Pongfinity

Finnish sports comedy group
  • Sports
  • entertainment
  • comedy
  • trick shots
PredecessorEditingSportsFoundedDecember 6, 2012 (first channel created)
November 13, 2015 (current channel created)FoundersEmil Rantatulkkila
Otto Tennilä
Miikka O'ConnorHeadquartersHelsinki, Finland[1]
YouTube information
Channel
  • Pongfinity
Years active2016 - presentSubscribers4.4 million[2]Total views984 million[2]Associated acts
  • Adam Bobrow
  • Liu Guoliang
  • Lassi Hurskainen
  • Zach King
  • Kalle Koljonen
  • Michael Maze
  • Benedek Oláh
  • Otto Virtanen
Creator Awards
100,000 subscribers2018
1,000,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: March 10, 2024 Websitewww.pongfinity.fi

Pongfinity is a Finnish sports and comedy group focused around table tennis composed of Emil Rantatulkkila, Otto Tennilä, and Miikka O'Connor.[3] 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.[3][4] Both Otto and Miikka are semi-professional players, earning medals in Finnish, Swedish, and Estonian championships.[3][5]

History

Before forming Pongfinity, Emil, Otto, and Miikka all competed in international table tennis competitions. All three became friends when they were on the Finnish junior national team,[1] but Emil did not end up chasing a professional career. Miikka and Emil had previously met when they played in the same club as juniors.[6] However, Otto and Miikka did and represented Finland during the European and World Table Tennis Championships several times. They did not win any medals during these tournaments.[3]

The group uploaded their first video on December 16, 2012, on a channel called EditingSports. Emil had been interested in editing videos and wanted to try it out, so he and Miikka filmed a training session where they had fun doing random trick shots to edit. After it was uploaded, it became apparent that the videos gained more attention from the trick shots than the editing, so they made the channel more focused on those. Otto first appeared in the following video. Pongfinity's first viral video was one where they extinguished a candle with a ball.[6]

Medal tables

Data adapted from Table Tennis Media. Emil does not have data on this site.[7][8]

Otto Tennilä
Medal record
Table tennis
National Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Tampere Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Tampere Singles
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tampere Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Seinäjoki Singles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Seinäjoki Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2016 Helsinki Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kuopio Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Helsinki Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Tampere Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tampere Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tampere Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tampere Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tampere Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Helsinki Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Helsinki Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Helsinki Mixed Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Helsinki Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Helsinki Singles
Club Championships
Silver medal – second place 2007 Finland 1st PT 75
Silver medal – second place 2010 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2011 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2012 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2013 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2015 Finland 1st PT 75
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2017 Finland 1st PT 75
Silver medal – second place 2018 Finland 1st PT 75
Silver medal – second place 2019 Finland 1st PT 75
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Finland 1st PT 75
Miikka O'Connor
Medal record
Table tennis
National Championships
Silver medal – second place 2014 Seinäjoki Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Helsinki Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Helsinki Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kuopio Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Helsinki Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Helsinki Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Tampere Singles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Tampere Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Tampere Mixed Doubles
Silver medal – second place 2020 Helsinki Singles
Silver medal – second place 2020 Helsinki Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Helsinki Mixed Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tampere Doubles
Gold medal – first place 2022 Helsinki Doubles
Club Championships
Silver medal – second place 2014 Norway 2nd Fornebu BTK
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Finland 1st Wega
Gold medal – first place 2017 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2017 Sweden 3rd Norrtulls SK
Gold medal – first place 2018 Finland 1st PT 75
Gold medal – first place 2018 Sweden 3rd Norrtulls SK
Gold medal – first place 2019 Finland 1st PT 75
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Estonia 1st Maardu LTK
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Finland 1st PT 75

Content and brand

Pongfinity has been frequently compared to the American sports comedy group Dude Perfect.[9][10] A major series on the channel is "Challenge Pongfinity," where viewers can comment challenges that the group will have to complete. The group has also collaborated with YouTubers such as Adam Bobrow and Zach King, and fellow table tennis players Benedek Oláh, Michael Maze, and Liu Guoliang. Pongfinity has also worked with atheletes from other sports, in which they usually compete against table tennis by trying trick shots with variations based on the sport, or dedicating a video to that sport entirely. The group has done videos with Lassi Hurskainen, Kalle Koljonen, and Otto Virtanen.[2] Other series include individual matches with the members against each other and "Stereotypes", in which the group displays exaggerated personalities and playing styles that people can have when playing table tennis in short skits.[6]

In 2019, Pongfinity released a table tennis mobile game on iOS and Android through Linnama Entertainment. The game is endless and has random situations occurring at times in chosen locations.[11] Pongfinity also operates an online store selling table tennis equipment.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Pongfinity Store". Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  2. ^ a b c "About Pongfinity". YouTube.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pongfinity – How Good Are They Outside Of Doing Trick Shots?". Table Tennis Media. 2021-12-23. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  4. ^ "Top 100 YouTubers in Finland sorted by subscribers". SocialBlade. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  5. ^ Moore, Jack (2016-07-30). "This Screwy Table Tennis Shot Might Make You Believe in Magic". GQ. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  6. ^ a b c Rantatulkkila, Emil; Tennilä, Otto; Miikka, O'Connor (2019-12-04). "How Pongfinity Reached 1 Million Subscribers". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  7. ^ "Otto Tennilä". Table Tennis Media. 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  8. ^ "Miikka O'Connor". Table Tennis Media. 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  9. ^ Schlosser, Kurt (2016-10-06). "Just watch these amazing ping-pong trick shots before you play another game in your tech office". GeekWire. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  10. ^ Hall, Jackson (2019-11-07). "Pongfinity: A Reminder Of What Creativity Can Be". The Cardinal & Cream. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  11. ^ "Top 10 Free Table Tennis Ping Pong Games for Android". United News of Bangladesh. 2022-02-16. Retrieved 2024-03-11.