Xiom KATANA Platinum CP

Gear: Xiom KATANA Platinum - Chinese Penhold FH Rubber: BTY Sriver max BH Rubber: BTY Sriver 1.7 As a amateur penhold player with 2 years of experience. I have tested this for several weeks and here is my review. Overall, this blade is great for looper from middle distance from the table due to its softness. Comparing to other wood rackets, it require bit less effort to generate top spin loop. Although this blade is very fast, it is controllable at fast stroke due to above than average dwelling time. On touch play, you can easily control the ball on pushing and backspin chop. On the other hands, I find this is quite heavy and maybe its too heavy to do RPB loop or flick without proper physical traning (approximately 100g with no rubber). The thickness of the Hinoki maybe bothersome but IMHO you will get used to it easily Update #2: FH: Rakza 7 Soft Max Red BH Tibhar Norm 1.7 Black After using it for a while, I think the control of the blade from 9 is a bit over-rated due to its too much stffness. Although it still easy to loop with this level of stiffness. However, not all shot is guaranteed accuracy to drop on the table. (and some of the time it fly off the table). IMHO, coming from both carbon blade and 1-ply J-pen, this blade need a lot of adjustment in racket angle with soft rubber. In addition, back hand RPB plays is still trobling in fast shot due to its thickness and weight. Although I use light rubber for both FH and BH to reduce weight problem. Its thickness still bothersome for backhand RPB shot and sometime you can't get full swing because of it. In summary, I find this blade are excels at smashing, middle-long distance looping and blocking game. It will be too powerful in short game and touch play without proper adjustment in racket angle otherwise you cannot keep the ball in the place you want. Still, I do not recommend this blade for beginner, this blade is for someone who already have proper training in both physical and table tennis skill