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 relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.
Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States (US) and People's Republic of China (PRC) in the early 1970s, that began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan as a result of an encounter between players Glenn Cowan and Zhuang Zedong. The exchange and its promotion helped to humanize the people in each country after a period of isolation and distrust. It paved the way for President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972, and is considered a turning point in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.
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.
The table tennis competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.
Table tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 13 to August 23, at the Peking University Gymnasium. The competition featured the team events for the first time, replacing the doubles events competed in previous games. A total of four sets of medals were awarded for the four events contested. China, as the host country, would win every medal possible, claiming the podium in both the Men's and Women's Singles events and claiming Gold in both the Men's and Women's Team Event, leading the IOC and ITTF, to change the qualification process for the 2012 Summer Olympics, to ensure that countries could only enter 2, instead of 3 athletes into the Singles event.
Robert Garnett"Buddy"Blattner was an American table tennis and professional baseball player. He played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the New York Giants. After his retirement as a player, he became a radio and television sportscaster.
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.
Wang Yuegu is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player who was ranked among the top ten players in the world. Wang made her inaugural appearance as a Singaporean table tennis player on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro Tour in June 2005 at the Volkswagen Korean Open in Suncheon, South Korea, where she and Sun Beibei took the silver medal in the women's doubles. On 24 September 2006, Wang achieved her first gold medal on the Pro Tour at the Japan Open in Yokohama. She repeated the feat against her compatriot Li Jiawei on 12 November at the ITTF Pro Tour German Open in Bayreuth. In June 2007, Wang helped Singapore sweep the women's team, women's doubles and mixed doubles gold trophies at the 17th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Jaipur.
Georgina Póta is a multiple European Champion table tennis player from Hungary.
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.
Kasumi Ishikawa is a retired Japanese table tennis player. A regular member of the Japanese national team, she won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's team.
Ichiro Ogimura was a Japanese table tennis player, coach, president of the ITTF and former World No. 1 who won 12 World Championship titles during his career. Ogimura was also a key figure in the Ping Pong Diplomacy events of the early 1970s, as well as being instrumental in Korea playing as a unified team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
Melissa Tapper is an Australian table tennis player. After competing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she represented Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in elite non-Paralympic competition. In March 2016, she became the first Australian athlete to qualify for both the Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics.
The 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships was held in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia from 28 February to 6 March 2016.
The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships were held in Halmstad, Sweden from 29 April to 6 May 2018.
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.
Barak Mizrachi is an Australian Paralympic table tennis player. After playing competitive table tennis for the first time in 2001, he went on to make his international debut in 2003 at the Maccabiah Games. He has since represented Australia at the Maccabiah Games in 2005, 2007 and 2009, before being selected for the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
The Ultimate Table Tennis is a professional level table tennis league in India. It was launched in 2017 and contested by 6 teams. It is organized by 11Sports promoted by Niraj Bajaj and Vita Dani and held under the aegis of Table Tennis Federation of India.
South Vietnam 
Japan 
Republic of China 
Iran 
Hong Kong 
Philippines 
South Korea 
