Table Tennis History — Worldwide Appeal For The Tabletop Sport
Table tennis, ping pong, or whiff-whaff, whatever you name it, is the game of passion and entertainment that had evolved through the ages.
Hence, an ideal sport called table tennis has been a popular indoor game for people who think life is too short to enjoy.
As it rounded through history over the ages, some changes in rules, modifications of the game all about are part of its history.
Today, we gonna talk about table tennis history, including important dates and changes. Let’s dive into the details.
The History of Table Tennis
The world experienced table tennis for the first time ever in the 1880s in Victorian England.
Around the 1860s or 1870s, British military officers designed its initial version in Indian Territory and got it back into their country.
The “ping-pong” was widely used as the trademark name of table tennis. British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son named it “ping-pong” in 1901.
Later on, the name “ping-pong” reached the United States of America with the hands of
Parker Brothers, a toy and game manufacturer in the USA.
Table tennis started growing popularity by 1901 when tournaments began the journey with about 300 athletes.
For making the discipline into the game and setting the rules and regulations, The Ping-Pong Association was found, which was later converted into The Table Tennis Association in 1922.
In 1902, a university professor from Japan visited the British territory and could learn about table tennis. Being amazed by this game, the professor brought the game back to Japan, and he introduced this game to his university students.
Later on, a British salesman named Edward Shires brought the game to Vienna and Budapest’s netizens. Basically, that spread was the inception of the popularity of this game all over the world.
Basic Information of Table tennis club:
In 1922, a table tennis club was founded, which took pride in such talents as Jack Hobbs, the cricketer, and some glorious athletes from various world sports parts.
A nationwide tournament with 40,000 competitors was held with the patron of The Daily Mirror.
On April 24, 1927, the English Table Tennis Association was founded where Ivor Montague, son of Lord Ewatthling, was the chairman and director and the association picked members from about 19 leagues.
At present, the association belongs to 75,000 registered players. The first world championships were in the year 1927, where a Hungarian player name Dr. Jacobi won the trophy.
The history says that the Hungarians had been the leading players of the game throughout the thirties. Victor Barna was the leader of the legendary team.
The Japanese introduced new bats that made the ball move around amazingly.
Rule changes — A Quick Snapshot
After the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, the ITTF reconstructed several rules that made table tennis more viable and perfect.
· Firstly, 40 mm (1.57 in) balls would be used in place the older 38 mm (1.50 in) balls in October 2000.
· Secondly, ITTF transformed the scoring system from a 21-point to an 11-point effective in September 2001.
· Thirdly, it changed the rules on service to prevent a player from hiding the ball during service to increase the average length of rallies and reduce the server’s advantage, effective in 2002.
· Fourth, the ball has to be tossed at least 16 centimeters (6.3 in) in the air.
· Finally, The ITTF urged that all tournaments after July 2014 would be played with a new poly material ball.
Conclusion:
Now we can realize the popularity of table tennis all over the world. The popularity has come through a history that you cannot ignore.
As an indoor game, much lower class to upper-class people tend to join the table tennis party.
I am optimistic this article regarding table tennis history will teach you a lot when you opt to know about it more as a table tennis lover.
Kirstie Taylor Tom Kuegler SportsPickle Table Tennis Life Ping Pong SPORT|MESSEPOST ONLINE
