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. His last rank before retirement was rank 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.
Kent Mikael Appelgren is a Swedish former table tennis player.
Chen Qi is a retired Chinese table tennis player. He won the gold medal in men's doubles at the 2004 Summer Olympics with Ma Lin, and is the youngest male ever to hold this title at age 20. In December 2013, Chen Qi announced his retirement and became the head coach of the Jiangsu provincial table tennis team.
Paul Andrew Drinkhall is a British table tennis player. He won the English Championship in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017.
Chuang Chih-yuan is a Taiwanese table tennis player. He won the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in 2002 and doubles title at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships. He participated in the Summer Olympics six times, making the most appearances at the Olympic Games among Taiwanese athletes.
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.
Krisztina Tóth is a Hungarian table tennis player from Gödöllő (Hungary), who currently resides in Augsburg, Germany. She has won several medals in single, doubles, and team events in the Table Tennis European Championships, the Table Tennis World Cup, and the World Table Tennis Championships.
Ma Long is a Chinese professional table tennis player, six-time Olympic champion, and three-time World Champion. He is the reigning World Cup 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 is also the first and only table tennis athlete to win 6 gold medals in summer Olympics — no other table tennis player has more than four. He holds the record for most Olympic gold medals won by a Chinese athlete.
Jun Mizutani is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic champion. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. He has the distinction of being the first male singles titlist to achieve five consecutive national championships: 2007 to 2011.
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).
Liam Benjamin Pitchford is an English table tennis player. He is sponsored by Victas.
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.
Wilson Zhang is a Canadian table tennis player of Chinese origin. As of January 2010, Zhang is ranked no. 140 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He is right-handed, and uses the shakehand grip.
Shen Qiang is a Canadian table tennis player of Chinese origin. As of August 2010, Shen is ranked no. 366 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He is also right-handed, and uses the shakehand grip.
Kristian Gunnar Karlsson is a Swedish professional table tennis player.
Han Ying is a female table tennis player representing Germany since 2010. A specialist in defensive chopping, a style in decline ever since the mid-1990s, she is one of a few surviving defensive players active at the ITTF World Tour level as of 2021.
Tomokazu Harimoto is a Japanese professional table tennis player who is currently world rank number 3 in ITTF. Born to Chinese parents, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 2014. He won the world junior singles and team title at the 2016 World Junior Table Tennis Championships for Japan.
