Pitchford sees a Major opportunity in America

Liam Pitchford is joining the Major League Table Tennis revolution next season.

The England No 1 will join David McBeath, who is part of the current inaugural season, across the Atlantic in 2024/25.

But he will have to wait to find out who he is playing for, as the league works on a draft system and the eight clubs will not choose their players until May 21.

The draft will be shown live on the league’s YouTube channel, where match highlights are also available.

MLTT matches have a unique format, in which every game counts towards the final score. There are four singles and one doubles match, and each fixture finishes with a golden game, in which all five players on each side alternate every four points until one team reaches 21 points.

Pitchford has experience of different league formats, having played the Ultimate Table Tennis league in India in 2017 and 2018. His Falcons team won the title in 2017 and he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in both seasons.

He said: “I’ve spoken to Dave a lot about how MLTT is. It looks fun, and he says he’s enjoying it.

“If we want to grow table tennis, then the place to do it is America. I want to help grow it into something bigger and I want to see a bit more of America too.

“I’m not totally sure how the draft works but I’m probably not going to end up on Dave’s team, but whoever I’m playing with I will probably know them.

“I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be something different in my career.”

Pitchford is currently undergoing rehab on a shoulder injury and hopes to be fit for the Saudi Smash at the start of next month, though he admits that tournament may come too soon.

He added: “It’s been a long two years leading up to the Olympics and, mentally and physically, recently has been a bit tough with a few injuries.

“I decided I wanted to do something different and enjoy table tennis again after the Olympics, and I want to spend a bit more time at home and not travel quite as much, and this is only five or six weekends.

McBeath has had a good season in the MLTT with Texas Smash, who finished second of four teams in the West Division, behind Bay Area Blasters.

It meant the team qualified for the four-team Championship, which is the season finale, in Chicago this weekend, where they will play Carolina Gold Rush, who topped the East Division, in the semi-finals.

McBeath has a singles win-rate of 54.4% from 57 matches, and has won 12 of his 27 doubles matches. His golden game ratio was 80 points won and 53 lost, for a 60.2% rating, one of the highest in the league.

All the stats combined to give him a rating of ninth out of 56 players, with a ‘Power Rating’ of 725.9. The Power Rating measures player strength out of 1,000 based on various stats and criteria.

Pitchford sees a Major opportunity in America Table Tennis England.