Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, 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.
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.
Jean-Michel Saive is a Belgian former professional table tennis. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994.
Ryu Seung-min is a Korean table tennis player who won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the men's singles competition. His opponent was Wang Hao, a top-seeded player from the Chinese national team. Along the way, he defeated 1992 Olympic champion Jan-Ove Waldner with 4–1. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics he was part of the South Korean team that won the bronze and silver medals respectively. Ryu is ranked twenty-fifth in the world as of July 2013. In 2016, Ryu became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he was a member and Chair of the Athletes' Commission of the South Korean National Olympic Committee from 2016 to 2019. Since 2018, he counts among the ITTF Foundation Ambassadors, promoting sport for development and peace.
Jörg Roßkopf is a former professional German table tennis player who is currently the head coach of the German Men's National Table Tennis Team. As a player, he won the title in Men's Doubles at the 1989 World Table Tennis Championships and the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, with Steffen Fetzner as his partner. In men's singles, he won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the gold medal at the Table Tennis World Cup in 1998. As a coach, he was awarded the ITTF Star Coach award in 2017.
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 German Olympic Sports Confederation was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the Deutscher Sportbund (DSB), and the Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland (NOK) which dates back to 1895, the year it was founded and recognized as NOC by the IOC.
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.
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.
Thomas Bach is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and gold medalists. He has been serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected for that position. Bach is also a former member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation's executive board.
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.
Ma Long is a Chinese table tennis player who is currently world rank number 3 ITTF and the reigning Olympic 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 held the ranking of number 1 for a total of 64 months, the most by any male in the history of table tennis. He is also champion in World Championships in men's singles in 2015, 2017 and 2019. His records led the International Table Tennis Federation to nickname him as "The Dictator" and "The Dragon". Since 2014, he has been the captain of the Chinese national table tennis men's team.
The Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) is an Asian table tennis governing body formed on May 7, 1972, and recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1975. ATTU was founded by 16 member associations, currently, 44 member associations are affiliated to ATTU.
Shi Zhihao is a male former table tennis player from China. He won several medals in singles, doubles, and team events at the 1980 Asian Table Tennis Championships. He also won a gold medal in the men's team event at the 1981 World Table Tennis Championships.
Adham Sharara is a Canadian sports official. He is current Chairman and Honorary President of the International Table Tennis Federation, having succeeded Xu Yinsheng in 1999. He retired as ITTF President on 2014, and was succeeded by the Deputy President the German Thomas Weikert.
Stephan Ernst Johann Mayer is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2002. In 2022, he briefly served as the Secretary General of the CSU, under the leadership of the party's chairman Markus Söder.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is an Indian table tennis player, who is the highest ranked Indian, currently ranked at 39 in the world as of November 2022. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back Gold medals in 2018 & 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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 more spin on both sides than most female players.
World Table Tennis, stylized as WTT, is an organization created by the ITTF in 2019 that runs commercialized table tennis tournaments. Its inaugural tournament was held in November 2020 in Macao, China. It is distinguished from the ordinary ITTF World Tour by various rules changes and big prize money for commercialized purposes. The head of its council is Liu Guoliang, a former Olympic gold medalist and former head coach of China.
Roy Evans was a Welsh professional table tennis player from Cardiff. He served as the president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) from 1967 to 1987. During his tenure at the ITTF, he successfully campaigned for the addition of table tennis in the Olympic Games. In 1984, the Olympics added table tennis as an event, and the first competition was held during 1988 The Summer Olympics in Seoul. Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former IOC president, awarded him the Olympic Order for his role as an advocate for the sport. Additionally, Evans was named the "Honorary Life President" of the organization in 1987 and was appointed OBE in the 1972 Queen's Birthday Honors list.
