America's Ping Pong Prodigy: The 16 Project

When Kanak Jha was 16, he became the youngest American Olympian participate in the Rio Games. Only a year later, he now is considered the top-ranked US Men’s Ping Pong Player. Looking to take that next step in his development and training, the California native recently moved to Grenzau, Germany. Far away from home and with few distractions from table tennis, Kanak looks to perfect his craft and join the company of the game's elite with his sites set on Tokyo 2020.
Presented by Michelin.
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[@Liasos88]

4:00 0-5 down and wins 11-5, that's impressive.

[@NitrosNeeded]

"I am excited for Tokyo 2020" Coronavirus: *i'ma stop you right there*

[@IHATEJEREMYMOCK]

Seems like a good kid.

[@jeffchen8312]

What the hell that's exactly the thought that went through my head after watching this.

[@adalsteinn5477]

He's Indian he's gotta be a good kid otherwise his parents would kick his arse

[@jockim123]

he was recently arrested for starting a bar fight

[@farmea633]

FULL FORCE there is more than 2 usable grips.

[@djlollers1850]

@@farmea633 Shakehand and Penhold right? What he means is that he is not holding it with the shakehand grip well

[@bigeve223]

I wish him the best and I will be cheering him on! Very dedicated and enthusiastic about his progression within his sport. Awesome to see people passionate about what they do!!

[@002redu]

America's next ping pong prodigy since Forest Gump.

[@cpt_mrn]

Jose Ruben not like well ever beat China though kinda a lost cause

[@ninorattaa7514]

jane

[@getawayred]

Fkn dead lmao.

[@justinyang6682]

Forrest Gump wasn’t even good tho

[@chaseledbury1691]

Justin Yang it’s a movie

[@Michael-eu4pf]

Idk why but this video hit me deep, good stuff young buck. Keep doing your thing, it’s motivating

[@abhishekjmadan]

Same man, he seems like a grateful self-aware kid.

[@SirPhillyLeong]

Prodigy in America = Just makes the local High school team in China.

[@MultiSync3V]

No, his results at the World Cup this year definitely put him in a better category than that.

[@dfang888]

Might want to check the facts. Beyond domestic success, China has had multiple young world and olympic champions under the age of 16. Liu Guo Liang was practically a baby when he took the world by storm.

[@KarunaJain]

You cannot compare USA kids with China. Have you been to a Chinese sports school? Or seen how the Chinese treat their athletes? Also they have a huge population of kids to train and only a few make it to the top. Most are left without an education and no future after decades of intense training. With very little infrastructure in USA for professional table tennis, it is hard for athletes living her to reach higher levels. And yet USA juniors are moving up the ladders. It's amazing how the dedication of the athletes, parents, coaches, clubs is moving the sport here in USA.

[@freakychannel123]

@dfang we talking about Olympics here. Liu Guo was 20 when he appeared in his first Olympics back in 1996 i think. This guy is 16, he got 4 year of head start and time to get better. name ONE Chinese Olympic champion under the age of 16 that you seem to know abt? stop spouting NONSENSE and speak FACT.

[@freakychannel123]

@iform yes Chinese table tennis is def competitive. no doubt abt it...that is pretty much the popular sport they are know for internationally so you would at least expect them to be good. but this guy is trash? you snorting something? guy's 16 and made it to Olympics beating multiple opponents along the way. da fuk you done? you trash for hatin bruh

[@SHONSL]

I love this documentary. Thank you for capturing this footage and compiling it in a personal fashion. Kudos.

[@Twiddle_TV]

I have admired Kanak's progression in table tennis for a long time now. I'm very glad to hear that he is still working hard. I recently loved watching him on the world tour - he did very well against some of the worlds best. Keep it up man.

[@KarunaJain]

Great video, very well made. Great job to all those involved at VICE in making this video. Great job Kanak! wish you all the best.

[@thehonoreats]

So this is how I'm gonna start my morning huh. Watching a trailer for a ping pong documentary. Eh not bad for a Tuesday.

