Vladimir Sidorenko: The US Smash 2026 Fairytale & His Donic Equipment Setup
Published July 2026 · Written by the TopspinTT team
Every so often a table tennis tournament produces a story so extraordinary it transcends the sport. The 2026 WTT United States Smash in Los Angeles gave us exactly that — and its name is Vladimir Sidorenko. Ranked 37 in the world, competing under a neutral flag, and playing only his second Grand Smash, the 24-year-old Russian left-hander tore through the draw to reach the final, becoming the first Russian player to break the ITTF top 20 since 2007.
This is our full review of Sidorenko's run — how he plays, the equipment he uses, and why UK players should be paying attention. We stock every piece of his kit at TopspinTT.
Who is Vladimir Sidorenko?
Vladimir Vladimirovich Sidorenko was born 7 April 2002 in Tomsk, Russia. Introduced to table tennis by his father — a co-founder of the Tomsk regional Golden Racket table tennis federation — he moved to Khanty-Mansiysk as a junior and then to Saint Petersburg in 2014 to train under the legendary Russian coach Arkady Elbert.
His junior CV is remarkable: five-time European Youth champion, 2020 European U21 singles champion, and a 2021 World Junior doubles gold medal partnering Maxim Grebnev. In 2021 he took team silver at the senior European Championships with Russia.
Then, through no fault of his own, his career was frozen. The ITTF ban on Russian athletes following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine cost Sidorenko nearly four years of international competition. His world ranking evaporated. His Paris 2024 Olympic dream disappeared. Between 2022 and 2025 he could only play club table tennis, first in the German Bundesliga (Ochsenhausen, Neu-Ulm) and then in France's Pro A league with GV Hennebont, where he still competes today.
In 2025 the ITTF allowed a limited return under the AIN (Individual Neutral Athlete) framework — no national flag, no anthem, no team events. Sidorenko wasted no time. He won the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games singles gold in Riyadh, took the WTT Feeder Istanbul title (his first WTT singles crown), and made the semi-finals at WTT Star Contender Muscat.
Then came Los Angeles.
The US Smash 2026 run — a fairytale in Ontario, California
The WTT United States Smash 2026 was held at the Ontario Convention Center in California from 26 June – 5 July. With a $1.55 million prize pool and a field including every top-ranked player outside China, this was the biggest event of Sidorenko's career.
He arrived as the 37th seed. He left as the finalist.
Round 1 — Horacio Cifuentes (ARG, WR 81) — Won 3-0
A confident opener. Sidorenko never let the Argentinian settle.
Round of 32 — Benedikt Duda (GER, WR 16) — Won 3-0
The 2026 European vice-champion. Sidorenko's controlled aggression neutralised Duda's spin-heavy game and secured a straight-games win that started to raise eyebrows.
Round of 16 — Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN, WR 2) — Won 3-0
This was the shockwave. Sidorenko had never played world number 2 Tomokazu Harimoto before — one of the biggest names in world table tennis, an Olympic team bronze medallist, and a two-time World Championship mixed doubles silver medallist. Sidorenko dismantled him in straight games. It was the biggest upset of the tournament and put him on the front page of table tennis media worldwide.
Quarter-final — Hiroto Shinozuka (JPN, WR 30) — Won 4-1
The quarter-final was played on Table 1 on 4 July at 21:04 local time, lasting just 36 minutes 40 seconds. Sidorenko won 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8 — ruthless efficiency against a well-drilled Japanese opponent.
Semi-final — Truls Möregårdh (SWE, Olympic silver) — Won 4-3 from 1-3 down
Möregårdh — 2021 World Championship finalist, 2024 Paris Olympic silver medallist — went 3-1 up and looked to be closing the match out. Sidorenko dug in, won three straight games, and reached the final of a WTT Grand Smash for the first time.
Final — Sora Matsushima (JPN, WR 6) — Lost 2-4
Japan's 19-year-old Sora Matsushima played an outstanding final to win 11-5, 13-11, 11-7, 11-4, 5-11, 11-7 and become the youngest WTT Grand Smash men's singles champion in history. Sidorenko's dream run ended as runner-up — but the impact was already secured.
