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Pongfinity
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] HistoryBefore 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 16 December 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 tablesData adapted from Table Tennis Media. Emil does not have data on this site.[7][8]
Content and brandPongfinity 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 athletes 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
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