US Nationals 2026 : Is thespaceo confused about approved approved hardbat rubbers?

[Spongy]

on 04/23/2026 at 11:42pm
For anyone who's curious; USATT is operating under the old hardbat approved list though it isn't posted anywhere on their site. Tournament director can also approve other hardbat rubbers on a case by case basis.

Approved list:
Butterfly Orthodox
Yasaka A-1-2
Nittaku Hammond
Nittaku Alnade
Dr. Evil
Andro Classic Hardbat
TSP Curl Pip Classic
TSP Spectol Hardbat
802 Classic

I am not sure about this list & I do not know where thespaceo got this list

But according the USA Nationals entry form the list is located at https://ratngs.pinkponk.cz/co-je-to-pink-ponk

Read this excerpt below on Page 12 of 13 from USATT Nationals entry form

Hardbat and Sandpaper Events Rules
Hardbat rules, as adopted by the USATT Classic Table Tennis CommiƩee, will be used for all Hardbat and Sandpaper events. All rules and all
current raƟngs (Hardbat, Sandpaper, Wood) are only available at htps://ratngs.pinkponk.cz/ . For all Hardbat and Sandpaper events, round
robin groups will be formed in groups of up to five (5) players per group. As in all events, a quesƟon of racket legality is the decision of the
Tournament Referee. Rackets complying with all requirements of the rules for Hardbat rackets shall be legal. This means that parƟcipants
must use an all-wood blade with short pimpled-up rubber and no sponge. These events do not count for USATT raƟngs points. Both eligibility
and seeding for the Hardbat events will be determined by the player's Hardbat raƟng at the seeding cutoff date: June 16, 2026. All matches
will be the best of 3 games to 21. Balls: NiƩaku Premium 40+ (White).
Para Event

On that website , the list of approve rubbers are as follows

What is Hardbat ?
It comes from the USA . It is played with 2 notched covers.

The following covers/bats are allowed in official tournaments:

Dawei 388B-1 OX
Komann Winning NP-8
STAG ICTTF
Yinhe Pluto OX
Joola Beat
Air Classique
Andro Classic OX
ATP England (Leland Era)
Butterfly Orthodox OX
Dunlop Barna (Original)
Franklin
Friendship RITC-729 "Dr. Evil"
Hallmark Magic Pips
Leyland (Hock Rubber)
MK Cyclone
Ping-pong
Reisman ATP
Regent
TSP Millitall
Yasaka A.1.2, A.1, or A-2
Yasaka Cobalt X1 and X2

[Loop Dræbning]

Dr.Evil is approved?
I thought it was medium pips
I thought only wide pips qualify as hardbat approved

[Navara]

Dr.Evil is approved?
I thought it was medium pips
I thought only wide pips qualify as hardbat approved

LOL Aren't TSP Millitall & Yinhe Pluto also medium pips

[Barna]

Very confusing because there seem to be so many approval agencies
Even funny is that this is a website in Czech Republic it seems but they refer to rules coming from USA
But they don't give the referral source but USATT uses this list.
The whole process goes round and round in circles

[Spongy]

05/02/2026 at 8:54pm
The list I posted came directly from the USATT referee.

Don;t you think it should come from USATT on their brochure
Just a question
Because , who is this referee
Is he or she going to be at the Nationals

05/02/2026 at 8:54pm
It's still a bit annoying as that list wasn't provided anywhere prior.

USATT tournament brochure seems to think otherwise as quoted above