead and won 3 of 4 to extend the lead further to 15-9. This brings up the Japanese pairing again, and this time Kashahara wins 3-4 to narrow the lead (a 16-12 lead). The last this pairing met, Nandan Naresh scored 4 straight – but this time, Hong Lin managed to split heading in to the final few points with Carolina up 18-14. Hodaei takes 3 of 4 this time, narrowing the lead to 19-17. Lorentz closes out the match giving Carolina the 21-18 win.
Adding to the excitement was the announcement that Butterfly Table Tennis has extended its partnership with MLTT through the 2027–2028 season. As the Official Equipment Sponsor, Butterfly will continue to provide tables, balls, and clothing for all league matches and events. This concludes the second year for Major League Table Tennis. Professional table tennis in the USA continues to grow – and they have noted record-setting attendance and online viewership as well as the MLTT’s first television partnership with CBS Sports.
Visit ButterflyOnline.com for the latest table tennis news and results.