[@Gochomovie]

Same as me but wednesday on China hahaha

[@johnwayne6654]

not bad for a Wednesday morning either

[@alexgreen4177]

or a friday morning

[@solomongorringe69]

i read that as moaning

[@user-kl3td5mt3m]

Holy fuck dude,,, it’s literally Tuesday morning rn, u creepy man

[@TheWacoKid44]

Keep doing your thing Kanak

[@vittomusic23]

Way to go. Great job on the video! Thumbsup

[@ronitbhansali5862]

He seems so humble, i want this guy to make it.

[@Aliyaaaa]

Omg I love him so much I am cheering for him! Especially after the math against ma long even if he lost. He is so precious

[@mickeym0use857]

Indian origin , represents USA , trains in Germany ....okay

[@dinogaming4419]

His origin is really USA considering that is where he was born. Nationality has nothing to do with it.

[@marginelouis6674]

If you are born in America you are American.

[@AshutoshShelkeP]

margine louis only if you're successful.

[@samarthkapuria]

great logic there. This guy talking bout genes here

[@scholarlycat6939]

Fr though all our young athlete “prodigies” seem to have accents and didn’t really grow up or train in the US. Like Julian Green or Jonathan Amon on the national football team. They spent their youth playing overseas.

[@wocogamer09]

Love the passion man. Keep it up!

[@MrDavidPartida]

Good luck young fella! You are making us all proud!!!

[@supernova20]

i'm 45 and train like this three times a week, have been since i was 40. i love this game! best of luck to him. i wish i had gotten started young like him. wow he has such loving and sweet parents. i hope he goes far.

[@user-cx5sx9zz6l]

45？。。。ping pong is a good gymnasium for u

[@sumeetsharma4283]

Very good Kanak. Keep the good work up. Liked your journey to this point. Congratulations to you n your parents.

[@TriforceStudiosVideo]

I've watched you for so LONG, its amazing to see you come from where Michael Landers was. Don't let the dream of Table Tennis distract you though, when you find, your passion through this sport, the fame will fade.

[@WeedSmoker69]

Kanak, 18 now, just played against Ma Long (arguably the GOAT) in April 2019 at the world championship and kind of almost beat him. Kanak is already way better than any US player has ever become and i hope he breaks into the top 10.

[@adrians3267]

He put up a good fight yes, but did not "almost beat him"

[@yeagerist977]

GenuineJokes “almost beat him” .... are you for real ?

[@jackyhwang3361]

Tf do you mean Ma long retired

[@jackyhwang3361]

Oldass Ma long still whooped him

[@daverbook]

the way he's improving, it could happen.

[@4munitas]

very informative video, well done

[@lydialas1649]

@yes well done,how are you doing

[@E3qgr]

GO KANAK!!

[@marktannertt]

Great insight into the sport for players and non players alike - fantastic production and promotion of the sport, even two years on!

[@souldy09]

This is so great! So many people think ping pong is easy or it's not that intense. They ask me why I'm sweating after playing ping pong.....lol like did you not see me running and hitting the ball? It's intense. This kid seems like he'll go far. Best of luck in Tokyo!!

[@bradrosser298]

Wish this kid the best. He has talent and seems like a good kid

[@ikaros21]

And now he is playing better than ever. I say top 30 around the world!

[@BigShotTT]

He's done really well

[@vidyutharni6151]

Go all the way! Keep it up!

[@marleiserashford396]

Wow. Great talent. Keep reaching for your goals.

[@MrFuchew]

wow what an amazing place he got to move to!

[@val7957]

6:38 ask if there is time for homework lmao.

[@lydialas1649]

@Hi Val how are you doing

[@amapparatistkwabena]

Good luck, Kanak!

[@carlospiso]

Nice story, keep on pushing ! 👍

[@TheMrFrontera]

That's pretty cool. Happy for him and I hope he does well in Tokyo. If i can bet on table tennis I'll be sure to take Kanak. Also think it's awesome that his parents are letting him follow his dream like that. When I was 16 my parents would never let me drop out of school to pursue a sport like table tennis

[@dutchybag]

great vid

[@bobboberson2024]

Go Kanak!!

