OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I tried out a 2.0 mm sheet of the Friendship 729 Sky Wing (a new pimples-in rubber - at least new to me) yesterday, on a Joola Toni Hold White Spot. Friendship rates the rubber speed 10, spin 11, control 12 and claims it is suitable for Reverse Penhold Backhand as well as for defense, because of its great control and ability to produce lots of spin with compact strokes. I think the claim is correct. The rubber is sticky and very light-weight (even lighter than Geospin Tacky). It seems to have very thin and pretty short pips inside; the sponge is yellow and rated as 42 degrees, but feels both firm and soft, very supple. The sheet as a whole is very supple and elastic. It does produce topspin or backspin very easily with compact loops or chops. Close to and over the table it is very handy. At medium distance however it seems to lack a bit of punch; it will chop OK, but I found it hard to produce fast enough loops for attack (this may be due to the slow blade, though).
By the way, eacheng.net has it named Sky-King, but this is a mistake; on the rubber its name is printed as Sky Wing.

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Without opponent, no match.

Hi Kees -- it's probably the rubber and the blade combination, especially more of the blade.

It's hard to loop fast from mid-distance, especially if the both the rubber and the blade aren't cooperating.

Sounds like a great substitute to DHS's PF4 -- I really didn't like the weight of that rubber, but liked it's abilities.

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Viscaria. H2 Neo 2.15. Tenergy 05 1.9.

Does sound interesting. I wonder how it would perform on a fast blade. Stickiness might not be as apparent with a faster blade as such a slow blade. Perhaps an ALL to OFF- blade would be best?

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Interesting Kees, I have not seen that rubber!

I get the distinct impression though that 729 is releasing the new LKT rapid series themselves, under different names... I remember reading about one of their other new rubbers, and it sounded exactly like one of the new LKT rubbers too...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Yuzuki wrote:

I tried it again yesterday evening and found it much easier to loop with speed from mid-distance this time. It seems the blade isn't much of a factor anyway - the rubber just favors a compact stroke even from that far away; a bit like Persson loops these days. Still, it performs even better closer to the table.

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Without opponent, no match.

Hello,
I tried this rubber in max for RPB on a BTY Laphuta the other day: it is very light. I can't comment at length for the moment, as this was my first go with this blade as well, so impressions are not clear yet; still two things deserve immediate mention:
-this was the first time I experienced "bottoming out" on the RPB: when a ball came reasonably hard at my backhand, I could feel that the soft and light rubber was overpowered and the ball was making very solid contact with the blade underneath. I never felt this through the LKT pro XT and 729 Higher I otherwise use for RPB, though it may be an effect of the change in blade too.
-BIG RED SIGN: it doesn't seem to have the ITTF logo anywhere on the topsheet: I just noticed this, and I'm left hoping there is a newer version maybe that is approved: otherwise it will be just for mucking about... (edited below: actually the rubber does appear on the ittf website, showing this look:

only the ones I recently bought from well known internet merchants just don't have the ITTF logo

buyer beware?)

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Now PH:
Tibhar Samsonov Alpha: FH 729 higher 2.0/ RPB LKT PRO XT 2.0
Galaxy E-4: FH LKT RD / RPB 729 Sky Wing

Just a quick note on the ITTF stamp, or rather the lack of it.

My Sky-Wing is the same. The rubber packaging has the ITTF stamp, but like on yours, the stamp is missing on the actual rubber sheet.

I bought mine from eacheng.net and I assume you did the same. I see that they are now getting rid of their stock by selling 10-packs quite cheaply. Perhaps they will get new rubbers with the stamp after that.

I'll get back and post a review on the Sky-Wing soon.

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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It wouldn't hurt them to include a little note in the description, saying that this is the local Chinese version, which is not ITTF approved... it's still beyond me why they would bother even making 2 different version???

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

It is a fairly new rubber so these ones could be the last of those pre-release promo batches they issue in China to test the market. Pure speculation on my part, but still quite likely

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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I've received a black sheet of Sky Wing today from eacheng and it still lacks the ITTF stamp.

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Darker 7P-2A.DF - SpinLord Marder I 1.8mm/TSP P1-R 0.6mm
Darker 7P-2A.DF - SpinLord Marder II 1.8mm/TSP P1-R 0.6mm
Above 65% W/L ratio this season, YAY!

Perhaps there are no plans to sell it outside China, and since Chinese market probably doe snot care, they don't bother. Eacheng gets the local China rubbers not the export version.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

If you will recall, I asked Adham about a 729 mid-pip 755-2 I had that didnt have the ITTF logo but was on the ITTF ALRC. His answer was it was still legal without the stamp on the rubber. Sky-Wing is on the ALRC and is therefore in the same boat. Legal for use!!

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Now, in the midst of 2016, the rubber from China still seems to lack the ITTF-stamp. It can be seen on Eacheng and other China-retailers. They still do mention in the description that the rubber itself is missing it.
The ITTF states that the stamp and the number must be there, rendering my old rubbers from 200x doubtful in case of claims albeit old material is usually grandfathered. (Edit: Just checked, they're still fully legal, such old rubbers simply don't have a number next to it).

I was interested in Sky Wing as well, but I also try to get a setup which won't cause any legality troubles with referees - having in mind that I plan to stir confusion with a sub $50 racket and strange, barely known MLP...
Stamp (and number) missing on the rubber could therefore lead to exclusion of your racket from tournament. Kind of sick, since a fake Tenergy or these doubtful cheap Mark Vs won't be affected by that very rule.

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

I played with this sheet for a while. Yes, it's a little on the light side but not dramatically so. Part of the weight reduction is the slightly thinner sponge. It plays just like any other Chinese rubber - might as well just get a couple sheets of Batwings in 2.0, or Kokutaku 868 (this is also fairly light, and also has 2.0 sponge). If you want something REALLY light theres that KTL Green Dragon. That's REALLY light, though it's also quite slow. Something like 10 grams a cut sheet.

Kinda jarring to see a review from 2009 - people don't seem to put much stock any more in manufacturer ratings these days..

Iskandar

Is this rubber really tacky? Looks like there is a 40deg factory-tuned version, which sounds interesting since it has a higher spin & lower speed rating than Focus 3:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32954 ... 2e0eZmlEcm