XIOM Omega I
The Butterfly brand makes excellent table tennis products. They have come up with a new high tension rubber named Tenergy 05 to help the players who like to do speed glue before the ITTF ban. I have been asked by some players “is there a similar to Tenergy in the XIOM range that they can try”. In the past, I have tried all of the XIOM rubbers except the Omega I. This week I had got a chance to test the XIOM Omega I Asian version. In a few words I would say the XIOM Omega I Asian is a very similar rubber to Butterfly Tenergy 05.
Feel
The XIOM Omega I resembles to a Japanese rubber with harder top sheet. I could not find a similar top sheet among the XIOM rubbers like True Innovation, ZETA, Omega II or Omega III – the closest would be ZETA but still ZETA has more top sheet tackiness. The top sheet is very similar to Butterfly Tenergy 05. The sponge hardness is 47.5 degree. The same sponge has been used on Omega III also.
Spin
In one of my previous blog, I have compared Tenergy to a car with Manual transmission. If you have good techniques, you can squeeze the maximum out of this rubber. That is the case with Omega I also. The XIOM Omega I is not tacky at all. The spin that you can generate out of the top sheet is almost to nothing. The ball needs to rub the top sheet long enough to generate spin.
Speed
The XIOM Omega I has half speed of Omega II or Omega III only.
Countering
The XIOM Omega I has excellent control in blocking and countering top spin. It has high throw angle. Comparing to Tenergy, it has little high throw, but the balls faster than Tenergy.
Looping
I’m very satisfied by its ability to counter spin against top spin. It can take any hard impact. However I’m not that satisfied its ability to loop against under spin and no spin ball. The hardness prevent the grabbing of the rubber. It is required to take those balls early when you play with Omega I. My blade did not have enough power to do that, so I can’t comment on its ability in that area.
Who this rubber is for?
This rubber is for someone who needs more control. The players who like Japanese rubber but need speed, this will fit them. The players who like Chinese rubbers like Hurricane III provisional version will like it.
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