It is an indoor game played on a table with a lightweight ball. The table is divided into two equal courts by a low net fixed across its width at the middle. The ball is made of celluloid or a similar plastic. It is propelled back and forth across the net by small rackets (also called bats or paddles) held by the players. The objective is to win points by making shots which an opponent is unable to return.
Over the years it has become a popular game all over the world, especially, in Europe and Asia. The International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926. The founder members were England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Wales. By the 1970s, more than 90 national associations were members of the federation and there were six continental federations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania. The first world championships were held in London in 1927 and from then until 1939 the game was dominated by players from the central Europe. Hungary and Czechoslovakia produced some of the greatest players of the game. However, by the mid 50s Asia began to gain supremacy. In 1954-56 the Asians became the champions.
This is a game played by both men and women. The ball weighs 2.5 gm and has a diameter of 3.82 cm. The racket or bat should be of wood, flat and rigid and preferably the wood should be covered with a thin layer of rubber.
A match consists of the best of three or five games. Each game is won by the player who first reaches 21 points or who after a tie at 20 points wins two points first without break. A point is lost in a game when a player fails to make a good service or a good return, or when he touches the net or the playing surface with his free hand or anything he is carrying while the ball is in play or if the ball bounces twice successively on his court, or if he strikes it twice consecutively, or if he volleys it by striking it before it touches the court, or if in doubles, he strikes it out of the proper sequence. Service changes hands after every five points, if a situation of 20-all is reached then it changes after every subsequent point.
The serve is made from behind the end of the table, it projects the ball upward from the palm of the player’s free hand and striking the ball as it ascends so that it first touches his own court and then, passing over the net, touches his opponent’s court.
In the singles game there is a contest between one player at each side and in the doubles, two players at each end. The doubles game may be just between men, women or mixed.