ANCIENT ORIGINS

CHINA ON SONG IN OLYMPIC PING-PONG

Among the names for the table tennis-like games that caught on in the 19th century, when table tennis evolved from tennis proper, Ping-Pong, registered by J. Jacques & Son, the English toy company, in 1900, became the most popular and long-lasting. The first balls were made of string, cork or rubber, while cardboard sufficed to make the bats and players had to make their own net up.

Wooden rackets covered with pimpled rubber emerged in the late 19th century and had become common by the 1920s and 1930s. The equipment came in varying sizes, however, and even today no competition specifications exist. In the 1950s a sponge layer was introduced between the bat's blade and rubber, while in the 1970s different types of rubber were used on either side of the bat, allowing players to vary the spin in their play. At first this meant that players could outwit their opponents by twiddling their bat below the table to conceal which degree of spin they were about to play.

"Twiddling" is allowed these days but is less effective as a weapon in that the rubber on either side of the bat must be of a different colour. Today, players stick rubbers on to their bats at the last minute, the nature of certain glues enabling greater speeds of play to be reached. Balls can travel at 160kph. Some glues are specifically banned from competition, not only because they can increase play speed by up to 30kph but because they emit dangerous gases.

James Gibb, an English table tennis player, is credited with bringing the celluloid ball to the game. He had brought the children's toy home from the US in 1901 and decided that it would be ideal for table tennis.

The game grew rapidly in Europe and the International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926, a year before the first world championships were held. One of the founding members of the ITTF, Hungary, dominated the sport until the 1950s, when Sweden, combining the best techniques taught by coaches around the world, took control, with China and Japan the challengers.

Now played for big money prizes, the game is also one of the largest participation sports in the world, with an estimated 40 million registered competitors.