Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Adam Michael Bobrow |
Born | [1] Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California | February 14, 1981
Alma mater | University of Southern California (BA) |
Occupation(s) | YouTuber, voice actor, actor, sports commentator, athlete |
Sport | |
Sport | Table tennis |
Adam Bobrow (born February 14, 1981), [2] also known as Snakeman [3] and The Voice of Table Tennis, [4] is an American sports commentator, YouTuber, actor, and table tennis player. He operates a YouTube channel dedicated to table tennis enthusiasts and fans, providing them with content to promote the sport. [5] [6] Bobrow's YouTube channel features him challenging individuals to friendly matches, supporting young athletes, and traveling to different countries to interact and play with locals while serving as an ambassador for the sport. [3]
Bobrow was born in the United States, and grew up near Los Angeles. [3] [7] He has lived in Taiwan since 2016. [5] [3] [7] He grew up playing table tennis with his father. [5] [7] He learned to spin the ball and perform various trick shots including his signature shot and the source of his nickname, the snake. [5] [3] By 15, he was on a local team and began winning tournaments throughout the United States. [5] He played in college at the University of Southern California, where he earned a BA in Theater. [7] [2] After college he taught table tennis at SPiN while auditioning for acting roles. [7]
In 2014, Bobrow won a competition to become the "voice of table tennis", and has been the official commentator for the International Table Tennis Federation ever since. [3] [5] He comments for the main matches in World Table Tennis, along with Fraser Riley. [8] He travels with the tour full time, and believes himself to be the only full-time table tennis commentator in the world. [7]
Bobrow's commentary is known for its excited style, his deep knowledge of the sport, and his emphasis on the positive aspects of the play. [7] He is also known for his flamboyant style of dress. [7] He has been criticized for focusing on the excitement of the game rather than on critical analysis. [7] However, Bobrow's style is credited with bringing the sport to new fans who otherwise would not watch table tennis. [5]
As an actor, he has had voice roles in TV shows and video games including Scooby-Doo! Who's Watching Who? . [9] He also had a role in the table tennis movie Balls of Fury. [10]
Table tennis is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin, which can affect the ball's trajectory more than in other ball sports.
Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Considered a turning point in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China, it began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, as a result of an encounter between players Glenn Cowan and Zhuang Zedong. These interactions sparked diplomatic breakthrough, by signaling that both sides were willing to interact and engage in dialogue. The exchange and its promotion helped people in each country to recognize the humanity in the people of the other country, and it paved the way for President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972 and the Shanghai Communiqué. The Shanghai Communiqué was a pivotal diplomatic document issued on February 28, 1972, during President Richard Nixon's visit to China. It marked a significant shift in U.S.-China relations, as both countries acknowledged their differences while committing to improving their relationship, ultimately setting the stage for détente between the two nations.
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Jessica Sonya DiCicco is an American actress. She is known for voicing in animated television series and video games. Her first voice role was the announcer for Nickelodeon's educational channel Noggin. DiCicco has since voiced various other characters for Nickelodeon, including Gwen Wu in The Mighty B!, Selina and Miele in Winx Club, Lucy Loud and Lynn Loud Jr. in The Loud House, and Annie Bramley in It's Pony. Since 2012, she also serves as the announcer for the Nick Jr. Channel.
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Ping Pong is a 2002 Japanese sports film directed by Fumihiko Sori. It is based on Taiyō Matsumoto's manga series of the same name and is about the friendship between two high school table tennis players. The film concentrates on these two friends, their two mentors, and three players who they encounter at high school table tennis tournaments. It explores the different motivations and philosophies that they have towards table tennis and tries to portray the excitement and subtlety of the sport.
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Snake Man, Snake Men or snake people may refer to:
Killerspin, LLC is an American company that focuses on the table tennis market. Killerspin manufactures tables, rackets, and balls. It is a part of sponsoring and hosting several competitions, as well as table tennis related special events. Killerspin equipment and products are distributed in fourteen countries on five separate continents.
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Andrew Baggaley is a professional table tennis player from Milton Keynes. He is England's leading table tennis medal winner of all time in the Commonwealth Games, winning two gold medals in Manchester, England (2002), 1 silver medal in Melbourne, Australia (2006), 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in Delhi, India (2010) and 1 silver in Glasgow, Great Britain.
Ichiro Ogimura was a Japanese table tennis player, coach, president of the ITTF and former World No. 1 who won 12 World Championship titles during his career. Ogimura was also a key figure in the Ping Pong Diplomacy events of the early 1970s, as well as being instrumental in Korea playing as a unified team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
Ping Pong is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taiyō Matsumoto about table tennis. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1996 to 1997 and collected in five tankōbon volumes. The story follows high schoolers and childhood friends Peco and Smile, as they compete in the national table tennis tournament where they face talented players from all over the country.
Scorching Ping Pong Girls is a Japanese manga series by Yagura Asano about table tennis. The original run began serialization in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Jump SQ.19 in 2013. After Jump SQ.19 ended publication in February 2015, the manga moved to Shueisha's online platform Tonari no Young Jump in May 2015, and finished in February 2019. It has been collected in seven tankōbon volumes. A continuation, titled Scorching Ping Pong Girls Reburn!!, began serialization on Takeshobo's Storia Dash website from April 2023. An anime television series adaptation by Kinema Citrus aired in Japan between October and December 2016.
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Pongfinity is a Finnish sports and comedy group focused around table tennis composed of Emil Rantatulkkila, Otto Tennilä, and Miikka O'Connor. Their YouTube channel, which mainly displays trick shots related to the sport, is the 7th most-subscribed channel in Finland and the most-subscribed channel about table tennis. Both Otto and Miikka are semi-professional players, earning medals in Finnish, Swedish, and Estonian championships.