Breaking Down PeakaPong's Unique Racket and How it Impacts Table Tennis

By Luke Scotchie
NCTTA Press Committee Member

Rockford, IL — Several student-athletes signed up for the PeakaPong Singles Tournament, the final event of the NCTTA Championships 2026. This co-ed tournament had a similar rulebook to most other Singles events, without many striking differences.

Except for the rackets these players strike the ball with.

The rackets each player grips aren’t covered in rubber, but rather an array of small holes carved into its wooden face. Players smack a much larger ball using these unique rackets, creating a distinct echo. It sounds like a table tennis ball hitting the bottom of a well after a long descent, which fits the much slower rallies these rackets induce.

At first glance, an onlooker could mistake this racket for a pickleball paddle. That’s by design. The PeakaPong paddle was invented to allow its wielders to “perform with the thrill of pickleball and the precision of ping pong.” That precision is what makes table tennis so captivating to play, but difficult to ace. So many skills are required for a player to excel at table tennis, including a mastery of the weapon they use. PeakaPong aims to rid newer players of that barrier of entry, and force the already-elite players to learn a brand-new game altogether.

“If [new players] play against Sid [Naresh] and them, they can’t compete,” said PeakaPong shareholder Thomas Hu. “But in this game, people who play pickleball, people who play tennis, actually have an advantage playing this sport.”

For a seasoned table tennis player, learning this new game isn’t easy. The ball moves downward when smacked with this racket, an obstacle some players navigate by attempting to hit it from underneath. There’s no spin. No pips. None of the features that most players have spent years getting used to. It’s as simple as a block of wood and some holes, which makes for a very complex style of table tennis.

“Most people I saw today, they were just playing it safe,” said Livia Belem Rangel De Carvalho, a freshman at the University of Central Florida who competed in this year’s PeakaPong Singles Tournament. “Because if you try to hit it hard, it’s mostly not going to work.”

These paddles have caused a racket throughout this year’s NCTTA Championships, which could be for the final time. PeakaPong intends to unveil a new racket in the near future, one with a larger surface area, a longer handle and a more angular perimeter. That may sound more like a pickleball paddle than a table tennis racket, but the racket holds a similar weight as the one players use this year. They hope this new racket can enable its wielders to fall in love with either sport more easily.

That was why PeakaPong created its racket to begin with. It’s a racket intended for a game that weds the two sports in what onlookers and participants alike hope to be a long, healthy marriage.

“I just thought it was really cool,” Belem Rangel De Carvalho said. “I hope they do it again next year.”

Featured in the photo is current PeakaPong racket. Photo credit to Dennis Yanga.

About 2026 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and GoRockford (Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau). The event crowns national champions in Men’s and

Women’s Singles and Doubles, Men’s/Coed Teams, and Women’s Teams and Collegiate Peakapong Singles.

PongSpace, Peaka Pong, Major League Table Tennis, Nittaku and Paddle Palace will sponsor the event.

Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 10th on https://www.nctta.org/champs/2026/video.html

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org