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My weapon of choice in battle:
About two years ago, the Yonex badminton racket I was using started showing signs of breakage at the joint. At that moment, I wished I had a joint-less, single piece, high quality racket at my disposal. That wish came true when I saw a racket that met my criteria on sale at a local sports equipment store: The Quartz I7000 from Techno Pro, a German company.
The racket I have on hand for comparison purposes is the Dasha S002, a Chinese brand that manufactures high quality rackets at a cheap price. The Techno Pro is about the same length as the S002, but the face of the racket is slightly larger in area (see photo below).
The Techno Pro I7000 has a unique feature no other racket has: The “PowerPoint” that is located at usual place where the joint on the racket would be. The PowerPoint is constructed using titanium and other special materials to increase flexibility in the shaft, which supposedly leads to more powerful hits and better feel. The frame of the racket is designed to produce the least air resistance possible (see photos below).
The Techno Pro I7000 feels heavier than my old Yonex or the Dasha S002, but its assembly and paint job are easily first rate. At the time of purchase, I bought two of these rackets: one for my son, and one for myself. The strings that came with the rackets are very durable. It took me over a year of playing around 10 hours per week to wear these strings out. This year I already broke the new “titanium mesh” strings twice, and I only stringed the racket to 20lbs, which is not a very high number for tension. The first set of strings broke in less than 5 weeks. The second set lasted a bit longer at around two months. The YY B65 strings I used after lasted about 3 months. By comparison, the stock strings from Techno were very durable indeed.
Because I almost always play doubles, it’s hard to avoid clanging rackets with my partners once in a while. My first Yonex racket broke the first time I used it in competition. My second Yonex racket started showing some twisting in the shaft after several months. The Techno Pro, however, has endured a lot of abuse. Just look at the “battle scars” on the frame of the racket (see photo below). I’m very fortunate that my racket hasn’t broke yet. I remember once when my racket and a teammate’s new YY MP99 racket collided together and both rackets fell to the floor. It was an unfortunate incident, but thankfully my racket only suffered some superficial damage. My teammate wasn’t so lucky. His new racket was broken for good.
Recently, I’ve acquired an even newer racket, which is the Dasha S002. It’s a bit lighter than the Techno Pro. I also like this racket a lot. I was using this racket before the incident described in the previous paragraph too, and luckily I switched back to my trusty I7000. If the S002 was involved in the accident, then it might not have reacted as well as the sturdy I7000. The S002 is actually a prize won by me, and it had to cross the Pacific Ocean to come into my possession. The S002 has a much lower street price than the Techno Pro I7000, but it is still a nice racket. Below is a side by side picture of the S002 and my son’s relatively unscathed I7000 for comparison’s sake.
