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.
Timo Boll is a German professional table tennis player, who currently plays for Borussia Düsseldorf. He is currently ranked 23rd in the ITTF world rankings as of August 2024. Boll is the most successful German table tennis player of all time, having won several medals at Olympic Games, world cups, and world championships. He was ranked world No. 1 in 2003, 2011 and in March 2018.
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.
Vladimir Samsonov or Uladzimir Samsonau is a Belarusian former professional table tennis player. He is known in China as the "Tai Chi Master" because of his superb all-around style, both offensive and defensive. Samsonov competed at six consecutive Olympics between 1996 and 2016, placing fourth individually in 2016, in addition to equal fifth in 1996 and 2000.
European Champions League (ECL) is the seasonal table tennis competition for the highest ranked European club teams and is regarded as the most important international club competition in Europe. It is organised by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) and replaced the European Club Cup of Champions (ECCC), the previous prominent club competition, since the 1998/99 season. Originally there was only a men's competition; a women's competition was introduced in the 2005/06 season. The competition starts in September and the champions are usually determined in May in recent years.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov or Dmytro Ovtcharov is a Ukrainian-born German table tennis player. His father Mikhail, a Soviet table tennis champion in 1982, moved his family to Germany shortly after Dimitrij was born.
The ETTU Cup is the second most important continental tournament for clubs in European table tennis, after the European Champions League. The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has organized this cup since the 1964-65 season for men teams, and also for women teams a year later.
The Europe Top 16, also known as the Europe Top 16 Cup and previously known as the Europe Top 12, is a table tennis tournament organised annually by the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU), featuring the highest-ranked players in Europe.
The Table Tennis World Cup has been held annually since 1980. There had only been men's singles until the start of women's singles in 1996 and team competitions in 1990. The team competitions were canceled until the relaunch in 2007, and now held in odd-numbered years. The competitions are sanctioned by International Table Tennis Federation and classified as R1 in rating weightings, B2 in bonus weightings in the ITTF world ranking.
The Table Tennis Association of Wales (TTAW) is the national governing body of table tennis in Wales. It is affiliated to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the European Table Tennis Union, and was a founding member of both organisations—in 1926 and 1956 respectively.
The European Table Tennis Championships is an international table tennis competition for the national teams of the member associations of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). First held in 1958, the ETTU organised the European Championships every two years in even-numbered years until 2002, when they changed to odd-numbered years. Since 2007, the competition has been contested annually.
Melek Hu, born Hou Meiling 27 January 1989, Shenyang) is a Chinese-born Turkish table tennis player. She has played for Fenerbahçe TT since 2007 and also played for An Gang in China. She has won European championships in the mixed (2010), double (2015) and single (2016) events.
The Latin American Table Tennis Union (LATTU), or Unión Latinoamericana de Tenis de Mesa (ULTM) in Spanish, was one of the table tennis continental federations recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) before 2021. The ULTM was composed of 37 national or regional table tennis associations, working on the development of table tennis in Latin America.
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.
Andrej Gaćina is a male table tennis player from Croatia.
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.
The Jersey Table Tennis Association was established in 1923 and is the governing body responsible for table tennis in Jersey. The organisation has been affiliated to the ITTF since 1935.
The European Under-21 Championships is an annual table tennis tournament organised under the authority of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). The introduction of the event to the table tennis calendar was approved at the ETTU Congress in 2015, with the first competition held in Sochi, Russia, in February 2017.
Truls Carl Eric Möregårdh is a Swedish professional table tennis player. He took silver in the men's singles event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, as well as at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships. In 2018, he took bronze with the Swedish team at the World Team Table Tennis Championships.
