Table tennis is a sport created as a winter adaptation of lawn tennis. Also known as ping-pong, the game originated in England at the end of the 19th century. Anyone who could afford a ball, table, and rackets could take part in the sport.
Table tennis spread from England to other parts of the world and became particularly popular in China and Japan. With the development of the sport over the years, table tennis betting evolved as well. Apart from being played on a professional level, table tennis is often practiced as a hobby due to its simple and exciting nature.
In this text, you will find out all the details about table tennis and its way to prominence. Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
The History of Table Tennis
When it originated in England, table tennis was a parlor game mainly played by the upper-class lawn tennis players. Ping-pong had been the trademark of the game before the name table tennis was adopted worldwide.
In 1901, table tennis tournaments with around 300 participants were held in England. A year later, a university professor who traveled to Japan shared the basics of the game with Japanese university students who accepted it. After that, table tennis got its place in the Asian culture and spread to all class circles.
The first governing body for table tennis was the Ping-Pong Association that originated together with the game itself but got renamed into the Table Tennis Association in 1921. Several years later, in 1926, it was renamed into the English Table Tennis Association.
Later that year, the International Table Tennis Federation came into being, and England organized the first official table tennis World Championship.
During its first several years of existence, the English Table Tennis Association featured 19 leagues, while now it counts 75,000 active players.
The Rules
Table tennis requires certain pieces of equipment — a table, ball, and rackets. The table is divided by a net into two equal parts, resembling the lawn tennis court. Players hold wooden rackets covered by rubber that improves the movement of the ball they need to hit. Finally, the 40 mm ball made of polymer with a matte finish is used for playing the game.
The main goal in table tennis is to hit the ball with a racket and send it over the net to your opponent’s half of the table. If the opponent does not manage to reach the ball and send it back into your half, the point goes to you.
There are a few ways to score a point in table tennis. First, the points go to you if the opposite player fails to serve properly. Another way to get a point is to make it impossible for your opponent to return the ball into your half of the table.
Also, the points are assigned to a player if their opponent violates any of the rules in any way — for example, if a player touches the table with a free hand while the game is on.
The player who first reaches 11 points wins. In case they both reach 10 points, the winner will be the first player who scores two subsequent points. When a player reaches 11 points, they have won the set. The better out of two players in an odd number of sets wins the game.
Finally, table tennis is named one of the most played recreational sports in the world. Therefore, if you have never played this game before, give it a chance and you will see why so many people around the world regularly choose it above some other sports.
