Donic Ovtcharov No. 1 Senso

Mine weighs 88g, I paired it with DHS Goldarc 5 H47,5 on FH and Sanwei Gear Hyper H39 on BH. It is not the fastest blade, it is of average speed for inner carbon blades. The feel and control is just insane. In just the first training, I was able to put the ball exactly where I wanted it most of the time. It has a lot of flexibility, so a really good amount of spin is possible. Not bouncy in the short game. To sum up, it is a great blade in its category—controllable inner blades focused on spin.

New name is Donic Original No. 1 Senso. Reportedly designed by Dima before he moved to Butterfly, but I’ve never seen him play with this in tournaments. There is a 15-minute video on YouTube where Ovtcharov practices with this and talks about the blade’s features. Inner carbon (acryl). Weight varies from 80 to 92 grams. I asked for the lightest one available on Tabletennis11 and got 84g. 159.5×150 mm & 5.9 mm. Frequency 1378 Hz, so this is Off-/Off. The handle is much thinner than usual, so don’t buy this if you have big hands. I’m an intermediate player, so I put 47.5-degree Andro Hexer Powergrip 2.1 mm on both sides. Pretty soon I ripped them off, and now I’m using DHS Gold Arc 8 2.1 mm on both sides (47.5 version). Powergrip felt good on BH, but the natural rubber topsheet was definitely too soft for FH. The blade is intended for semi-pros/pros, but if you play with this at that level, you have to use harder rubbers (at least 50 degrees with hard topsheet). Donic ranks this as stiff, but it is not. It is more flexible than, for example, Koki Niwa Wood or even Yasaka Sweden Extra. Actually, it is the most flexible racket I have ever used. The control is incredible, and the sweet spot is huge. Not a particularly fast blade, but the spin properties and especially good control compensate for that lack. I can’t imagine a better inner carbon blade for an intermediate player, though my Tibhar Shang Kun Hybrid AC is pretty close. This hollow senso handle is just so great. It makes the racket light enough to use heavier rubbers, but the best part is that it is so head-heavy that when I switch from backhand to forehand, the racket is always at just the right angle for a counterattack. EDIT: Consistency is not so great because of the weight. My friend bought this after he tested my blade. He asked for the lightest one, and the weight was 90g, but it feels even heavier, and we have the same rubbers on both sides.

It is much faster than it is rated on average. It is very controllable despite its speed. Relatively thin wood and quite flexible, recommended for spinning with soft covers, not really good for grains.