Today we launch TT Insider, our new feature section on TTE.TV which will provide viewers unrivalled access to exciting exclusive content from our sport.

TT Insider will feature big personalities, exclusive interviews and footage that you would otherwise not get to see.

We have a humdinger of a feature to kick it all off, as you can read below.


This is the story of two promising young English table tennis players striving in the first decade of this century to realise their talent at the top level.

For several years, their paths mirrored each other’s – both played for England at youth level, both moved abroad in their teens to train full-time. One succeeded the other as Cadet Boys’ Singles national champion.

Then, life took them in very different directions. The older, Liam Pitchford, went on to become one of the top players in the world, competing at three Olympics (and counting) and winning medals on world, European and Commonwealth stages.

The younger, Zak Zilesnik, decided his destiny lay not in table tennis but in his other passion of music.

Fast forward more than a decade and singer-songwriter Zak (now known as Zak Abel) has more than 2.7 million listeners on Spotify and has clocked up many millions of views on YouTube. He has a new single – What Love Is – out now, an album in the works and a European tour later this year.

We recently brought Liam and Zak back together – after 12 years – to reminisce about their teenage days on the table tennis circuit and to discuss their diverging paths since then.

They talk openly about shared memories, about the similarities and differences in the challenges they have faced in their respective careers, and why they are both advocates for mental health.

And, of course, they took to the table to check whether Zak still has the skills which made him a national champion.

Check out the trailer below – and head to the TT Insider section on TTE.TV to watch the full film.