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Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth across a table using a small paddle. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table, and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
Table tennis is governed by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. ITTF currently includes 220 member associations.[1] The table tennis official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook.[2] Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988,[3] with several event categories. From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008, a team event has been played instead of the doubles.
Table Tennis
History of Table Tennis
The history of table tennis (or ping-pong as it is also commonly known) is a long and interesting sequence of events, which would require a book to do it justice. In this article I'm going to give a brief overview of the origins of the game, as well as what are generally acknowledged as many of the important highlights of the game's development.
There is often conflicting information available regarding the early days of table tennis, and since I am not a historian of merit I'll settle for simply mentioning the differing opinions for completeness.