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TigerWing Table Tennis!
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“TigerWing Table Tennis” is headquartered in Hamilton/Auckland, New Zealand.
“TigerWing Table Tennis” is thrilled to be able to bring you a discovery of an exciting new style of playing table tennis which has the potential to give players an unprecedented competitive edge: we name this the TigerWing Shakehand Tecnique Style, played using the TigerWing Shakehand Grip.
Why is it called TigerWing?
Let’s explain as below: TigerWing comes from the Chinese saying “如虎添翼- Rúhǔtiānyì” which translates literally as “like a tiger with added wings”. The saying is a description of increased strength or greatly reinforced strength of what was already strong and powerful.
With the new table tennis grip it describes the advantage that TigerWing adds to the strength of common traditional pengrip or shakhand grip.
The rubber configuration of TigerWing Shakehand Tecnique Style is inverted rubber on one side and long pimple rubber on the other side.
On the forehand side, player uses TigerWing Shakehand grip or RSB (reverse shakehand backhand) grip to play with inverted rubber, it is similar to the traditional shakehand grip.
On the backhand side, the use of the TigerWing Shakehand grip or RSB (reverse shakehand backhand) grip enable player to use inverted rubber to produce a heavy topspin ball with good power and a wide reach. It is also very good at attacking short balls on the backhand due to flexible wrist movement.
In addition to RSB, the player can also use long pimples on the back side of the bat to cut, block, punch or fast push on the backhand side to give opponents troubles. Of course, the player can use a mixture of the RSB and long pimple on the backhand side to give more variation, selecting inverted rubber and long pimple randomly, alternately and freely.
This website(launched as of December 2018) has shown conclusively that TigerWing Shakehand Technique Style can bring the five winning factors of “speed, spin, accuracy, powerfulness, and change” to a higher level, creating a contrast between spin, power, speed, arc, length, and rhythm. Because the addition of (backhand side) RSB technique is like a tiger added with wings, so it is named as TigerWing Shakehand Style.
Here is the link to TigerWing Shakehand Style and RSB. Here is another one.
We believe TigerWing Shakehand Technique Style will become one of the most advanced style of play in the future! However, this playing style has just (at the end of 2018) been released and promoted. Until now , there is not yet achievements to prove this. Is it practical? Is it a good thing? This will indeed prove itself only through competition results. If beginners, amateur players and even professional players, from local teams to national teams, at all levels can achieve good results to prove that this style of play is reasonable, effective and advanced, then it would be more widely spread.
However, as of 19/01/2023, the case of 何倚天Ho,Yitian (Eli Ho), who is the first TigerWing style player below may prove that the TigerWing technique is indeed reasonable, effective and advanced.
何倚天Ho,Yitian (Eli Ho), a New Zealand table tennis training base athlete, was born on March 6, 2012 in Hamilton, New Zealand. He started to learn to play at the age of 5 and a half. He is also, in the world today (22/Nov/2021), the only one who uses techniques of double-sided looping with inverted rubbers, combined with fast attack, plus double-sided with long pimple rubber and is the first TigerWing style player. He has won the 2020 Waikato Youth Table Tennis Player of the Year Award in New Zealand. At the age of eight, he has won the most important and highest-ranking Table Tennis Player of the Year Award in Waikato New Zealand at the age of eight. In July 2021 he won New Zealand North Island Tourament Open Under 13 boy single event, in August 2021 he again won New Zealand North Shore Tourament Open Under 13 boy single event. In November he is awarded as Most Improved Boy of the Year by Table Tennis New Zealand. In November 2021 he (at the age of nine) was selected TTNZ 2022 National Under 15 Boys Squad. He won the 2022 Waitemata Open U19.
He placed 2nd in 2022 ITTF（International Table Tennis Federation) Oceania Hopes Challenge and 2nd in 2022 NZ Open Championship U13.
At the age of 10, Eli unprecedentedly became the youngest player to ever win the open men’s singles title at the 2022 Auckland Spring Open.
In 2023, he was selected for the New Zealand national U15 youth team, when he was only 11 years old. Eli Ho, who is only 11 years old, has become the youngest ever winner of the New Zealand Chinese Individual Championships, both men’s singles and youth singles. At the age of 11 and a half, he went to Tainan, Taiwan for an off-site training for 4 months. In 2024, he was selected for the New Zealand U19 youth team at the age of 12.
As an outstanding boy among the young generation of table tennis players in New Zealand, Eli Ho showed superb skills and potential as a teenager. In the 2023 Team Oceania Championship, he and his teammates won the runner-up of the U15 men’s team at the age of 11. In the 2024 Oceania Championship he and his teammates won the runner-up of the U19 men’s team at the age of 12.
He won the title in the 2024 ITTF-Oceania Hopes (Under 12) Challenge.
