A Comprehensive History of Table Tennis

presented by the ITTF Museum

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Like many other sports, Table Tennis began as a mild social diversion. It was
probably played with improvised equipment in England, during the last quarter
of the 19th century. Though Table Tennis evolved, along with Badminton and Lawn
Tennis, from the ancient game of Tennis (also known as Jeu de Paume, Real tennis, Court Tennis
or Royal Tennis), the game was developed after Lawn Tennis became popular in the 1880s. 
 Ancient woodcut showing jeu de paume game, published in 1576

Game manufacturers tried many experiments to market an indoor version of Lawn

Tennis, including board and dice games, Tiddledy Winks variations, card games,
racket and balloon games and others. The first use of the name "Table Tennis"
appeared on a board and dice game in 1887 by J.H.Singer of New York.
This probably accounts for the mysterious entry in the George S. Parker game
catalog of the same year: "Table Tennis: This game is laid out like a Lawn Tennis
court, played and counted just the same, all the rules being observed."

The earliest evidence extant of an action game of Tennis on a table is a set

made by David Foster, patented in England in 1890: Parlour Table Games, which
included table versions of Lawn Tennis, Cricket and Football. This game featured
strung rackets, a 30mm cloth covered rubber ball, a wooden fence set up around
the perimeter of the table, and large side nets extending along both sides.
One year later famous game makers John Jaques of London released their GOSSIMA
game. This game borrowed the drum style battledores from the Shuttlecock game,
and used a 50mm webbed wrapped cork ball, with an amazing 30cm high net!
Neither of these action games were successful, due to the ineffective ball:
the rubber ball had too wild a bounce, while the cork ball had too poor a bounce.
So the concept was shelved until 1900, when the celluloid ball was introduced to
the game. Jaques revived the older Gossima game but changed the name to "Gossima
or Ping Pong". The name Ping Pong was derived from the sound of the ball bouncing
off the drum battledores, each of which had a slightly different sound. The higher
pitched sound suggested Ping, the lower pitch, Pong. This can still be demonstrated
today using the antique battledores!

The game quickly caught on with the public, marketed under many different names:

Ping Pong or Gossima

Ping Pong
 Table Tennis
Whiff Waff
Parlour Tennis
Indoor Tennis
Pom-Pom
Pim-Pam
Netto
Royal Game
Tennis de Salon
and others.

Gradually the two most popular names prevailed: Ping Pong, and Table Tennis. However,
these competing names caused some problems, as two associations were formed, and with
different rules for the game some confusion resulted. Ping Pong was trademarked in 1900
by Hamley Brothers in England, and soon afterwards Hamleys became "jointly concerned"
with Jaques. They rigorusly enforced the Ping Pong trademark, requiring use of their
Ping Pong equipment in tournaments and clubs. Parker Brothers, who acquired the American
rights to the name Ping Pong, similarly enforced the trademark. Eventually it became clear
that for the sport to move forward, the commercial ties had to be severed.

