Photo: Flickr/SPiN New York
Gone are they days of ping-pong tournaments confined to the basements of geeky teens. Thanks in part to SPiN, a stylish "table tennis social club" in the Flatiron District of NYC, the sport is on the rebound—and it’s hotter than ever. Two new clubs are expected to open this summer, one on July 20 at the Mondrian in Los Angeles and the other in downtown Milwaukee’s trendy-yet-historic Third Ward in September.
The 13,000-square-foot NYC outpost on East 23rd Street sports 15 top-quality table tennis courts on cushioned Olympic-competition-level flooring and a stadium-like center court. Just last week they hosted a black-tie event where ping-pong aficionados, along with World Champs Jan-Ove Waldner and Mikael Appelgren, battled it out while sipping martinis.
Club co-owner Susan Sarandon has just announced that a new reality show based on the budding sport is in the works. In an interview with NBC, Sarandon calls it an "episodic documentary," that will follow the younger pong stars training to qualify for the Olympics, as well the people behind the growing business and its quirky characters.
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