Are CoachMcAfee & HaggisV using unapproved blades ? Re: Cork in table tennis blades

[Pamela W E]

on Monday September 25 , 2023 11:26am
Coach McAfee, user of a blade with cork.

on Saturday, 23 September 2023, 11:56
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo

I personally do not care what blade or rubber my opponent uses, but USATT R.I.P. clearly says

3.1.2. Wood – The blade must be at least 85% natural wood by thickness. Fiberboard,
particle board, hardboard, chipboard etc. are not natural wood. Bamboo is
considered wood; cork is not.

CoachMcAfee has refused to divulge what blade he is using though says he is using a cork blade
HaggisV uses Re Impact which has cork I believe

But it is interesting that CoachMcAfee may be using an unapproved blade in USA but not when he travels outside USA because I do not know what ITTF interpretation says.
That gets confusing because an ITTF affiliate does not have to follow ITTF rules but they generally do except in rare & but very important cases like the Two Col0r Rule of 1983. which USATT stopped enforcing since 2000

As far as HaggisV goes since he is in Australia maybe TTAustralia allows cork , I do not know

[Janine 2001]

I wondered
What if only less thn 15% thickness is cork ?
But I doubt it because as HaggisV says cork is used to isolate forehand from backhand .
So it would make sense if it was less than 15%

I wish ITTF had made all this clear in their Rule Book
But I doubt if it is there even in their Rule Interpreattions book or leaflet or whatever they want to call it