Timeline of Table Tennis Milestones

by the ITTF Museum

 1880s     Adaption of lawn tennis to the dining table with improvised equipment
Several patents registered in England and the USA
 1890s     Manufactured sets produced under trade names such as Gossima, and Indoor Tennis, with Lawn
Tennis style rules
Introduction of celluloid balls to replace rubber and cork ones. The celluloid ball had the perfect
 1900    
bounce, and the game became a huge success
Table Tennis Association and rival Ping Pong Association formed in England; amalgamated in
1903
 1901    
First books on the game published in England
The game is introduced in China via western settlements
 1904     Ping Pong craze fades, some pockets of popularity in eastern Europe continue
Revival of the game in Europe, though laws varied
 1922    
Establishment of standard laws of the Game in England
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) initiated in Berlin
First World Championships held in London, England. ITTF Constitution adopted, along with first
 1926    
set of standardized Laws.
Ivor Montagu (ENG) elected first President (Chairman)
 1920s –
Classic Hard Bat Era (European Dominance)
&nbsp1950s   
 1926– Maria Mednyanszky (HUN) wins the World Championships five times consecutively.
 &nbsp1931     Mednyansky wins 18 gold medals over-all
Victor Barna (HUN) becomes five times world champion and is runner-up 1931 losing the final
 1930–
against his compatriot Miklos Szabados. Barna wins a record 22 gold medals at world
&nbsp1935    
championships during his career, 40 medals overall
Tenth World Championships held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The longest rally took place, the first
 1936    
point taking over two hours
First continental association formed: South America
 1939    
First World Championship held outside Europe: Cairo, Egypt
 1950– Angelica Rozeanu-Adelstein (ROU) wins the World Championships six times in a row and is the
&nbsp1955     last non Asian to win the female singles title until today
 1950s –
Age of Sponge Bat and Technology (Beginning of Asian Dominance)
&nbsp1970s   
Nineteenth World Championships held in Bombay, India The first to be staged in Asia and Japan’s
entry to the international scene
 1952     Hiroji Satoh (JPN) became the first player to win a World Championship when using a racket
covered with thick sponge and is the first non-European winner
Inauguration of the Asian Federation & First Asian Federation Championships
 1953     China entered the World Championships for the first time
Ichiro Ogimura (JPN) is the epitome of Japanese dominance with technological development and
 1954    
physical training
Tomie Okada-Okawa (JPN) is the first female player from Asia to win the World Championships
 1956    
and stops the European reign on world’s female table tennis.
 1957     World Championship changes to a two-year cycle
First European Championships, Budapest, Hungary. The USSR made their entry to the
 1958    
international scene
Rong Guotuan (CHN) is the first Chinese world champion in any sport
 1959    
Racket standardization laws enacted
 1962     First All-Africa Championships, Alexandria, Egypt
 1967     Ivor Montagu retired as President of the ITTF after forty years in office
First Commonwealth Championships held in Singapore
Ping Pong Diplomacy: table tennis played an important role in international diplomacy when
 1971     several teams were invited to China for a series of friendship matches after the 1971 World
Championships. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai: “Your visit to China has opened the door for
people-to-people exchanges between China and the USA.”
Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) wins the men’s singles title and heralds the start of three decades of
 1971     Swedish influence, with top players such as Kjell Johansson, Mikael Appelgren, Erik Lindh, Jan-
Ove Waldner, Jörgen Persson, and Peter Karlsson.
 1973     First World University Championships held in Hanover, Germany
 1977     ITTF received formal declaration of its recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
First European Championships for Paraplegics (wheelchair players) held in Stoke Mandeville,
 1979    
England
 1980     First World Cup held in Hong Kong
 World Championships held in Nova Sad, Yugoslavia. Total triumph for China, whose athletes win
 1981     all of the seven gold medals
Table tennis admitted to the Olympic programme (84th session IOC)
First World Veterans’ Championships held in Gothenburg, Sweden
 1982    
First World Championships for the disabled held in Stoke Mandeville, England
 1985     European Youth Championships held in The Hague, Holland
 Modern Olympics Era (Chinese Reign with few exceptions)
For the very first time, table tennis was featured in the Olympic Games that were held in Seoul,
 1988    
South Korea
Former World champion, Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) became Olympic singles champion and
 1992    
reputedly, the first table tennis millionaire
World Championships held in Tianjin, China. Total triumph for China for the second time, winning
 1995    
seven gold medals
 1996     Beginning of the ITTF Pro Tour, with events taking place all around the world
 2000     After the Olympics in Sydney, the ball size is increased to 40mm for improved television viewing
Game score changed from 21 to 11 points World Championships held in Osaka, Japan. Total
 2001    
triumph for China for the third time, winning all of the seven gold medals
Implementation of the ITTF World Junior Circuit (U18) and World Cadet Challenge (U15
 2002    
continental team competition)
First ITTF World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile
 2003    
Team Championships separated from individual events, held in alternate years
During the Olympic Games in Athens, Table Tennis ranked 5th among all sports for television
 2004    
viewing audience
World Championships held in Shanghai, China. Total triumph again for China, winning all of the
 2005    
five gold medals.
World Championships held in Bremen, Germany. The Chinese athletes complete the collection
 2006    
with two gold medals in the team events
World Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. Total triumph number five for China, winning all of
 2007     the five gold medals
First appearance of table tennis as a compulsory sport at the Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand
China sweeps the Team championships in Guangzhou
 2008    
China wins all the Gold at the Beijing Olympic Games
 2010     Table tennis is part of the first Youth Olympic Games

Before “Table Tennis.”

When the game first started it was called by a number of different names. “Whif
whaf,” “gossamer,” and “flim flam” were commonly used to describe it. In 1901
though, English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd registered one of the more popular
names, Ping-Pong, as a copyright. He later sold the trademark to the Parker Brothers
in the United States. Then in the 1920's the name and the sport were revived in Europe
as table tennis.

Evolution

The turn of the century brought many other refinements to the sport. Players started
using celluloid balls after the English man James Gibb discovered them during a trip
to the United States in 1901 and proved them to be perfect for Ping-Pong. In 1903,
E.C Goode replaced parchment paper and cigar box lids with pimpled rubber on light
wooden “blades” as rackets. And after the world championships in Prague in 1936,
where two defensive players took over an hour to contest one point, the net was
lowered to make the pace of the game-play faster. (In another effort to make the game
more fast paced and entertaining, rules were again changed in 2001- see Rules).

It Spreads

Also around this time, the sport spread to other European countries and to the United
States. Asian countries like China, Korea and Japan are understood to have learnt
about it from British Army officers who held posts in those places. There was an
unofficial world championship held in 1901, but the first official world championship
was held in London in 1927 by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ITTF
was founded in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark,
Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales.

Asian Factor

Although it may seem today that the sport, in the professional realm, is dominated by
Asian countries like China and Korea, it wasn’t always that way. Before the late
1950’s and early 60’s, European players from Hungary especially, but also from
France and Sweden seemed without competition. But in 1952, Japanese player Horoi
Satoh introduced the foam rubber paddle. The paddle made the game faster and
spinning the ball became an even greater factor. Japan became the main winner in the
world competitions in 1960, and by the mid 1960’s China took over the reigns
through to the early 1980’s. Their absolute domination of the sport was finally
subdued with the entering of table tennis into the Olympic Games in 1988 and the
participation of players from Korea and Sweden.

Table Tennis and the Cold War

On April 6th, 1971, the US table tennis team was invited on an all-expenses-paid trip
to play in China. Four days later, nine players, four officials and two spouses crossed
the bridge from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland. They were the first group of
Americans to be allowed into the country since the communist take-over in 1949. One
of the first signs during the Cold war of improved relations between the United States
and China, Time magazine called it “the pong heard throughout the world.” It was
shortly followed with a visit to China by President Nixon.