The numbers
- Prize money: $52,000 (up from $14,345 already earned at the QF stage)
- Ranking points: 1,400
- World ranking jump: from 37 to 16 — a rise of 21 places, and the first Russian in the ITTF top 20 for 18 years (since Alexey Smirnov in 2007-08)
- New career-high world ranking: 16 (July 2026)
Sidorenko's playing style — the tactical breakdown
Understanding how Sidorenko plays is what makes his equipment choices so instructive for improving players. Here's the profile:
- Handedness: Left-handed
- Grip: Shakehand (European)
- Style: Two-winged offensive looper
- Height: 182 cm — tall enough for wide court coverage from mid-distance
- Signature strength: Full-swing topspin drives from mid-distance with exceptional consistency
- Mental profile: Fearless. His playing coach Vyacheslav Burov describes his game as hyper-aggressive, zero hesitation — the moment he sees an opening, he attacks with full power
His forehand and backhand are both weapons. He plays close-to-mid distance, favours heavy topspin looping over blocking, and has developed a genuine talent for winning the fifth game — he came back from 1-3 down against Moregardh, and pushed Sora Matsushima to five games in a Grand Smash final.
Vladimir Sidorenko's equipment — the setup that beat Harimoto and Moregardh
Sidorenko is a contracted Donic player. His exact setup is:
- Blade: Donic Carbo Speed (Waldner range)
- Forehand rubber: Donic Bluegrip C2 (55 sponge hardness)
- Backhand rubber: Donic Bluestar A1 (52.5 sponge hardness)
This is a genuinely fascinating setup because it's not what most players would guess. Sidorenko doesn't use the harshest, fastest rubber Donic makes — he uses a tacky forehand rubber for spin dominance paired with a slightly softer, more elastic backhand rubber for control on flicks and blocks. It's a Chinese-style forehand married to a European-style backhand.
Donic Bluegrip C2 — the forehand rubber
Donic Bluegrip C2 (£40.99 at TopspinTT) is a tacky topsheet rubber with a firm sponge. What makes it different from a typical European tensor rubber is surface grip — the topsheet grabs the ball for that extra fraction of a second, letting you generate genuinely heavy topspin from a passive contact.
Sidorenko uses the 55 hardness variant, which is on the harder end. Harder sponges reward players with high racket-head speed and clean contact — exactly Sidorenko's game. On a soft contact the rubber sits and grips; on a fast contact it releases with serious speed. That combination is why his loops off the third ball are so heavy.
Who is Bluegrip C2 for? Advanced attackers who want Chinese-rubber grip with European tensor consistency. Perfect for the forehand of a two-winged looper.
Donic Bluestar A1 — the backhand rubber
Donic Bluestar A1 (£49.99 at TopspinTT) is Donic's flagship tensor rubber — smooth, fast, with a lively sponge for maximum energy return on flicks, counter-loops and drives.
Sidorenko uses the 52.5 hardness variant on the backhand — a full 2.5 degrees softer than his forehand. Why? Because backhand strokes are shorter and more wrist-driven; a softer sponge gives you the throw you need for over-the-table flicks and quick counter-topspin. Watching Sidorenko's backhand banana flick in Los Angeles, you can see the sponge working — the ball is doing everything.
Bluestar A1 is our top-selling advanced backhand rubber at TopspinTT, and it's exactly the kind of rubber that rewards a serious backhand game.
The blade — Donic Carbo Speed (Waldner range)
Sidorenko plays with a Donic Waldner-family carbon blade. The Waldner range is one of Donic's most prestigious — designed in collaboration with Jan-Ove Waldner and used across the professional peloton. Carbon plies give you stability and a bigger sweet spot without the wobble that pure wood blades develop at high speed.
The closest blades we stock to Sidorenko's setup:
- Donic Skachkov Carbon Blade — £47.99. The closest match we stock: it's the blade of Russian star Kirill Skachkov, from the same family as Sidorenko's custom Skachkov Carbospeed. A 7-ply aramid-carbon blade (speed 9+) for dynamic, spin-oriented attackers.
