Built to Perfection

INTRODUCTION

Table tennis is the second most popular sport played in the world. In China, which produces the world's best players, the sport is officially called "Ping pong ball". It can be played by young and old, male and female and by athletes with a disability.

The table The table surface is normally made from wood and is dark-coloured with a matt finish. White lines, 2cm wide, are used to mark the edges and centre of the table. The table is 2.74m long and 1.52m wide. Its height from the floor is 76cm. The playing area required for elite competition is about 5.5m at each end and about 2.7m on each side.

The net The net is 1.83m long and its top is about 15cm from the top of the table. A serve that hits the net and bounces into play is called a let and the serve must be repeated.

Table tennis table and net

Close-up of net and its mounting to the table

Equipment The ball is 40mm in diameter and weighs 2.7g. It is made of a plastic material and is white or orange, depending on the table colour.

The body of the racquet and the handle are made of wood. The body consists of thin layers of wood combined with carbon fibre.

HISTORY OF TABLE TENNIS

Table Tennis probably started in the 1880s when British army officers in India and South Africa played a game called indoor tennis. They used lids from cigar boxes as paddles and rounded corks from wine bottles as balls. A row of books across a table formed the net.

In 1901, James Gibbs returned to England from the United Table Tennis equipment States with some recently invented hollow celluloid balls. from the 1950s Gibbs came up with the name ‘ping pong’ as it represented the sounds made as the hollow ball hit the wooden paddle and then the table.

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TABLE TENNIS

However, an English manufacturer of sporting goods, John Jacques, registered ‘Ping Pong’ as a trade name in 1901 and sold the American rights to the Parker Brothers, who came out with a new kit under that name.

Another Englishman, E. C. Goode, in 1902 covered his wooden ping pong paddle with pebbled rubber, which allowed him to put spin on the ball. A Ping Pong Association was founded in England, but lasted less than three years, mainly because the Parker Brothers' control of the name made equipment too expensive.

Nevertheless, the sport spread in England and Europe, primarily with equipment marketed by other manufacturers using the generic name of Table Tennis. A new Table Tennis Association was established in England in 1921. It was followed by the Fédération Internationale de Tennis de Table (International Table Tennis Federation), founded at a 1926 meeting in Berlin.

The first world championship tournament was held in London in 1927. From then until World War II, Hungary dominated the sport. The top players of that early period were two Hungarians: Maria Mednyanszky, who won seven women's championships, and Viktor Barna, a five-time men's champion. Czechoslovakia and Romania also produced several champions.

The American Ping Pong Association was organised in 1930, but its membership was limited because only Parker Brothers’ equipment could be used. Two rival organisations, the US Amateur Table Tennis Association and the National Table Tennis Association, were founded in 1933. The three groups merged in 1935 into the US Table Tennis Association, which was renamed USA Table Tennis in 1994.

Central European dominance continued for a time after World War II, but Asian players took over the sport beginning in 1953. One factor in the sudden emergence of Asian stars was the introduction of the foam rubber paddle by Japan's Horoi Satoh in 1952. The new coating made the game faster and also allowed players to put even more spin in the ball.

Asian players also developed the ‘penholder’ grip, in which the handle of the paddle is held between forefinger and thumb, allowing the player to strike the ball with the same face of the paddle on any stroke. That grip is now used by virtually all top international players.

Table Tennis became an Olympic sport at Seoul in 1988, with singles and doubles competition for both men and women.

Table Tennis at the Commonwealth Games Table Tennis had its first appearance in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Nigeria won gold in the men’s singles, and New Zealand won gold in the women’s singles.

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TABLE TENNIS

ABOUT TABLE TENNIS

Table Tennis is a fast paced, exciting indoor game requiring speed and fast reaction time. The game can be played as singles, doubles and mixed and the aim is to make shots that your opponent cannot return.

Rules

o In singles, the server hits the ball over the net and play continues until the point is won. Service is taken from the right side of the court. o In doubles, the players on each team must take it in turns to hit the ball. o After each 2 points have been scored, the receiving player/pair become the servers (unless the score is

Receiving a serve 10–all, where only 1 point is served per player). o A serve that hits the net is called a ‘let’. There are no points lost for a let. o A serve that does not land on the opponent’s court is called a ‘Fault’. A point is lost for each fault served.

