[perlgeek]

I'd describe the robot's level as "good for outdoor table tennis".

There are pretty much too distinct classes of players. Those that occasionally play for fun, typically at stone tables found in parks and open-air baths.

And then there are those that play and train at least once a week in indoor halls with wooden tables, and often try to learn proper stroke techniques, and often participate in leagues.

The robot is pretty good fit for the first category, and that's already a pretty impressive achievement.

In the second category, it'd lose to anybody playing for more than a year or two, so it would be on par with the lowest tier players there.

[dmurray]

My local club is full of (mostly older) players who play once a week for a few hours. They don't train outside of this, but they play with proper equipment, sometimes play leagues, sometimes play a few strokes well, and beat anyone who just plays casually, apart from the occasional excellent tennis player who can transfer just enough skills to be competitive. But they also make lots of unforced errors and don't have good technique on all strokes.

The robot looks like it would be competitive with most of those players. Maybe my club is uniquely weak.