Table Tennis, also known as Ping Pong is one of the most popular #racket sports around the #World. It is a #sport in which two or four players can hit a plastic ball back and forth across a table using a table tennis bat. Let me take you across some amazing facts about the sport.
- Table tennis was originally known as "whiff-whaff" and was played on dining room tables.
- The sport of table tennis was officially standardized and became an Olympic sport in 1988.
- The fastest recorded table tennis rally was an incredible rally between Japanese players funasaki Koji and Miu Hirano, lasting an incredible rally of 1140 shots!
- The international governing body for table tennis is the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), which was founded in 1926.
- Table tennis balls are required to be made of celluloid and have a diameter of 40 millimeters.
- The weight of a table tennis #paddle must be between 170 and 250 grams, including the rubber and blade.
- Table tennis was first played as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, #South Korea and became a full medal event at the Sydney 2000 Summer #Olympics.
- Table tennis has been included in every Summer Paralympics since the first games in 1960.
- Table tennis is played in over 200 countries and is the second most played sport in the world, with an estimated 40 million people playing the sport regularly.
- The highest world ranking for a table tennis player is held by Ma Long of #China, who is considered one of the greatest #players of all time.
