Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce once on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
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.
Timo Boll is a German professional table tennis player, who currently plays for Borussia Düsseldorf. He is ranked second in the German Table Tennis National League, and tenth in the ITTF world rankings as of July 2021. Boll ranks among the best German table tennis players of all time, having ranked world No. 1 in 2003, 2011 and in March 2018.
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 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.
The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognised for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organisation of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships.
Table tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place from Saturday 28 July to Wednesday 8 August 2012 at ExCeL London. 174 athletes, 86 men and 88 women, competed in four events. Table tennis has appeared at the Summer Olympics on six previous occasions beginning with the 1988 Games in Seoul. In addition to men's and women's singles, the team events were staged for the second time since replacing doubles events at the 2008 Beijing Games. China was the defending champion in each of the Olympic events having won all 4 gold medals in 2008.
Koki Niwa is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles).
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 five time US national champion in women's singles. Zhang has won the US national championship in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019. 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 at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured 173 table tennis players. Table tennis had appeared at the Summer Olympics on eight previous occasions beginning with the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Miu Hirano is a Japanese table tennis player. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's team, winning a silver medal.
This is a list of achievements in major international table tennis events according to gold, silver and bronze medal results obtained by athletes representing different nations. The objective is not to create a combined medal table; the focus is on listing the best positions achieved by athletes in major global events, ranking the countries according to the most podiums accomplished by athletes of these nations. In order to be considered for the making of the list, competitions must be ranked among the highest possible rank (R1) by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF); these competitions are: 1) Summer Olympic Games, 2) Youth Olympic Games, 3) World Table Tennis Championships, 4) World Junior Table Tennis Championships, and 5) Table Tennis World Cup. Masters, as well as Para meets, such as the Para World Championships and the Paralympic Games, were not taken into consideration, as per ITTF guidelines.
Hina Hayata is a Japanese international table tennis player. She is the most successful player on the ITTF Challenge Series since its inception in 2017. Owing to her stature, she is able to generate powerful spins on both wings more so than most female players.
Tomokazu Harimoto is a Japanese table tennis player. In 2018, he won the 2018 World Junior Singles and Team Title at the ITTF 2018 World Junior Championship for Japan. The previous players to win the title were Kenta Matsudaira, Koki Niwa, and Jun Mizutani (Teams).
This page lists notable table tennis events taking place in 2019.
The 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea from 22 to 29 March 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, initially until 27 September to 4 October 2020, then until 28 February to 7 March 2021. However, on 22 December it was announced that the event had been cancelled.
Miyuu Kihara is a Japanese table tennis player.
Clarence Chew Zhe Yu is a Singaporean table tennis player. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
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.
Japan 
China 
Russia 
Egypt 
France 
United States 
Poland 
Romania 
Germany 
Croatia 
Hungary 
India 
Chinese Taipei 
Singapore 
Portugal *
Nigeria 
Peru 
Ukraine 
Wales