Table tennis, first played in England in the late 19th century, gained international recognition with the founding of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF); the first official world championship was held in London in 1927. It only became an Olympic sport at Seoul 1988.
The sport has also played a notable role in China's international relations: in 1972, the American table tennis team was invited to China, an event that later became known as "ping-pong diplomacy."
Table tennis, which helped pave the way for a political thaw between China and the US, is hugely popular across Asia and especially in Europe, with growing interest in the US too. While China dominates most international competitions and especially the Olympics, world-class players also come from Germany, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Sweden, Japan and Korea.
Table tennis was for a long time China's most-played sport, with an estimated 300 million recreational players even today — narrowly overtaken by basketball, which has just slightly more. China is considered a global powerhouse especially in badminton, diving, gymnastics, and above all table tennis.
In mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, the sport's official name is "ping pang qiu" (乒乓球). Of the roughly 300 million people who play it, about 4 million compete in tournaments — a huge number compared with roughly 4,000 tournament players in the US.
Widely regarded by experts as the greatest table tennis player of all time, Deng Yaping (邓亚萍) is a household name. Born in Zhengzhou in 1973, she won four Olympic gold medals and, by the time she retired at 24, had also won 18 world titles and spent roughly 8 years (1990–1997) ranked world No. 1. A few years later she was voted China's athlete of the century.
China's most successful current player is Wang Liqin, born in Jiangsu in 1978 and widely considered to have the best forehand drive in the world. As of the ITTF rankings updated June 6, 2007, he sat at world No. 1, ahead of fellow Chinese players Ma Lin and Wang Hao. Wang began playing at age 6 and was called up to the national team at 15 in 1993; in 2007 he won the World Championship in Zagreb.
Six of the top 10 men's world rankings, and five of the top women's world rankings, are held by Chinese players — which makes speculating about which country will dominate table tennis at Beijing 2008 almost beside the point.
Chinese medalists in table tennis since 1988:
2004 Athens:
Chen Qi (doubles, M, gold), Guo Yue (doubles, W, bronze), Ma Lin (doubles, M, gold), Niu Jianfeng (doubles, W, bronze), Wang Hao (singles, M, silver), Wang Liqin (singles, M, bronze), Wang Nan (doubles, W, gold), Zhang Yining (singles, W, gold; doubles, W, gold)
2000 Sydney:
Kong Linghui (singles, M, gold; doubles, M, silver), Li Ju (doubles, W, gold; singles, W, silver), Liu Guoliang (doubles, M, silver; singles, M, bronze), Sun Jin (doubles, W, silver), Wang Liqin (doubles, M, gold), Wang Nan (singles, W, gold; doubles, W, gold), Yan Sen (doubles, M, gold), Yang Ying (doubles, W, silver)
1996 Atlanta:
Deng Yaping (singles, W, gold; doubles, W, gold), Kong Linghui (doubles, M, gold), Liu Guoliang (singles, M, gold; doubles, M, gold), Liu Wei (doubles, W, silver), Lu Lin (doubles, M, silver), Qiao Hong (doubles, W, gold x2; singles, W, bronze/silver), Qiao Yunping (doubles, W, silver), Wang Tao (doubles, M, silver/gold; singles, M, silver), Ma Wenge (singles, M, bronze)
1992 Barcelona:
Chen Zihe (doubles, W, silver), Deng Yaping (doubles, W, gold; singles, W, gold), Gao Jun (doubles, W, silver), Lu Lin (doubles, M, gold), Ma Wenge (singles, M, bronze), Qiao Hong (doubles, W, gold; singles, W, silver), Wang Tao (doubles, M, gold)
1988 Seoul:
Chen Jing (singles, W, gold; doubles, W, silver), Chen Longcan (doubles, M, gold), Jiao Zhimin (doubles, W, silver; singles, W, bronze), Li Huifen (singles, W, silver), Wei Qingguang (doubles, M, gold)
