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.
Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Considered a turning point in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China, it began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, as a result of an encounter between players Glenn Cowan and Zhuang Zedong. These interactions sparked diplomatic breakthrough, by signaling that both sides were willing to interact and engage in dialogue. The exchange and its promotion helped people in each country to recognize the humanity in the people of the other country, and it paved the way for President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972 and the Shanghai Communiqué. The Shanghai Communiqué was a pivotal diplomatic document issued on February 28, 1972, during President Richard Nixon's visit to China. It marked a significant shift in U.S.-China relations, as both countries acknowledged their differences while committing to improving their relationship, ultimately setting the stage for détente between the two nations.
China competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. A total of 384 Chinese athletes, 136 men and 248 women, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 28 sports. For the third time in its Olympic history, China was represented by more female than male athletes.
The Moldova national football team represents Moldova in men's international football and is administered by the Moldovan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Moldova. Moldova's home ground is Zimbru Stadium in Chișinău and their head coach is Serghei Cleșcenco. Shortly before the break-up of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Georgia on 2 July 1991.
Antun "Tova" Stipančić was a highly accomplished Croatian and Yugoslav professional table tennis player.
KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen", the club was founded as FC Union 93 Kassel in 1893. A series of mergers, insolvency and re-starts led to the club known today being re-formed on 3 February 1998. The club's colours are red and white and their home ground since 1953 has been the Auestadion, located in the southwest of the city of Kassel next to the historic Karlsaue park.
Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) – was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. A total of 205 teams entered the qualification competition, with South Africa, as the host, qualifying for the World Cup automatically. The first qualification matches were played on 25 August 2007 and qualification concluded on 18 November 2009. Overall, 2,338 goals were scored over 852 matches, scoring on average 2.74 per match.
The Bulgaria men's national tennis team represents Bulgaria in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Bulgarian Tennis Federation.
The Namibia Davis Cup team represents Namibia in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Namibia Tennis Association. They did not compete between 2010–2011 and in 2017.
FC Nöttingen is a German association football club from the Nöttingen district of Remchingen, Baden-Württemberg. The footballers are part of a sports club of more than 500 members that also has departments for table tennis and an unusual sport popular locally known as Schnürles or Fussballtennis (en:football-tennis), played with a soccer ball on a tennis court. The game was introduced to the area from Czechoslovakia in the 1920s by coach Fritz Schnürle. The stadium is the Kleiner Arena.
The men's team table tennis event was part of the table tennis programme and took place between August 13 and 18, at the Peking University Gymnasium. Teams consisted of three members. The sixteen teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, playing a round-robin within their pool. The top team in each pool advanced to the semifinals, with the second-place team from each group going to the bronze medal playoffs. The two semifinal winners met in the gold medal match, while the two semifinal losers each played against one of the winners from the bronze medal playoffs, with the winners of those games meeting in the bronze medal match.
The women's team table tennis event was part of the table tennis programme and took place between August 13 and 17 at the Peking University Gymnasium. Teams consisted of three members. The sixteen teams were divided into four groups of four teams each, playing a round-robin within their pool. The top team in each pool advanced to the semifinals, with the second-place team from each group going to the bronze medal playoffs. The two semifinal winners met in the gold medal match, while the two semifinal losers each played against one of the winners from the bronze medal playoffs, with the winners of those games meeting in the bronze medal match.
Feng Tianwei is a Singaporean retired table tennis player. Born in China, she permanently moved to Singapore in March 2007 at the age of 20 under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and commenced her international career in competitive table tennis the following month.
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.
John Alfred Leach MBE was a British table tennis player, coach, and author. He began competing at a relatively old age, 17, before serving in World War II. During the war, he greatly elevated his game and, in 1946, achieved a world ranking. In 1949, Leach became Great Britain's second World Champion singles player. After winning the title, he achieved widespread fame within the United Kingdom, appearing on television and writing for News of the World. Two years later, Leach added a second singles title. In 1953, he was part of the team that won Great Britain's first, and as of 2023 only, team World Championship. He also won 13 bronze and silver World championship medals between 1947 and 1955. As of 2014, Leach is just one of 11 players from any country to win two singles championships.
The 2013 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from May 13 to May 20, 2013. The Championships were the 52nd edition of the World Table Tennis Championships.
Cheung Yuk is a Hong Kong table tennis player. As of February 2013, Cheung was ranked no. 80 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). Cheung is also left-handed, and uses the offensive, shakehand grip.
The 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships was held in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia from 28 February to 6 March 2016.
The Indiana Loves were a charter franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT). The team was founded as the Detroit Loves and moved to Indianapolis for the 1975 season. Following the 1978 season, Loves president Larry Noble announced that the team was folding.
The 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held in Chengdu, China from 30 September to 9 October 2022. The World Team Championships were originally scheduled in April and pushed back to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Vietnam 
Japan 
Iran 
Republic of China 
Hong Kong 
Philippines 
South Korea 