At the 2024 ITTF World Hopes Challenge in Asuncion, Paraguay (1–7 November), Eli made history by becoming the first player from Oceania to win the event, taking gold in the Boys’ Singles.
In March 2025, Eli Ho became the recipient of the ITTF’s “With the Future in Mind” scholarship programme for 2025.
In April 2025, he made history by winning the U13 and U15 Boys’ Singles titles consecutively at the WTT Youth Contender in San Francisco – the first time a New Zealand player had achieved this feat in a WTT Youth Contender event.
In May 2025, he won the Men’s Singles at the Auckland North Shore Open.
In June 2025, at the Oceania Youth Championships, at the age of 13, he and his teammates won the U15 Boys’ Teams gold medal, and won the U15 men’s doubles championship, the U15 Boys’ Singles runner-up, and the U15 mixed doubles third place.
In July 2025, he won the Men’s Singles at the New Zealand North Island Open Championship.
In August 2025, he finished second in the Open Men’s Singles division of the TTNZ Top 8 Tournament.
In September 2025, at the age of 13, he made history by winning the Men’s Singles title at the New Zealand Open Championships, becoming the youngest champion in the event’s history.
In October 2025, 13-year-old Eli Ho jumped to number one in the New Zealand Table Tennis Association TTNZ New Zealand national ranking list, becoming the youngest national number one in history.
Note (26/09/2025): Eli Ho, the first player to master the TigerWing technique, won the 2024 ITTF Oceania Hopes Challenge U12 Men’s Singles in September 2024. In November 2024, he won the 2024 ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) World Hopes Challenge U12 Men’s Singles. In April 2025, he made history by winning the U13 and U15 Boys’ Singles titles consecutively at the WTT Youth Contender in San Francisco – the first time a New Zealand player had achieved this feat in a WTT Youth Contender event. In September 2025, at the age of 13, he made history by winning the Men’s Singles title at the New Zealand Open Championships, becoming the youngest champion in the event’s history. These world champion of the international competition held by the ITTF and the winning of the Men’s Singles title at the New Zealand Open Championships should be able to prove that the TigerWing technique is indeed reasonable and advanced, and verify the effectiveness of this technique.
As time went by, his strength continued to improve, and now he has grown into New Zealand Table Tennis key member of the youth national team and an athlete with Olympic aspirations.
Eli Ho is a talented and process-oriented athlete who is determined to reach the top. The ultimate goal is to become the greatest future star of world-class table tennis through “Tiger Wing Style-Tiger Wing Table Tennis” at the highest level of competition in the world.
If you would like to enquire further, please email the address below.
John Ho
Founder of the TigerWing Shakehand technique style R&D Center
Founder of RSB (Reverse Shakehand Backhand) R&D Center
Enlightenment coach and general head coach of Eli Ho
Former Waikato Table Tennis Association, New Zealand (board member and recognized coach)
Auckland Table Tennis Association, New Zealand (recognized coach)
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John Ho Profile
John Ho – A passionate table tennis enthusiast who has spent years analyzing playing styles.
～ Mikael Andersson, ITTF Sports Development Director, 19/Mar/2025
“At the age of six and a half, I changed to the Tiger Wing style invented by my dad, John Ho, in August 2018”, explained Eli. “The grip is a hybrid between the traditional Japanese pen-hold and the shake-hand grips. It is unique and always gives the opponents a surprise.” ~ July 2025 edition of the ITTF’s Swaythling Magazine, p36, an ITTF publication that highlights inspiring stories and achievements in table tennis.
John Ho has studied table tennis games and winning techniques in great depth. He has spared no effort in studying table tennis skills, achieving valuable research and innovation results, and becoming an active leader, advocate, and practitioner of advanced table tennis playing methods. ~ New Zealand Chinese Tianwei News, 2020-12-14
John is a long-time member of the Waikato Table Tennis Association and is hugely respected both for his technical excellence and clever tactical play. I feel sure that whatever style of play John comes up with will repay careful attention and I look forward to seeing it in action.
~ Mark Caunter, President of Waikato Table Tennis Association, 30/Nov/2018
John Ho is a prominent figure in the table tennis community in New Zealand, a recognized coach in Hamilton and Auckland, particularly known for his innovative contributions to playing styles. He is actively involved in promoting table tennis in New Zealand, collaborating with local associations and offering training and partnership opportunities through the TigerWing Table Tennis initiative. His contributions to the sport, both as a coach and innovator, are widely recognized and respected within the New Zealand table tennis community. He is also recognized as one of the most creative table tennis style research experts globally, known for his insight, wisdom and innovative approach to the table tennis style research.
