Oxenford Studios (OXT)

Sport History

Table Tennis

Origins and the sport today:

Table tennis developed in England in the late 19th century as an after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis. The English upper classes would use household goods, including books as nets, champagne and wine corks as balls, and the lids from cigar boxes as rackets. James DEVONSHIRE was the first to file a patent for the term ‘table tennis’, in 1885. A celluloid ball was introduced in 1900, with the noise of the ball rebounding off the drum rackets resulting in the name ‘ping-pong’.

The sport first arrived in in 1901 via western settlers, with the formation of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in Berlin in 1926. Later that year the first World Championships were held in London.

The ITTF has more than 200 member national associations across six continents, with 40 million players competing regularly across the globe.

Table tennis at the :

Table tennis has been part of every Commonwealth Games as an optional sport since 2002, with singles, doubles and team events for men and women. An optional sport means it is up to the host federation to decide whether it should be on the program.

Singapore has been the dominant table tennis nation at the Commonwealth Games in terms of medals won, with a total of 44 (18 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze). England is second with 15 and India third on 12.

The Glasgow was especially successful for , who won six of the seven gold medals on offer. was the standout performer, with gold in the women’s singles, women’s doubles and the women’s team events. The only other country to top the podium was the English mixed doubles pair of Paul DRINKHALL and Joanna DRINKHALL.

Table tennis in Australia:

It was in 1923 that table tennis associations were founded in South Australia and Queensland, with Victoria following suit in 1925 and New South Wales in 1933 – this led to the Australian Table Tennis Association being established in 1937. The body took its current name, Table Tennis Australia, in 1994.

Australia is yet to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in table tennis, although it has come close. and won silver in the women’s doubles at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Tied at one-set all against Feng TIANWEI (SIN) and (SIN), they were in a strong position to break Australia’s golden drought, but the Singapore pairing won the last two sets of the gold-medal match.

Australian Jian FANG LAY made history at the Rio 2016 by joining Natalie COOK (beach volleyball) and Mary HANNA (equestrian) as the only women to have competed at five Olympics for Australia. Having won four silver and three bronze Commonwealth Games medals, FANG LAY is one of the nation’s all-time greats in the sport of table tennis.

William HENZELL is regarded as the greatest male table tennis player Australia has produced. His highest international ranking was 90 in 2012 and he won the country’s first Commonwealth Games singles medal at 2006, taking silver.