A Comprehensive History of Table Tennis

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.
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
with thanks to the late Ron Crayden (ENG)
and his book, The Story of Table Tennis - the first 100 years
with updates by the ITTF Museum
• 1880s Adaption of lawn tennis to the dining table with improvised equipment
• 1890s Several patents registered in England and the USA
Manufactured sets produced under trade names such as Gossima, and Indoor Tennis, with Lawn Tennis style rules
• 1900 Introduction of celluloid balls to replace rubber and cork ones. The celluloid ball had the perfect bounce, and the game became a huge success
• 1901 Table Tennis Association and rival Ping Pong Association formed in England; amalgamated in 1903
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
• 1922 Revival of the game in Europe, though laws varied
Establishment of standard laws of the Game in England
• 1926 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) initiated in Berlin
First World Championships held in London, England. ITTF Constitution adopted, along with first set of standardized Laws.
Ivor Montagu (ENG) elected first President (Chairman)
• 1920s –
 1950s Classic Hard Bat Era (European Dominance)
• 1926–
 1931 Maria Mednyanszky (HUN) wins the World Championships five times consecutively. Mednyansky wins 18 gold medals over-all
• 1930–
 1935 Victor Barna (HUN) becomes five times world champion and is runner-up 1931 losing the final against his compatriot Miklos Szabados. Barna wins a record 22 gold medals at world championships during his career, 40 medals overall
• 1936 Tenth World Championships held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The longest rally took place, the first point taking over two hours
• 1939 First continental association formed: South America
First World Championship held outside Europe: Cairo, Egypt
• 1950–
 1955 Angelica Rozeanu-Adelstein (ROU) wins the World Championships six times in a row and is the last non Asian to win the female singles title until today
• 1950s –
 1970s Age of Sponge Bat and Technology (Beginning of Asian Dominance)
• 1952 Nineteenth World Championships held in Bombay, India The first to be staged in Asia and Japan’s entry to the international scene
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
• 1954 Ichiro Ogimura (JPN) is the epitome of Japanese dominance with technological development and physical training
• 1956 Tomie Okada-Okawa (JPN) is the first female player from Asia to win the World Championships and stops the European reign on world’s female table tennis.
• 1957 World Championship changes to a two-year cycle
• 1958 First European Championships, Budapest, Hungary. The USSR made their entry to the international scene
• 1959 Rong Guotuan (CHN) is the first Chinese world champion in any sport
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
• 1971 First Commonwealth Championships held in Singapore
Ping Pong Diplomacy: table tennis played an important role in international diplomacy when 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.”
• 1971 Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) wins the men’s singles title and heralds the start of three decades of 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)
• 1979 First European Championships for Paraplegics (wheelchair players) held in Stoke Mandeville, England
• 1980 First World Cup held in Hong Kong
• 1981 World Championships held in Nova Sad, Yugoslavia. Total triumph for China, whose athletes win all of the seven gold medals
Table tennis admitted to the Olympic programme (84th session IOC)
• 1982 First World Veterans’ Championships held in Gothenburg, Sweden
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)
• 1988 For the very first time, table tennis was featured in the Olympic Games that were held in Seoul, South Korea
• 1992 Former World champion, Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) became Olympic singles champion and reputedly, the first table tennis millionaire
• 1995 World Championships held in Tianjin, China. Total triumph for China for the second time, winning 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
• 2001 Game score changed from 21 to 11 points World Championships held in Osaka, Japan. Total triumph for China for the third time, winning all of the seven gold medals
• 2002 Implementation of the ITTF World Junior Circuit (U18) and World Cadet Challenge (U15 continental team competition)
• 2003 First ITTF World Junior Championships in Santiago, Chile
Team Championships separated from individual events, held in alternate years
• 2004 During the Olympic Games in Athens, Table Tennis ranked 5th among all sports for television viewing audience
• 2005 World Championships held in Shanghai, China. Total triumph again for China, winning all of the five gold medals.
• 2006 World Championships held in Bremen, Germany. The Chinese athletes complete the collection with two gold medals in the team events
• 2007 World Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. Total triumph number five for China, winning all of the five gold medals
First appearance of table tennis as a compulsory sport at the Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand
• 2008 China sweeps the Team championships in Guangzhou
China wins all the Gold at the Beijing Olympic Games
• 2010 Table tennis is part of the first Youth Olympic Games