From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jan-Ove Waldner

Table tennis (also commonly known as ping pong) is a sport in which two or four players hit a ball back and forth to each other with bats (also sometimes called raquets or paddles). The game takes place on a table divided by a net. Players must allow a ball played towards them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opponent's side. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. A skilled player can impart spin to the ball, which makes its bounce and its reaction on the opponent's bat difficult to predict or return with confidence.

Table tennis is very popular, especially in East Asia ^[1] and is among the most popular sports in the world in terms of player numbers,^[2] as well as one of the newest of the major sports.^[3]

• 乒乓球 (Pīng Pāng Qiú) is the official name for the sport in the China, Hong Kong and Macau.
• 卓球 (Takkyu) is the official name for the sport in Japan, and Taiwan.
• 탁구 (Tak-gu) is the name for the sport in Korea.