There is so much hype about the Double Happiness Hurricane 3 rubber because Chinese world top players like Liu Guo zheng, Wang Nan and Guo Yan use this rubber. Many top spin loopers among my friends were rushing for this rubber as soon as it came out in the market. After they have tried it, most of them did not like it, and replaced the Hurricane 3 with other rubbers. The problems many such players - including me - had were (1) the sponge of this hurricane 3 rubber is very hard and heavy and (2) the performance is inconsistant. The hardness of this rubber is above 40 degree.
There are different versions of this rubber are available. There is a commercial version, national version and a provincial version. The manufacture of this rubber, the DHS has warned that they don’t sell the National or Provincial version to the commercial market. After I ordered this rubber from Austria, I have found that the same rubber is available for $14 here in the US. The stores are selling this rubber for different prices from $14 to $27. I don’t know which rubber is really original, and I see this rubber coming from Nittaku also.
I tested this rubber on a Dr. Neubauer Combination effect paddle on my forehand. This rubber is a good rubber for consistent loppers and hitters who play close to the table. It has great control when you hit through the ball. You can loop over the table, as well as close to the table with this rubber. Going away from the table to loop the ball with this rubber will put you in trouble. Some backlift is needed when you loop with Hurricane 3 rubber – short arm strokes may not work while looping. Unless you practice a lot, you will be tempted to smash the ball every time when you have this rubber on your forehand.
This rubber is very tacky - the ball can hang on to the rubber. You can generate a lot of spin with this rubber during the serve. I liked the amount of spin it could generate on my forehand chops – but doing again and again made me tired because the rubber is heavy. I will not sacrifice the speed and go to a smaller sponge version.
This is not the “best” defensive rubber for chopping or blocking. The returned shorts have high arcs, so you will easily get punished for shots which this rubber is not designed for. A player who plays away from the table need speed glue to get the ball to the table – else the rubber will land with high arc on the centre of the table, and can easily be punished.
Hitting low balls is hard because the rubber is heavy. Any high ball is easy to hit through.
I would recommend this rubber for players who are rated above 1600 and are good top spin loopers or hitters on their forehand side. I won’t say this rubber will give consistent performance. I don’t recommend this for backhand also, unless your back hand is strong for smashes.
Which one to buy among the different versions like National, Provincial or Commercial? If you have a reliable source, get a National or Provincial version which has softer and lighter sponge – this will give you consistent performance also.