Hey Melbournites, Today I popped into a new store in Melbs in Richmond at 307 Victoria Street called 21 Sports. They have a good selection of stuff, rackets from RSL, Kason, Victor, Li-Ning and Yonex. No high end Victor, but quite a few of the Li-Nings in the low to mid hundreds, which I'll be sure to pilfer more of as the year goes on. To test the waters I bought a TP100C - It's a mid-range LiNing racket, which is pretty stripped back and basic, but for 120 bucks for a racket with Elastic-Ti reinforcing, it's not bad. Specs are - Slightly head-heavy to even balance, stiff shaft. A bit in the same vein as the Arc series perhaps. I had it strung with BG80 at 24/26lbs, and found that with my girly arm I had trouble generating as much power for clears as I'd like, but the feel and touch from the racket is very, very sweet. Felt really connected to the shot, was really impressed with that aspect of this racket. It was a real toss-up between the TP100C and the NP201B for a few more ducats. The NP range is finished just that little bit better, but the mid flex / head heavy spec put me off, but probably not enough at these prices to give it a shot eventually. I think the 201 is one of the classiest looking rackets going, the photos don't do it justice. It's a deep black cherry colour with copper accents. So yeah anyway, worth a pop-in to fondle the merch. Nice to have a place closer than Stadium for once!
Is he an authorized dealer ? Or does he just buy them himself, and sell them on ? apparently li-ning are available in the Netherlands or/and germany
I dunno. He didn't stamp the warranty card if that's any indication. I didn't ask as I don't really care either way, I'm just happy enough to actually be able to go into a shop and see something aside from Yonex.
Yes, currently we are the only authorized Li-Ning dealer in Australia. The good new is Li-Ning is considering to expend into Australian market shortly, which is good for Australian badminton player.
Thanks for helping us out with the TP100C, 21sports. Great bang-for-buck doubles racket, I was quite shocked how competent it was. Good luck with Li-Ning, and good luck taming that ZSlash! Don't let anyone buy that NP201B!!
Omg! :d :d Yay! You have a brochure of stuff you have to sell or can get? ^^ (found your website ) wow how did i never know about this store befor..
no problem, i will keep one for you~~ Hopefully, We will get some NP201C next month, because all the logistics company are closed due to the Chinese New Year... It is so nice to see you enjoyed you new racket.
Yes, we do have a website, but i am not sure whether i can post it here...anyway, visit us at http://www.21sports.com.au we are updating our products day by day, there's lot of stuff, so it takes a while.
Haha Tiger, I thought you were too focused on White Label. What happened? I have popped by 21 Sports about twice, once before they had the Li Nings and once after. Honestly, still bit pricey compared to many other online stores.
Impulse buy! Their prices on the mid range Li-Nings are very competitive, and prices for Yonex are about the same as Stadium, so not too bad.
Okay, so 10 hours now with the humble TP100C, and I gotta say....quietly impressed! Still lacks a little bit of punch, but I'm splitting hairs seeing I'm not really smashing a lot because my shoulder is a bit NQR, but as I suspected you get a lot of bang for buck with mid range rackets, and I think more people could probably benefit from them instead of instantly reaching for the top shelf [like me]. 90% [or more] of the performance for 60% the price, anyone?
I think both bbeshop and e78 has them, as well as all the mid-range LN rackets. My only real beef with the LN rackets I've tried so far is there does seem to be a fair range of difference in weighting and how they're described. For example, the TP100C is described as 'head heavy' with a 290mm BP, but I find it more even balanced like an Arcsaber. YMMV. The depth of the LN range is pretty full-on. Def something in there for everyone, and when you're paying A$130 for a racket it makes it a lot easier to experiment with different specs to find something you like.
Hmm yeah its good competition for stadium. Both in terms of price and variety. Hopefully more badminton stores will sprout out soon!
Guys, how do you compare Lining with Yonex racquets........... both in terms of quality and pricing. I have never played or seen a Lining racquet.