729 Battle III Zidian Liu Weishan Signature Edition Rubber Review — 40.5 Degrees

Originally published 2026-01-30 · Translated and republished by UltraSpin with permission

Rubber Under Review

Rubber: 729 Battle III Zidian (Liu Weishan Signature Edition) — 40.5 degrees

Test setup: Zhang Jike ALC blade, Battle III Zidian 40.5 degrees on the forehand (tacky)

Overview

1. In 2025, 729 signed Liu Weishan and Yu Heyi and released signature rubbers for each of them. This rubber has been getting a lot of buzz lately, and plenty of players have been asking me privately how it plays — so let’s talk about it.
2. Battle III Zidian Signature 40.5 degrees uses dual-pore energy sponge, 2.1 mm thickness, bare weight around 68 g, cutting to roughly 50 g.
3. The topsheet has a slight tack, with a smooth and glossy surface. The sponge has significant curl-inward when unboxed — it doesn’t look like a typical energy rubber.
4. Given that this rubber is newly released, the curling shouldn’t be from sitting in storage too long. It made applying glue a bit annoying.

On-Table Feel

1. Forehand drive: Feel is slightly transparent and fairly consistent, but the sponge hardness is high and the arc tends to drop.
2. Forehand at low power: The topsheet performs excellently — grip is good and stable.
3. Forehand topspin loop (friction-dominant): Reducing the hit-through ratio and going for controlled topspin feels uncomfortable — the sponge is quite firm, deformation is small, you can’t leverage the sponge’s rebound, relying entirely on topsheet friction. The ball doesn’t bite into the sponge and ends up going into the net. Best used with boosting.
4. Forehand topspin loop (drive-and-brush combined): Increasing the hit-through ratio and looping with combined force is more comfortable. When you can drive through the sponge, it’s crisp and solid with good support. But if you can’t fully engage the sponge, the feedback becomes vague and the ball drops — meaning there’s a gap in feel at medium-power contacts. The 40.5-degree version already has this issue; the 41.5-degree Yu Heyi version would be even less suitable for recreational players.
5. Forehand control (serve, push, short game): Very solid all around — controllable, consistent, and reassuring in hand.
6. Forehand opening against backspin: Thanks to the excellent topsheet, the initial arc and consistency are both very good. But generating quality requires a certain skill level.
7. Final verdict: The feel is very reminiscent of the old Battle II Blue Sponge national-team version. For recreational players, the 39-degree version is probably the best fit — likely the most comfortable hardness. Anything 40 degrees and above may need boosting, which defeats the purpose of the “energy rubber, no boosting needed” selling point. Overall score for the Zidian: 6–7.5 out of 10 — 6–6.5 for higher hardness, 7–7.5 for lower hardness.