Scoring A game of Table Tennis is won when the first player/team win 11 points. If the score is 10–all, the winner is the first player/team to get 2 points ahead.

The umpire will always call the server’s score first in

Backhand shot Table Tennis. For example, a score of 7–9 means that the person serving has won 7 points and the receiver 9 points.

ABOUT EAD TABLE TENNIS

Table tennis for someone in a wheelchair has almost the same rules as the sport for the abled. The only difference in rules relates to serving. Wheelchair Table tennis players must serve the ball so that it leaves over the end of the table .That is they cannot serve cross- court. Other than that difference, the sport is just as fast and requires the same level of skill as it does for someone standing up.

At the Melbourne 2006 Games, there will be a competition for female wheelchair athletes. A match consists of five sets each being played until eleven Wheelchair Table Tennis points have been reached.

Table tennis is played by athletes with a physical or with an intellectual disability spread over 11 classes.

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TABLE TENNIS 1-5: Athletes competing from a wheelchair with class one being the most severely disabled and class five the least disabled. 6 -10: Ambulant athletes with class 6 the most severely disabled and class 10 the least. 11: Athletes with an intellectual disability.

TABLE TENNIS EQUIPMENT

The Table A Table Tennis table is 274cm long, 152cm wide and 76cm tall. Tables are made of dark green or blue coloured wood. Some tables are made of synthetic material. Table Tennis table

The Net Assembly The net has a height of 15.25cm and runs across the centre of the table. The net is usually made of nylon and is dark green in color.

Closeup of net assembly The Ball The ball is 40mm in diameter and weighs 2.7gm. It is made of a plastic material and is white or orange, depending on the table color.

Table Tennis ball

The Racquet The body of the racquet and the handle are made of wood. The body consists of thin layers of wood combined with carbon fibre. The number of layers depends on the speed and control required.

The racket is covered in rubber, usually with ‘sandwiched’ rubber – rubber that has raised pimples or ‘pips’ on one side and pimples that are inverted on the other.

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TABLE TENNIS

TABLE TENNIS – EVENT INFORMATION

Table Tennis is a very popular sport throughout the Events Commonwealth and as such, it is expected that the competition proposed for 2006 in Melbourne will be hotly Event Male Female contested. Singles The Table Tennis program will also incorporate a Women's wheelchair competition as a part of the M2006 Singles (EAD) EAD program. - Wheelchair

The Table Tennis competition will be conducted at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre - including use of Doubles the show court for both preliminary rounds and finals. Mixed

Team

This venue is the home of Table Tennis in Victoria and has the necessary rooms available for the management and administration of the competition, as well as a well-ventilated glue room.

MSAC will have the ability to house all warm-up, training and competition needs on one site.

It is proposed that beside the ten competition tables, an area housing another ten tables with identical specifications would be made available to the athletes for both training and warm-up at MSAC.

TABLE TENNIS - DID YOU KNOW?

In the 1890s, the Parker Brothers, who later introduced the game ‘Monopoly’, began selling an indoor tennis kit that contained a portable net that could be set up on a small table and miniature paddles.

The ball can travel up to 160km per hour.

There are 40 million competitive Table Tennis players around the world, and millions of others playing recreationally.

The use of some glues on rackets are banned as they can make the ball travel much faster than others.

TABLE TENNIS

TABLE TENNIS - JOIN IN

Table Tennis can be played by people of an age and can be played competitively or as a recreational activity.

A modified Junior program called ‘TOPS’ has been developed for Table Tennis Victoria logo children aged 5 to 16 years. The TOPS program can be obtained from Table Tennis Victoria or Table Tennis Australia. It is divided into easy to follow sections for use by school teachers and club coaches, aimed at the beginner level, and for use by teachers with minimal Table Tennis experience.

Victorian School Singles Championships Each year Table Tennis Victoria searches for the Victorian School singles champions. The competition is conducted in three stages with the first stage being an in-school tournament to find the best players from a school. They move into a Zone Final.

There are eight zones around Victoria. The top two in each section of the zone then playoff in the All Victorian Final for the right to be called the All Victorian Schools Singles Champion.

To find out more about Table Tennis and where to take part, please contact:

Table Tennis Victoria, www.ttv.com.au Phone: +61 3 9682 2011

Table Tennis Australia, www.tabletennis.org.au Phone: +61 2 97635507