Friendship 729 table tennis equipment

Friendship 729 (天津七二九体育用品有限公司 / Tianjin 729 Sports Goods Co., Ltd.) was founded in September 1972 by the Tianjin Rubber Industry Research Institute — the “729” is the date. It is a Bohai Chemical Group company and the maker of China’s first widely used tacky inverted sheet. Athletes including Xi Enting, Hu Yulan, Cai Zhenhua, Deng Yaping, Wang Nan and Liu Guoliang used 729 products in earlier decades.

In Europe 729 is the accessible tacky brand: Battle 2 (including Provincial) as a boosted-style forehand sheet, Super FX and 802 / 802-40 as training/club inverted, plus 729-08. It is not DHS national-team equipment. Many European beginners meet Chinese rubber first as 729 Super FX on a premade or first upgrade.

729 sheets are Chinese-sponge, usually tacky, and priced well below DHS National versions. Battle 2 is often boosted; out of the pack it is slower than a tensor. Super FX is the milder training sheet. This site only lists ITTF-approved versions stocked in EU shops, with factory specs on the shared index.

If you need provincial-level Hurricane, look at DHS. If you need a cheap tacky forehand to learn brushing before paying for a selected factory Hurricane, 729 is the usual European answer. 729 is Tianjin, not Shanghai — do not treat Battle 2 as a Hurricane 3 National substitute without checking hardness and sponge.

In 1971 the Chinese team returned to world championships with outdated rubber. Tianjin Rubber Industry Research Institute was tasked with a new tacky sheet; in September 1972 Friendship 729 was named for that date. Xi Enting and Hu Yulan won singles titles at the 1973 Worlds using 729. Tianjin 729 Sports Goods remains the company behind Battle 2 and Super FX sold in Europe.