Olympic sport since 1988
Whatever name it assumes, table tennis has come a long way since its
introduction as a genteel, after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis in 1890s
England. Today, players compete for big money, wield high-tech rackets and
volley the ball at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour. Table tennis has become
the world's largest participation sport, with 40 million competitive players
worldwide and countless millions playing recreationally.
The game, which debuted in the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul, began with
cigar-box lids for rackets and a carved champagne cork for a ball. Today,
players use specially developed rubber-coated wooden and carbon-fibre rackets
and a lightweight, hollow celluloid ball. Various rubber compounds and glues are
applied on the rackets to impart greater spin or speed.
Indeed, some glues are banned from Olympic competition - they make the ball
travel up to 30km/h faster.
