Definition
Table tennis or ping pong is a game played with two or four players by hitting a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using rackets, this game played on a hard table with a net that divides the table to two halves.
History
Ping Pong was inspired by the traditional tennis game. It appeared in Britain during the 19th century as a parlour game played by the gentry after the dinner meal.
At first, ping pong was called by multi names such as wiff-waff, flim-flam etc. These names cames from the sound made when players hit the ball and the fall of the ball on the ping pong table.
In 1901, the popularity of ping pong was increased. That which encouraged British Manufacturer J.Jacques & Sons Ltd. to trademark the game as “ping pong.” and sold the rights of it to “Parker Brothers” American company
In 1921, the Table Tennis Association (TTA) was founded in Britain. In 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was founded in Berlin to be the Official organization for Table Tennis games around the globe. In 1933, the United States Table Tennis Association (USATT) was established.
The first championship was held in 1902 as unofficial. The first official World Championships was hosted in London in 1926. The first appearance of Table Tennis in the Olympic Games was in the Seoul Olympiad in 1988.
Evolution of ping pong equipments
In the beginning, the British were played the game with Dining table with a row of books placed on the middle of the table as a net. And they used two books as rackets. Over time, Table tennis rackets made from Cigar packs lids, and the balls were made from corks of champagne bottles or made from thread.
In 1900, James Gibb invented celluloid ball which was better than its predecessors. In 1901, E.C. Goode was innovated new rackets made from lightweight wood covered with a sheet of rubber. In 1936 the rise of the net has become 15.25cm instead of 30cm which making the game easier and faster. In 2000 the older 38 mm ball was replaced by 40 mm balls which increased the ball’s air resistance significantly
It remains to recall that ping pong game is one of the most popular sports in the world.