[@marcusdiesel8288]

I belonged to a table tennis team in high school that was funded by a charity to build Olympian table tennis athletes. I am very grateful for that program as it allowed me to compete, expand, and enjoy the sport of table tennis. I was number 2 on the lineup only because the number one was a grandchild of a gold medalist Olympian and had the correct equipment and elite mentoring (although I could still win games against him). With my $30 paddle I have defeated many of worthy opponents but where I live the sport is not seen as such and thus I only get to play recreational opponents. I hope to move to New York someday and table tennis will be on the top of the agenda of things I can consider as a serious hobby. I would love to play an Olympian some day,

[@treasuretim3]

"The LeBron James of Ping Pong" "The Michael Jordan of Table Tennis"

[@pmac139]

Weird Al once said, "I'm really mediocre at ping pong. I'm like the Michael Jordan of baseball of ping pong." lmao

[@grantsilveri6509]

the forrest gump of ping pong

[@Sammy58328]

Tomokazu Harimoto of USA?

[@hectorcarr3050]

“The Joey Chestnut of Table Pong”

[@HikoSeijuroXIII]

Except Harimoto is infinitely more talented.

[@tabletennisx3228]

Go Kanak!!!

[@sh6914]

this guy is fantastic

[@matthewramada922]

His dad is so cute. I love when he wins and at 4:37 his dad runs up and his him so hard he looks like he's getting but by a truck.

[@salmanhaleem4280]

Mashallah, what a nice young boy with huge talent, go win champ!

[@Bilaal26]

This kid was in my class I remember him always saying I have to go to different countries every other weekend, I’m Happy for him

[@ImNotMaxArzt]

"This kid was in my class"... Weird calling someone your age "kid".

[@Bilaal26]

Max Arzt he was younger than me

[@jonathonsmith8871]

Dino Might if he was younger then you how was he in your class?

[@Bilaal26]

Jonathon Smith we had an elective class together

[@MontyGumby]

@Dino: Silicon Valley eh ?

[@ShailjaPradhan]

his dad was my dads friend when he had gone to america. his dad was really good but my dad is shocked how much he has trained his som.

[@noahsd]

Oh wow that's cool to have that kind of connection to a kid like that

[@noah7477]

Kanak I will see you in the Olympics. Your games against Zhao Qihao, Wong Chun Ting, and most recently Ma Long show you have great potential. I know you will get ahead far in the Olympics if you try. Thank you for representing our country in this awesome sport.

[@basketballhighlights2k255]

Anyone else think that the thumbnail makes it look like he's hitting the Milly rock? 😂

[@drj7124]

Now for skateboarding! I have seen videos on the trains in Tokyo advertising the skateboarding event in the 2020 Olympics. I wonder if any skateboarder will put that much effort into being an Olympian.

[@jasonlove1380]

Good for him!

[@TyRaff]

Ping Pong is a brand, Table Tennis is a sport.

[@ninorattaa7514]

"LOVE IS TRASH, BITCHES NEED CASH" Ghandi

[@MrInkblots]

A brand? A brand of what, sorry?

[@themilkman123123123]

A brand of Ping Pong

[@harnageaa]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis Table tennis, also known as *ping-pong* , is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth across a table using small bats.

[@xXilisminusXx]

table tennis is one of the most intense sports you'll ever watch

[@Hazama91350]

He never bow to defeat, truly inspring.

[@Nyquiiist]

Shut up.... inspiring my ass.

[@Skily7777]

Grenzau! Awesome, I've even been there myself! That's a really nice place to have a training weekend at, even for "normal" people. :-)

[@nruei]

There's a typo in the description. Sights not sites.

[@Daneohan]

I think you meant 'sights' instead of 'sites' in the description

[@saurabhthakur100]

This guy is doing very well now, challenged MA Long at World Championship 2019. He definitely has exceptional skills.

[@Philipp_mz]

Now he plays in Mainz 05

[@ciscoshootsttv]

That kid made history

[@Rorschak129]

This guy is real good . Saw match earlier with Chinese opponent and this guy was leading the scores with impressive skills.

[@trentonulrick8263]

I went to a Nike baseball camp and we would be on the field 6-7 hours a day. We later would get the 10-15 guys and play wiffleball. It was perfect, the back had a wall and the foul line was the stairs coming up to our dorms, the stair rail was yellow at the very bottom. We played and actually kept score with HRS,Batting Avg, and ERA. I remember hitting a walk-off that went on to the roof (never came back) and it's a weird feeling of accomplishment since you're not actually playing baseball but still feels just as good.

[@trentonulrick8263]

My bad posted on the wrong vice video.

