2026 Xiamen Sports Expo: Here I Am, Part 1
1: JOOLA
What draws the most attention is the bat Hugo currently uses. Looking at official photos before, I was a bit puzzled why the fiber differed somewhat from the inner green-aramid carbon Hugo uses. Today I held the real thing: indeed a 968 structure, inner green-aramid carbon. This is the blade structure Hugo has mainly used this year. The inner type really suits him, who likes to back off the table.
This afternoon I tried it on site. Forehand glued with the Hugo Trinity Charged (57.5 degrees), backhand with the Hugo Trinity Dynamic (52.5 degrees). A light taste: the handle grip, combined with this forehand rubber, feels fairly full and thick. This rubber also adds spin easily, and should be more solid than XIOM’s Jinghai C55.0. I will start test-playing this when I get back. This Korean-made green-aramid-carbon blade was originally set for global release on July 21. But chatting with Joola’s Mr. Su today, it may move up to next month.
Besides, I also saw a familiar figure: this outer-structure Hugo ARY-X looks just like the original XIOM Hugo HAL — also koto face ply, pure aramid fiber, kiri core. The core’s cutting method is exactly like the original.
2: Recter Sports
Distributing Asics and Darker, while also having its own Aster table tennis gear. I looked at the Fang Yinchi ALC, fairly discussed in the market this year. This core is nice too — like the Mozaiti, it is also a grade-A kiri core. There is also a Gaobo Power version exclusive to Fang Yinchi. On fiber blades, Aster now shows its full strength. All kinds of fiber, including heterogeneous structures, and even some using a fiber layer directly as the face ply, as shown. The handle inlay color schemes are fairly bold too.
For Asics shoes, the Dynafeather and the Hyperbeat 4 that Chen Meng wore at the Olympics (an upgrade of the light-quick king) are hot models, now with quite a few new colorways. My favorite is still this all-around king upgrade. The color scheme is calm and lively, with anti-slip blocks on the side; it starts fairly quickly while also being fairly durable. Darker’s Wanxiang 80 and 90, though old models, changed handles. There is also that sky-high-priced rubber: Darker Wanxiang. The overall feel is like a more solid version of Spell Pro XH. A tensor, but the ball-grip under small power is quite nice; the sponge power is not especially great, but it is fairly solid, with quick rebound and decent hitting. Besides, there are some small items. Recter’s own-brand new things are expanding too.