Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
There are four Olympic table tennis competitions: men’s singles and teams and women’s singles and teams. The maximum number of players who can take part are 86 men and 86 women - with not more than three men and three women from each National Olympic Committee.
In singles all events follow a knockout (single elimination) format with each match consists of the best four out of seven games to at least 11 points, where the winner must win by at least two points. Players have two serves in a row, except when the points score reaches 10 all, after which the serve alternates each point at the end of each set the players will swap sides.A team match at the Olympic competition is called a “contest”. Each contest consists of four singles matches and one doubles match. All singles matches and doubles match in a contest are the best of five, with no other differences from men’s and women’s singles event.
The teams competition is held in 2 stages. The first stage is group round robin; the second stage is knock-out. In the first stage, the 16 participating teams will be divided into four groups. The group round robin system will be used to decide the places in each group. In the second stage, the winning teams of each group shall play-off, in a knockout semi-final format for the gold and silver medals. The second placed teams of each group and the semi-final contest losers shall play-off for the bronze medal.
