TIBHAR SAMSONOV CARBON - Our recommendation for the gaming style OFFENSIVE SPEED

Tibhar Samsonov Carbon in the brief analysis

The Tibhar Samsonov Carbon is the fastest and most direct offensive table tennis blade within the Samsonov series. It also provides the largest amount of penetrating power. The Samsonov Carbon was co-developed by Vladimir Samsonov, and is characterized by its uncompromising nature. This TT blade was designed for players, who do not want to compromise at the table, and who want to master this blade themselves.

The specially incorporated carbon material causes an extreme penetrating power! In general, carbon is known to increase various parameters which are suitable for offensive purposes. These are, for example, stiffness, overall strength, stability, power, and speed.

Classical Ayous was used as core veneers, and middle veneers (thoroughly chosen). Ayous (or Abachi), is a tree which grows in most tropical areas. The Ayous tree reaches a height of approx. 50 m, and exhibits a trunk diameter of up to 1.5 m. When using Ayous as table tennis ply, it is characterized by its medium strength (Young´s modulus: 6,000 N/mm²), lightness (density only 350 kg/m³), and moderate hardness (Janka: 430). Ayous is well-known for its great gaming characteristics: For example, a good and dangerous counter behavior (because the bounce of the ball is quite flat). Simultaneously, Ayous causes a quite soft touch in the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon. Overall, taking into consideration these properties as well as the weight of approx. 90-95 g (all 7 plies, including the carbon layer), this TT blade is very offensive.

The Samsonov Carbon was developed for extremely offensive artists, who are characterized by a high training workload, much experience, and much feeling. If you fulfill these requirements, but your present blade lacks penetrating power during finishers, you can really count on the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon!

In case you desire a bit MORE control (but also enough penetrating power), the Tibhar Samsonov Alpha might be a better choice. Within this product family, the Tibhar Samsonov Pure Wood is worth a recommendation for the controlled offensive, provided you are using this blade with fast rubbers.

And these are not yet all the variations of the Samsonov series. Vladimir Samsonov is the figurehead of the company Tibhar. His product series (blades) comprises versions for almost every kind of player:

• Tibhar Samsonov Carbon: This blade is very fast (manufacturer´s speed specification: 10), resulting in even faster and very hard topspins and shots. The gaming style corresponds to Off+.
• Tibhar Samsonov Stratus Carbon: This table tennis blade is more or less as fast as the Carbon (speed: 10), but it exhibits a bit more control compared to the former. Still, it is extremely fast (speed: 10/10-) and, hence, suitable for the offensive (Off) gaming style.
• Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro: A bit slower than the 2 blades mentioned above (speed: 9). The Samsonov Force Pro corresponds to a purely offensive blade (Off), without carbon.
• Tibhar Samsonov Alpha: A good compromise of speed and control. The Alpha is a bit slower (manufacturer´s speed specification: 8) than the Force Pro. Its gaming style refers to Off-.
• Tibhar Samsonov Premium Contact: This TT blade is made for aggressive allround players! It is a bit slower than the former (speed: 8-) and, hence, suitable for the allround plus (All+) gaming style.
• Tibhar Samsonov Pure Wood: With a corresponding speed value of 7, this blade is designed for the allround gaming style (All) whilst focusing on safety.

Test report by Marc Martin - The Tibhar Samsonov Carbon

The Tibhar Samsonov Carbon – "A blade without compromises"

According to Tibhar, the Samsonov Carbon is a blade which was developed to suit players who want to dominate the table themselves. Just to be clear here: I think Tibhar is right with this statement. However, this table tennis blade may indeed also be suitable for other types of players.

Technical details - specifications

The Tibhar Samsonov Carbon is made of 7 plies which are based on carbon, and more sensitive (but also fast!) Ayous veneers. This blade is available with flared, anatomical, and straight handles. The weight specifications vary between a range of 85 and 95 g. The blade I used for this test report had a flared handle, weighed 90 g, and exhibited a head size of 14.8 x 15.4 cm. The handle was quite narrow, which is a positive aspect in case you are having small hands.

Gaming properties of the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon

The Stiga Samsonov Carbon was tested with a Tenergy 80, and a Xiom Vega Japan. After some difficulties at the beginning, my final overall impression was absolutely positive!

This TT blade is particularly characterized by its direct bounce of the ball. Due to this, it does not forgive much technical errors. However, when clearly and correctly hitting the ball, there is much speed, and power. This is also explained by the incorporation of carbon, which is very stiff. I found this to be very pleasant. It is important to mention at this point that this resulted in a slightly poorer overall feedback. However, it did not disturb me in any way.

The speed characteristics are specified as being very high. This is true, but the Stiga Samsonov Carbon does not reach the level of (more expensive) top products. So you need to figure out whether or not you need such top-of-the-line models. Hence, for the "average player", the Samsonov Carbon might be a perfect choice.

Offensive play

Especially in terms of hard topspins, the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon satisfied all expectations. The balls were very precise, and fast. The bounce of the ball was quite direct, and flat. When increasing the amount of spin, I was still able to generate high(er) trajectories.

Also during the passive game, this TT blade provided a direct, and controlled bounce. Hence, counters and blocks were quite easy to play. A slight deficit was obvious during passive blocks when using the new plastic balls. In these situations, a bit more speed (induced by the blade itself) would have been nice from time to time.

Serves / Returns

As already mentioned above, the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon is very stiff. Due to this, this blade exhibits relatively little feedback, which was also obvious when doing serves. For players who master their serves in sleep, this is not a problem. Although the impulse of doing serves is perfectly transmitted from the blade toward the ball, less experienced players might encounter some problems.

During short-short returns, there are no negative aspects. These only emerge when doing aggressive chopped balls or backspin balls: You can clearly feel the high speed, and the slightly reduced amount of control. If, however, you are able to master these elements, you can transfer all of the power toward your opponent, who will then be in trouble to find appropriate answers.

Summary on the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon

The Tibhar Samsonov Carbon is a clear recommendation for all offensive players who attach much importance to stiff and direct TT blades. The strengths of this blade are particularly evident during the aggressive offensive play, but - luckily - it does not disappoint in many other gaming situations. I could well imagine to play this table tennis blade myself, and can really recommend the Tibhar Samsonov Carbon (provided, however, you usually try to impose your game on your opponent).