DHS (Double Happiness Sports) is the dominant Chinese table tennis brand and the official ball supplier for multiple ITTF World Championships and Olympic Games. Founded in 1959 in Shanghai, DHS produces the Hurricane series rubbers used by the Chinese national team, the DHS Hurricane Long blade range, and the DJ40+ tournament ball. DHS dominates the Chinese national team equipment supply: Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, Ma Long, Sun Yingsha, and most other Chinese national players use DHS equipment as their primary configuration. The full table tennis brand catalog covers Butterfly, Stiga, JOOLA, and other major brands.

DHS Brand History

DHS was founded in 1959 by the Shanghai Number Two Rubber Factory under direction from the Chinese Table Tennis Association. The brand name “Double Happiness” refers to a Chinese cultural symbol representing celebration and good fortune. The brand emerged alongside the Chinese national table tennis program’s first generation of world champions.

DHS rose to global prominence through 3 milestones:

  • 1980s. DHS Hurricane series rubbers became the standard for Chinese national team forehands. The tacky topsheet construction matched the Chinese forehand-dominant playing style.
  • 2008 Beijing Olympics. DHS supplied official equipment for the home Olympics. Chinese players swept all 4 events using DHS rubbers and blades.
  • 2014 onwards. DHS DJ40+ became the official ITTF World Championship ball at multiple events. The brand’s tournament ball supply contracts expanded internationally.

DHS Hurricane Rubbers

The Hurricane series is DHS’s flagship rubber product line:

DHS Hurricane 3. Tacky-surface inverted rubber with hard sponge (40-degree DHS hardness, equivalent to roughly 45-degree ESN). Designed for the Chinese forehand attack style. Commercial version: $35-$50 per sheet.

DHS Hurricane 3 National. China national team version with tighter quality control and higher tackiness. Not officially sold outside China; imported through specialty retailers at $120-$180 per sheet.

DHS Hurricane 3 Neo. Pre-tensioned (factory-tuned) version that does not require user-applied boost. Common in international amateur and intermediate play.

DHS Hurricane 8. Newer mid-tier rubber with less tacky topsheet than Hurricane 3. Suits players who want Hurricane series feel without the steep adjustment from European tensor rubbers.

The best table tennis rubbers covers Hurricane rubbers within the broader rubber catalog. The best inverted rubbers covers tacky-surface rubbers including the Hurricane series.

DHS Blades

The DHS blade range covers offensive and all-round categories:

DHS Hurricane Long 5. 5+2 ply composite blade with arylate-carbon inner layers and Koto outer plies. OFF speed class (8.5/10). Designed for close-to-table Chinese-style attacking. $100-$130.

DHS Hurricane Long 3. 5-ply all-wood blade for control players. ALL+ speed class. $50-$80.

DHS Hurricane King. Premium 5+2 carbon blade with stiffer construction than Hurricane Long 5. Used by Wang Liqin and other Chinese national team forehand specialists. $150-$200.

DHS Power G7. ZLC composite blade for ZLC-tier offensive players. $200-$280.

The best carbon blades covers DHS composite blades alongside Butterfly and Stiga options.

DHS Tournament Balls

DHS dominates the tournament ball supply market:

DHS DJ40+. Official ITTF World Championship ball at multiple events including the 2017, 2019, and 2021 Championships. Plastic poly construction. $20-$30 per 6-pack.

DHS D40+. Standard DHS 3-star competition ball. ITTF-approved. $15-$22 per 6-pack.

DHS DK40+. Training-grade ball at lower price point. Used in club practice and high-volume training settings.

The 3-star ball comparison covers DHS balls alongside Butterfly, Nittaku, JOOLA, and STIGA competition balls.

DHS for Chinese Penhold Players

DHS is the dominant equipment supplier for Chinese penhold grip players. The Hurricane series rubber tackiness suits the forehand-dominant Chinese penhold style. DHS produces penhold-specific blade head dimensions (145 x 135 mm to 156 x 148 mm) that European brands largely do not offer at the same scale.

Chinese national team penhold-grip players historically used DHS Hurricane Long 5 with Hurricane 3 National forehand and a softer Hurricane 8 backhand for RPB technique. The configuration remains a reference setup for serious Chinese penhold players globally.

DHS for Shakehand Players

Modern Chinese national team shakehand players (Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin) also use DHS equipment with adjusted rubber pairings:

Forehand. DHS Hurricane 3 National (national-grade tacky rubber) for topspin power.

Backhand. DHS Hurricane 3 National Blue Sponge variant or a softer European tensor rubber (Tenergy 05, Dignics 05) for short-game touch and counter-blocking.

The Hurricane forehand plus tensor backhand asymmetry has become a standard professional configuration since 2015.

DHS Versus Butterfly: Equipment Philosophies

DHS and Butterfly represent the two dominant equipment philosophies in modern table tennis:

DHS philosophy. Tacky-surface rubbers paired with stiff composite blades for direct, forehand-dominant attacking. Suits the close-to-table Chinese-style playing approach.

Butterfly philosophy. Tensor-sponge rubbers paired with balanced inner-carbon blades for two-winged topspin attacking. Suits the mid-distance European/Japanese-style playing approach.

Most non-Chinese professional players use Butterfly. Most Chinese professional players use DHS. The choice for amateur players depends on which playing style the player wants to develop. The butterfly vs stiga comparison covers a related brand comparison.

DHS Pricing and Availability

DHS equipment is widely available in Asia and increasingly available in Europe and North America. North American retailers including Megaspin, Paddle Palace, and TableTennisStore stock DHS rubbers, blades, and balls. Pricing trends 10-30% below comparable Butterfly equipment, partly due to lower manufacturing costs and partly due to less established North American distribution.

Chinese national-grade rubbers (Hurricane 3 National, Hurricane King) require specialty importers. The price premium ($120-$180 vs $35-$50 for commercial versions) reflects tighter quality control and direct national team manufacturing rather than improved core technology.