[@VARMOT123]

At 19, he is world number 22 now

[@ali92ahmad]

what's the background music between 0:45 and 2:03?

[@diogoyou123]

It's funny how the whole purpose of this video is to introduce TT in a more sportish manner and the title is regarding it as Ping Pong

[@alirezamoradi3258]

the iranian ping pong player was Nooshad Alamian

[@z0mbiezak]

seeing vice use a title to reference table tennis as "ping pong" WeirdChamp

[@yusijak8392]

멋진 영상!

[@ethan-se6yq]

2:38 T H I C C

[@maxtunenick510]

'K. Jha' reminds me of that radio station in GTA

[@praveenwadhwani8397]

Anyone here in October 2019??

[@samsullivan3553]

Praveen Wadhwani no

[@marioyo45]

Nah

[@justdark4042]

Nop

[@antames]

November, sorry :|

[@dani414n9]

What you see: Vice sport What i see: WII SPORTS!!!

[@ryansean4969]

Randy Daytona Americas first prodigy💪

[@R4ngeR4pidz]

and then he even played versus ma long and put up a good fight, this kid's going places

[@mallythelegend8585]

Table tennis!!

[@bricegriffin6038]

His grunts 😂

[@FranzenFx]

0:15 just close your eyes and lets your imagination flow thru you

[@core2878]

Sex

[@pranavvangari1580]

I don't know why I keep watching this

[@wubbulubbadubdub1033]

I have this guys autograph, he trained at the same place as me.

[@SteveEpic1212123]

Good kid. Hope he wins gold one day

[@willh1234]

To all those making fun of him when this came out in 2017: he's now ranked 49th in world, despite being only 18 years old. And right before his birthday, he was the #1 U18 player in the world.

[@lukaivanisevic5212]

2:42 is that guy from x+y movie

[@uchihahikaku1630]

Standing tall at 4ft 6 haha that was the funniest shit.

[@jnr2187]

Congratulations young player

[@homeoftabletennis6211]

I'm use to those types of rallies

[@GrungeRockGod]

No discotech!!?? im out boys

[@carlosmejia5752]

2:55 Is it me or the ball bounced on his side??

[@onepumpman6209]

yeah it did but thats normal when practicing that hard

[@ppietri1]

Are you familiar with these channels: 1) TableTennisDaily 2) Pongfinity 3) Adam Bobrow If you have, that’s probably the reason you’re into table tennis. Am I wrong.

[@Bibhor4]

Pedro Pietri Yeah I am aware, but I also started playing TT 21 years ago. I was into table tennis from the very first day of playing it. No youtube back then.

[@Sudzy06]

I know all 3

[@Hello-hf5ed]

I know all 3

[@nartworks557]

3:31 did I hear that right because I don’t think an 11 year old would be 4’6, now he doesn’t look very short i imagine the kid is around 5’10ish taller or a bit shorter so I don’t know how you grow more than feet form being 11, by the time I was turning 12 I was 5’5 and quite average in my school

[@babygoat6141]

Ping pong seem like a lit sport now

[@danielhowes453]

For everyone talking shit about this kid and saying he’s bad, he’s currently ranked #1 in the WORLD for U18s and won the bronze medal at the youth Olympic Games

[@RyanWalshGuitar]

This kid is the real deal. Go watch his World Championship match against Ma Long -- gave him a real run for his money. Excellent match!

[@askjrvbjkrfbvhjbdjf]

Best American "ping pong" player will always be Forest Gump.

[@alexanderhoang244]

Who’s here after he won Tokyo olympics

[@drdestroy453]

Check out harimoto, a teenager from japan in the top ten of the world

[@johnsanders8102]

2.55 hits his own side of the table

[@TranelHawkins]

Proud American! Represent the US well!

[@lipakpapa]

And we are struggling for Olympics Gold in India..

[@MohitArya]

Kanak a prodigy in TT? What's Harimoto then?

[@z0uLess]

that "some player from iran" is a prodigy

[@johnsanders8102]

2:55 hits his own side of the table

[@spyne.98]

Bonermaster Sanders try hitting at that pace

[@S4nzenSek4i]

Meanwhile Tomozaku is 14 and ranked world #3.

[@leosmi1]

Lmao