John Ho is a pivotal figure in the development and promotion of the “TigerWing” table tennis style. He is the father and enlightenment coach of Eli Ho, the young table tennis sensation who has gained international recognition for mastering the TigerWing technique. The name “TigerWing” comes from the Chinese saying “如虎添翼” (Rúhǔtiānyì), meaning “like a tiger with added wings,” symbolizing that a powerful person gets help, gains new advantages, increases his strength, and becomes even more powerful.
John Ho’s approach to table tennis focuses on giving players a competitive edge through versatility and surprise. The TigerWing style philosophy aims to elevate traditional table tennis winning factors to a higher level by changing, creating contrasts in speed, spin, power, and rhythm. He believes in the importance of combining different rubber(inverted rubber and long pimples rubber) types and techniques to confuse opponents and maintain an offensive advantage.
Here’s what the world know about John Ho’s role:
- Founder of TigerWing Shakehand Technique Style R&D Center: John Ho is credited as the founder of the research and development center, which is based in Hamilton (2018-2022) and Auckland (2022- ) New Zealand, dedicated to the TigerWing Shakehand technique style. This indicates his active role in conceptualizing, refining, and promoting this innovative playing method.
- He is the creator of the “TigerWing” grip: a hybrid technique that combines elements of the Japanese penhold and shakehand grips. This unique and advanced table tennis playing style developed and promoted by John Ho since the end of 2018, apart from allowing players to execute both forehand and backhand strokes with inverted rubber, which is a two-winged looping approach, but also providing players to randomly switch between inverted (smooth) rubber and long pimples rubber on the backhand side, which can attack and defend in a way that confuses the opponent with unpredictable significant variations in spin, speed, plus rhythm and enhance versatility, deception in play.
- Founder of RSB (Reverse Shakehand Backhand) R&D Center: The Reverse Shakehand Backhand (RSB) is a key component of the TigerWing style, allowing players to use inverted rubber on the reverse side of the racket for a powerful topspin backhand. John Ho’s involvement in the R&D for this specific technique further highlights his contribution to the overall TigerWing system.
- Eli Ho’s Coach: John Ho has been Eli Ho’s enlightenment coach and general head coach since Eli started playing table tennis at a young age (5 and a half). He has guided Eli in developing and perfecting the world-first TigerWing style, which has been successfully demonstrated in competition, and has led to Eli’s impressive achievements in the sport, becoming a prominent figure in New Zealand table tennis, showcasing the effectiveness of the TigerWing style.
At just 12 years old, Eli, a rising table tennis prodigy, successfully implementing the TigerWing technique at a high level, made history by winning the ITTF World Hopes Challenge in Paraguay in November 2024, marking the first time a player from New Zealand and Oceania secured the gold in this event, also made history by winning back-to-back U13 & U15 titles at the WTT Youth Contender San Francisco II 2025 in April 2025 – the first time a Kiwi player has achieved this at a WTT Youth Contender event, which serves as a testament to the effectiveness of John Ho’s coaching and the TigerWing style.
Mikael Andersson, ITTF Sports Development Director, pointed out that “ Eli Ho isn’t just making waves because of his talent—his playing style is unlike anything seen before. He uses the TigerWing grip, a hybrid between the traditional Japanese penhold and the shakehand grip. This unique technique allows him to attack and block with the same side of the racket while using long pimples on the reverse side for service returns and backhand pushes.”
- Promoter of Tiger Wing: John Ho is actively involved in promoting the Tiger Wing style, as seen by the existence of the “TigerWing Table Tennis 翼虎乒乓” website iftt04.com , which provides information about the technique, training opportunities, and contact details for inquiries and features Eli Ho’s successes as a testament to its effectiveness. He has also uploaded numerous videos showcasing Eli Ho’s training sessions and matches footage and technical breakdowns of the TigerWing style, using the Tiger Wing technique on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tigerwingtabletennis . John Ho continues to contribute to the sport through his coaching and development of this advanced playing style.
In essence, John Ho is the driving force behind the “TigerWing” table tennis revolution, both as the inventor/developer of the style and as the primary coach and advocate for his son, Eli Ho, who is showcasing its potential on the international stage with this unique playing style, a mix of the Japanese penhold and shakehand grip styles. The TigerWing grip has garnered attention from coaches and players worldwide for its innovative approach, blending traditional techniques with modern strategies to enhance a player’s game. It is regarded as an advanced playing style in the future and has broad development potential.
As a leading innovator in table tennis playing style, his dedication to developing new techniques is shaping new approaches to the sport, with early impressive success demonstrated by his student Eli Ho, growing interest globally in the TigerWing method, and making a significant impact on table tennis within and beyond New Zealand.
Email: iftt04@gmail.com ; Tel: (+64) 272302121 ; Wechat: John2820703
Website: https://www.iftt04.com
TigerWing Table Tennis 翼虎乒乓 