TABLE TENNIS

Mores, Rodgina LC A.
 WHO INVENTED TABLE TENNIS?

• Invented in the late 1880s

• Game makers tried to emulate the popularity of
lawn tennis by developing indoor versions of it.
• Early versions of the game were made by several
different manufacturers
 WHO INVENTED TABLE TENNIS?

• Each manufacturer used an exclusive patented or

trademarked name for their own version.
• Indoor Tennis, Gossima, Whiff-Waff and Ping
Pong.
• These games consisted of card games, board & dice
games, rackets & balloon games and even tiddledy
 WHO INVENTED TABLE TENNIS?

• These games consisted of card games, board &

dice games, rackets & balloon games and even
tiddledy winks tennis games.
• First action game of tennis on a table was in
1890
 THE EARLY YEARS

• Around 1898 - English sports company John

Jaques & Son were manufacturing the first table
tennis sets and popularising the game.
• They used rackets (bats / paddles) with velum
stretched over an outer casing (similar to a small
drum) attached to a handle.
 THE EARLY YEARS

• This gave rise to the name Ping Pong which was

derived from the sound that was made by different
sized rackets (bats / paddles) striking a ball.
• 2 rival organisations were set up in England with
the "Table Tennis Association" and the "Ping Pong
Association" formed within days of each other in
1901.
 THE EARLY YEARS

• It's thought that the game fell out of favour.

• 1920s - back in fashion, particularly in Europe
 PING-PONG VS. TABLE TENNIS

• So when the English sports company John

Jaques & Son became the market leader in the
1920s with their version of the game called "Ping
Pong", they decided that they would only allow
their trademarked name to be used if their
brand of equipment was specified exclusively.
 PING-PONG VS. TABLE TENNIS

• They also threatened legal action against anybody

who used their proprietary trademarked name of
Ping Pong without specifying the use of their
equipment.
• An alternative name was required for this
burgeoning international sport and the name Table
Tennis was chosen.
 PING-PONG VS. TABLE TENNIS

• So, since that time, and particularly since the

establishment of the International Table Tennis
Federation (ITTF) in 1926, the modern game has
been known as table tennis.
 WHY IS “PING-PONG” STILL USED?

• It was promoted extensively in the early 1900s

by the equipment manufacturers who owned
the trademark
• It became ingrained in peoples minds - just as
any other product which is widely advertised
and promoted.
 WHY IS “PING-PONG” STILL USED?

• Ping Pong is still a federally registered

trademark in the USA
• Now owned by Escalade Sports who still
produce a brand of equipment called Ping Pong
which is used to play the sport of table tennis.
 WHY IS “PING-PONG” STILL USED?

• The name has also remained in popular use by the

media all around the world (and by recreational
players) who often use it in a derisory context
about the sport of table tennis.
• Ping Pong remains a registered trademark and
brand of equipment, whilst the official name for
the sport since 1926 is table tennis.
 THE BIRTH OF ITTF

• 16 January 1926 at a meeting held in Berlin

between representatives of the Table Tennis
Associations of Austria, England, Germany and
Hungary, a provisional "International Table
Tennis Federation" (ITTF) was formed.
 THE BIRTH OF ITTF

• The first General Meeting was scheduled for

December 1926 and on 7 December 1926
Englishman Ivor Montagu was elected as the
first chairman of the ITTF and five days later
the first Constitution and Rules of Table Tennis
were agreed.
 THE BIRTH OF ITTF

• The rules for International Competitions, which

were approved at that meeting on 12 December
1926, were based on the English rules of the
game at that time for singles subject to a few
minor amendments - and the Hungarian rules of
the time for doubles play.
 THE BIRTH OF ITTF

• Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany,

Hungary, India, Sweden and Wales were all invited
to become the original members of the ITTF.
• A tournament held in London, England from 6-11
December 1926 was also designated as the first
World Championship.
 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

• Since 1926 there have been many significant

events which have taken place and many of
these relate to changes to the rules of the game.
 introducing a time limit on games
 lowering the height of the net
 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

 banning finger spin serves

 the introduction of the two colour rule;
 changing the ball size from 38mm to 40mm
 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

 changing the scoring system from 21up to

11up
 the introduction of racket testing
 introduction of plastic balls to replace
celluloid balls.
 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

• Introduction of sponge rackets; China first

entering the World Championships
• China offering Ping Pong Diplomacy; the
introduction of speed glue
• Introduction of combination rackets
 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

• Becoming an Olympic sport

• Formation of the ITTF ProTour
• Separating the World Championship events.
 RISE OF THE EAST

• As the popularity of table tennis spread around

the world, the Asian countries embraced the
sport and quickly became world leaders.
 RISE OF THE EAST

• European players, particularly Hungary and

England, dominated the mens singles titles at
the World Championship during the first 25
years
• Japanese and Chinese players have taken the
majority of world titles from the 1950s onwards.
 RISE OF THE EAST

• A notable exception was Sweden who, with Jan-

Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson in their ranks,
claimed the men's singles titles in 1989, 1991 and
1997 and won the team event in 1989, 1991 and
1993.