Table tennis 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, which can affect the ball's trajectory more than in other ball sports.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations that use ITTF-approved sponge table tennis rackets. 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.
Mouma Das is an Indian table tennis player. Born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal, she has represented India in international events since the early 2000s. Das has won multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games including a gold in the Women's Team Competition in 2018. She was awarded the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting honour in 2013 for her contributions to the sport.
The ITTF World Youth Championships is an annual table tennis competition for juniors under 19 and under 15. From 2003 to 2019, the World Junior Table Tennis Championships was held for juniors under 18. The ITTF changed the U18 age group into U19 in 2020, and implemented the new World Youth Championships for U19 and U15 in 2021. The World Youth Championships is currently composed of two team events and five individual events in each of the U19 and U15 age groups.
Yu Mengyu is a retired Singaporean table tennis player. Born in Liaoning, China, Yu left China in 2006 at the age of 17 to join the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. In the same year, Yu made her international debut for Singapore.
Marcos André Sousa da Silva Freitas is a Portuguese table tennis player who won European Championships medals in singles, doubles, and team events. He represented Portugal four times at the Summer Olympics.
Tiago André Barata Feio Peixoto Apolónia is a Portuguese table tennis player for German club TTF LIEBHERR Ochsenhausen and Portugal. As of August 2016, he is ranked the number eighteenth player in the world.
Lily Ann Zhang is an American table tennis player who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with teammates Ariel Hsing and Erica Wu. She also competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio with teammates Jiaqi Zheng and Jennifer Wu. She is a six-time US national champion in women's singles. Zhang has won the US national championship in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022. In 2011, she was a bronze medalist in women's singles and women's team at the Pan American Games and won the women's doubles title at the Qatar Peace and Sport Cup. She is currently a member of the United States National Women's team. She has been ranked as high as #2 in the cadet (U-15) world ranking and #5 in the junior (U-18) world ranking.
Table tennis was a sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and featured 173 table tennis players. Table tennis had appeared at the Summer Olympics on eight previous occasions beginning with the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Fan Zhendong is a Chinese professional table tennis player. After joining the Chinese national table tennis team in 2012 as the youngest member, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. From December 2013 to December 2024, Fan was ranked top five in the world according to the ITTF -- this eleven year streak is the longest in men's singles history.
Hugo Marinho Borges Calderano is a Brazilian table tennis player. In January 2022, he peaked at number 3 in the world rankings, becoming the highest-ranked Americas player in history. By becoming the first table tennis player from the Americas to reach an Olympic semi-final, he returned to the world No. 3 position in August 2024.
Fang Bo is a Chinese male table tennis player. In 2002, Fang Bo became a member of the Shandong Luneng table tennis club. In 2009, he joined the China national table tennis first team. In the same year December 2009, he won all four team and individual titles at the 2009 World Junior Championships, becoming the first youth player to accomplish this feat in China. At his peak in 2015, he reached the men's singles final at the World Championships by defeating the second-seeded Xu Xin and the defending champion Zhang Jike. Fang Bo then obtained his first world table tennis champion title in 2016 during the World Team Table Tennis Championships. In 2017, he partnered with Petrissa Solja of the German table tennis team and won bronze in the mixed doubles at the World Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany. Fang Bo was ranked fifth in the China National Table Tennis (First) Team after emerging as first runner-up of the 2018 China National Table Tennis Championships. In 2019, Fang Bo successfully led his teammates and Team Tian Jin to win the overall team gold medal in the 2019 China Super League. Concomitantly, Fang Bo represented UMMC at the ETTU Table Tennis Champions League and the team came in second after losing 2:3 to Fakel Gazprom Orenburg in the final leg.
Wang Manyu is a Chinese table tennis player. She won women's singles titles at the World Championships, Asian Games and Asian Championships. Wang also won Olympics gold medals as a member of Chinese women's team in 2021 and 2024.
Lin Gaoyuan is a Chinese table tennis player. He was the Asian Cup champion in 2017, and was a member of the Chinese teams that took the gold medals at the World Team Championships in 2018 and 2022.
Sun Yingsha is a Chinese professional table tennis player, Olympic champion, and World Champion. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles. At the closing ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympic games, Sun was selected to extinguish the Olympic flame as the representative of the continent of Asia, the first female to be selected for the role.
The 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held in Busan, South Korea from 16 to 25 February 2024. Quarterfinalists of the event qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Miyuu Kihara is a Japanese table tennis player.
The Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships is an annual table tennis tournament regarded as continental championships between juniors and cadets. The Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships (AJCTTC) is one of the most prestigious events of the world junior table tennis circuit. It will be held under the supervision of the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). Cadet Championships was added in 1986 (2nd). The table below gives an overview of all host cities and countries of the Asia Junior Championships.
The 2021 World Table Tennis Championships was held in Houston, United States from 23 to 29 November. It was the 56th edition of the championships and the first time the competition was held in the United States. Houston became the host by beating Agadir, Morocco in 2019.
The 2022 ITTF World Youth Championships were held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 4 to 11 December 2022. It was the second edition of the ITTF World Youth Championships, which replaced the World Junior Championships in the ITTF calendar in 2021.
Japan 
China 
Russia 
Egypt 
France 
United States 
Poland 
Romania 
Germany 
Croatia 
Hungary 
India 
Chinese Taipei 
Singapore 
Portugal*
Nigeria 
Peru 
Ukraine 
Wales