- Donic Original True Carbon — £86.99. A step up in power: Dima Ovtcharov's 5-ply plus twin-carbon design (speed 10, OFF+) for offensive players who want maximum penetration with a controlled feel.
Build the Sidorenko setup — the UK version
Want to play with near-identical equipment to a WTT Grand Smash finalist? Here's the setup, all in stock at TopspinTT:
| Part | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Blade | Donic Skachkov Carbon Blade | £47.99 |
| Forehand rubber | Donic Bluegrip C2 | £40.99 |
| Backhand rubber | Donic Bluestar A1 | £49.99 |
| Assembly (recommended) | TopspinTT Bat Make-Up Service | £5.00 |
| Total (custom build with two rubbers on a matching blade) | Under £150 | |
If you want the closest possible spec, prefer to build the bat yourself, or want a different Donic blade, browse our full table tennis blades collection and Donic rubbers collection.
Should you copy a pro's setup?
Honest answer: probably not exactly. Sidorenko plays with a hard 55 tacky forehand because he has the racket-head speed and technique to make it work. On a club player it can feel bricky.
What you can and should take from his setup is the concept:
- Tacky/grippy on the forehand for spin dominance and heavy loops
- Faster/springier on the backhand for over-the-table flicks and quick counter-topspin
- Slightly softer backhand than forehand — matches the shorter, wrist-driven backhand stroke
- Carbon-composite blade — stability under speed, bigger sweet spot
For most improving intermediate players, we'd recommend a softer version of the same idea. Try Donic Bluegrip C2 at 47.5 hardness on forehand paired with Bluestar A1 at 47.5 on backhand — same rubbers, more forgiving spec. Or read our best table tennis rubbers for intermediate players guide for full recommendations by level.
Why Sidorenko's success matters for the sport
Beyond the equipment, Sidorenko's run is a genuine feel-good story for table tennis. Here's a player who lost four prime developmental years to circumstances he had no control over, kept his level in club leagues while the world moved on without him, and then — given the opportunity — produced one of the most memorable individual runs of the WTT era.
His next event is the Europe Smash Sweden in Malmo (8–16 August 2026). Now that he's a genuine top-16 player, expect the field to be ready for him. Whether he can back up Los Angeles will be one of the most compelling questions of the second half of the 2026 season.
Frequently asked questions
What blade does Vladimir Sidorenko use?
Sidorenko uses a Donic Skachkov Carbospeed. He's contracted to Donic. The closest blades we stock are the Donic Skachkov Carbon Blade or Donic Original True Carbon
What rubbers does Vladimir Sidorenko use?
Donic Bluegrip C2 at 55 sponge hardness on his forehand, and Donic Bluestar A1 at 52.5 on his backhand.
Is Vladimir Sidorenko Russian?
Yes. Sidorenko is Russian, born in Tomsk in 2002. Because of the ITTF ban on Russian athletes since 2022, he competes internationally under the AIN (Individual Neutral Athlete) framework rather than under the Russian flag, but he plays club table tennis for GV Hennebont in France's Pro A league and is Russia's undisputed number-one player.
What is Vladimir Sidorenko's world ranking?
16 as of July 2026 — his career-high. He rose 21 places after reaching the WTT US Smash final and became the first Russian in the ITTF top 20 since 2007.
How can I buy Sidorenko's setup in the UK?
Every part of Sidorenko's setup is available at TopspinTT. Order the custom setup with the Bluegrip C2 forehand and Bluestar A1 backhand plus Donic Skachkov Carbon Blade and add our £5 Bat Make-Up Service to have it professionally assembled.
Related reading
- Best Table Tennis Bats UK 2026
- Donic Table Tennis Equipment: The Complete Guide
- How to Pick the Right Table Tennis Bat
- Best Table Tennis Rubbers for Intermediate Players
Watch Sidorenko's US Smash quarter-final and beyond on the World Table Tennis official match centre.