Weekly Equipment Watch 244: All-Japan Championships Gear Trends
There are some limitations to this analysis — it leans toward Japanese brands, and Japan’s table tennis philosophy is genuinely different from China’s. Still, it gives a useful picture of current equipment trends.
The data covers male and female players at the All-Japan Championships, including the senior and junior divisions: 23 men and 22 women.
Men: ZYRE-03 Dominates, D09c Gains Ground, More Outer Carbon Blades
On the backhand, ZYRE-03 usage is the number-one rubber, used by roughly half the male players. On the forehand, about one in four players also uses ZYRE-03. This is unambiguously a trend.
Over the past year I’ve been watching Harimoto Tomokazu and Matsushima Koki’s matches, particularly how ZYRE-03 performs on the backhand. It’s actually not as spinny as Butterfly’s official ratings suggest — you could almost say it “tries to minimize the effect of spin” — and while opponents do feel some pushback from its drive, the variety of spin it offers is limited. What it does offer is excellent dwell time and exceptional speed. You can fire backhands without holding back, just pushing pace. Speed is the central winning philosophy for Japanese players right now.
The junior men’s singles champion was Kawakami Ryusei, using an outer carbon SALC special edition blade with ZYRE-03 on both sides. A textbook example of where the equipment trends are pointing.
When choosing a rubber, you need to analyze at least three elements: what do you actually score points with — spin, speed, or power? Often it’s a combination. For Chinese national team players, boosted Hurricane is the top choice because both spin and absolute ball quality (force and killing power) are critical, and that killing power has to show up in the first three balls.
The Japanese team is different. You rarely hear Chinese coaches describe Japanese players as having heavy spin. But they’ve gradually shown a clear tendency: excellent defense and extremely fast rallying speed. The rubber choices reinforce and shape that style.
Before ZYRE-03 arrived, Dignics rubbers had the highest usage rate. Compared to last year, D09c usage has increased slightly while D05 has fewer users. Chasing higher speed while maintaining consistency — D09c remains important for that reason.
Of the 23 men, 11 used outer carbon blades and 9 used inner carbon. Last year, inner carbon exceeded half. This year may just be coincidence, or it may reflect more players actively seeking higher speed.
Women: Inner Blades Dominant, Diverse Styles, Wide Rubber Range
Of the 22 women, 14 played shakehand loop-attack style, 4 played shakehand with irregular/pips surfaces (speed attack style), 3 played shakehand chopper, and 1 played penhold.
Inner carbon blade usage exceeded half, reflecting that women players still prioritize dwell feel and stability from their blades.
On the rubber side, ZYRE-03 was nearly invisible. Just one player — Hayata Hina, using ZYRE-03 on the backhand. That’s it.
On the forehand, Blue National Hurricane (boosted Hurricane) and D09c together accounted for roughly two-thirds of choices.