Atlanta Blazers Name Koji Itagaki Head Coach After Suzi Battison Steps Down

The Atlanta Blazers moved quickly, announcing Koji Itagaki as their next head coach on March 24, just one day after Suzi Battison officially stepped down. The back-to-back announcements capped a turbulent final week for an expansion franchise that never made the playoffs in its inaugural season.

Battison's departure was confirmed by MLTT on March 23. Itagaki's hiring followed the very next day. Itagaki, a Japanese coach born in 1970 who most recently held a position with TSV Bad Königshofen in Germany, has won over 100 titles in team and individual competitions in Japan, bringing a decorated resume to a Blazers squad that now has the second-highest odds in the upcoming draft lottery.

Battison's decision was personal. She stepped down as Atlanta Blazers head coach with a clear priority: family. The league offered its full backing. "At MLTT, we fully support putting family first," the league said in a statement. She is not expected to coach an MLTT team in Season 4, but has expressed interest in returning to the league in the future.

The timing was stark. The Blazers were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday, making Sunday's match against the Portland Paddlers Battison's last as head coach. That final game served as an unofficial farewell for a coach who had shepherded the franchise from its very first day.

In her first season as an MLTT head coach, Battison led the expansion Atlanta Blazers to a 5-13 record with 155 points. The numbers don't tell the full story of a season that showed genuine late momentum: the Blazers began 1-5 with 46 points after Week 6 but scored 109 points in the final 12 matches of their inaugural season.

Beyond the record, Battison left a clear organizational imprint. She orchestrated the Blazers' first-ever trade, acquiring Rachel Sung (SPINDEX: 2521) from Portland in exchange for Minhyung Jee (2488) and a second-round pick in the Season 4 MLTT Draft. It was the fourth trade in league history and the first to include multiple women. On the draft floor, Battison is one of only three coaches to ever select a player with the first overall pick in an MLTT Draft, which became Yuya Oshima (2779) ahead of Season 3. She also selected Kayama Yu (2804), Andrea Todorovic (2497), Braxton Chang (2604), and Jee in her first and only MLTT Draft as the Blazers' coach.

Her background made her a credible architect for an expansion build. Battison is a seasoned competitor with experience playing in Chinese leagues who later became a coach in New Jersey and developed multiple players who went on to represent the U.S. National Team.

Now the Blazers turn the page heading into an offseason with significant leverage. Atlanta holds the second-highest odds, at 23.8%, of receiving the No. 1 overall pick in the Season 4 MLTT Draft, with that position to be decided on April 7. MLTT's Championship Weekend runs April 18-19, with semifinals on Saturday and the Championship Final on Sunday at 4:30 PM PT, all streamed on Table Tennis TV.

Itagaki inherits a roster with clear building blocks, a first-round pick that could land at the top of the board, and a fanbase in one of the country's fastest-growing sports markets. What he does with all three will define the Blazers' Season 4.