OLD WESTBURY, N.Y.  Three times a week, Michael Landers takes the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station. He rides the subway downtown for two stops, then walks two blocks to SPiN New York, at 23rd Street and Park Avenue South, where for three hours he practices table tennis in his quest to become the best player in the United States. On the train home, he does his math homework.

At 15, Landers is the youngest player to win the men’s national singles championship. He overcame a three-games-to-one deficit in the best-of-seven final on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas, where controversy almost derailed his bid. Six of the eight quarterfinalists defaulted after protesting what they considered to be insufficient prize money. Landers was ushered straight to the final, where he defeated his higher-rated opponent, 26-year-old Samson Dubina.

The title is expected to boost Landers’s national ranking into the top 25. On a broader level, he is hoping it will enhance the sport’s popularity in the United States. He is drafting letters to athletic apparel companies like Adidas to get involved with table tennis.

“As opposed to a 30-year-old guy, I’m so young that people might actually listen to me if I write in about Ping Pong,” Landers said.