Portland Paddlers (5-1, 86 points) star Kotomi Omoda (SPINDEX: 2622) will miss Friday’s match against Chicago and is doubtful for Saturday’s match against New York, team sources tell Table Tennis TV.
Omoda will be in Chicago with her team starting on Saturday, but she is not likely to play until Sunday. Rachel Sung will take Omoda’s place and make her Season 3 debut on Friday.
Omoda competed in the All-Japan University Championship throughout the week. After playing in five matches on Friday, sources confirm that an exhausted, sore Omoda rushed to the airport and caught her flight to Chicago.
In 18 singles games with the Paddlers this season, Omoda boasts an 11-7 (61.1%) record. She is the 16th-highest ranked player on Major League Table Tennis (MLTT)’s official power rankings as of Friday, the highest ranking of any woman.
Omoda guided the Paddlers to an undefeated home stand in Week 3 with a 7-2 record in singles, which earned her Female Player of the Week honors for that weekend.
In addition, Portland will be without star rookie Kang Dong-Soo (2788), the league’s highest-ranked player, for the entirety of Week 4. For at least one match this weekend, the Paddlers will compete without both of their reigning Players of the Week.
The Paddlers enter Week 4 as the team with MLTT’s best record and highest point total. They hope to add to their three-game winning streak on Friday at 8:30 p.m. EDT against Chicago, Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT against New York and Sunday at 12 p.m. EDT against Princeton.
All three matches will be streamed exclusively on Table Tennis TV. Sign up today and receive two free weeks.
