| 1977 World Table Tennis Championships | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Events | |||
| Singles | men | women | |
| Doubles | men | women | mixed |
| Team | men | women | |
The 1977 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Birmingham at the then newly opened National Exhibition Centre, from March 28 to April 7, 1977.
During these Championships, players and officials stayed at the Student Accommodation at the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston, from where coaches took all participants backwards and forwards between here and the NEC daily for the two weeks of the championships. Although run by the ETTA for the ITTF, headed by Mr Maurice Goldstein, Management, Tournament & Coaching Committee members from the BDTTA (Birmingham & District Table Tennis Association) played a major part with six months of preparatory work prior to this event, the first to be held at the NEC. It was also from the BDTTA that many gave freely of their time to help run this championship, through their expertise of running many other local annual table tennis tournaments, such at the 3 star Midlands Open and Birmingham Closed. [1] [2]
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926.
The Swedish Open, also known as the Swedish Open Championships (SOC), is an annual table tennis tournament in Sweden, run by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). It is currently part of the ITTF World Tour.
The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's double and mixed doubles, are currently held in odd numbered years. The World Team Table Tennis Championships, which include men's team and women's team events, were first their own competition in 2000. The Team Championships are held in even numbered years.
Ma Long is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand Slam as the Olympic gold medalist in men's singles in 2016 and 2020. He held the ranking of number 1 for a total of 64 months, the most by any male in the history of table tennis. He is also champion in World Championships in men's singles in 2015, 2017 and 2019. His records led the International Table Tennis Federation to nickname him as "The Dictator" and "The Dragon". Since 2014, he has been the captain of the Chinese national table tennis men's team.
Liu Shiwen is a Chinese table tennis player. She is a five-time World Cup champion, one-time World Champion, three-time ITTF World Tour Grand Finals champion and four-time Asian Cup champion. She is known to be one of the fastest players in the world.
Ichiro Ogimura was a Japanese table tennis player, coach, president of the ITTF and former World No. 1 who won 12 World Championship titles during his career. Ogimura was also a key figure in the Ping Pong Diplomacy events of the early 1970s, as well as being instrumental in Korea playing as a unified team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
The 1st World Table Tennis Championships were held in London from December 6 to December 11, 1926.
The 8th World Table Tennis Championships were held in Paris from December 2 to 10, 1933. The Championships were held in December 1933 but are officially listed as the 1934 Championships.
The 1935 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Imperial Institute, South Kensington in London with the finals at the Wembley Sports Arena, from February 8 to February 16, 1935.
The 1938 World Table Tennis Championships were held in London from January 24 to January 29, 1938. The pool stages were held at the Royal Albert Hall with the finals at the Wembley Empire Pool and Sports Arena.
The 1952 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Bombay from 1 to 10 February 1952.The 1952 World Championships were marked by the arrival of the Japanese as a Table Tennis force on the world scene. In another first the Chief Referee of the tournament was an Indian, Professor Arakalgud Subbarao.
The 1953 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Floreasca and Dynamo Halls in Bucharest from March 20 to March 29, 1953.
The 1959 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Dortmund from March 27 to April 5, 1959.
The 1967 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Johanneshovs Isstadion in Stockholm from April 11 to April 21, 1967.
The 1969 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Munich from April 17 to April 27, 1969. It was the 30th edition to be contested.
The 1975 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Calcutta, India, The entire tournament was held at the newly constructed Netaji Indoor Stadium, from 6 February – 16 February 1975.
The 1987 World Table Tennis Championships were held in New Delhi, India. the event was held from 19 February to 1 March 1987.
The 1997 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Manchester from April 24 to May 5, 1997. This event was notable as the winner Jan-Ove Waldner won without losing a single set in all matches played, this was the first time that this occurred.
Table tennis is one of the sports contested at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. This was the sixth staging of table tennis at the Commonwealth Games since its inclusion in 2002, and the second staging within England specifically.
