Ananova:

A guide to the Olympic sport of Table Tennis.

Technical details

Players toss a coin to decide who will serve. The serve changes after every five serves. Points are scored by the player who wins each rally. The game is won by a player reaching 21 points, unless the game goes to 20 all, in which case the winning player must be two points clear.

Matches are determined by the best of three sets. At the knock-out stage, it is the best of five sets.

Over the years, there have been many changes to the bat. These have included: the sponge layers between the blade and rubber; use of different rubbers the same colour, which gave rise to players 'twiddling' the bat below the surface of the table and concealing the type of spin. Although 'twiddling' is now permitted at the Games, the bats have different coloured rubbers on each side. But they must be at least 85% natural wood.

The latest advances is the use of fast glues, which remain wet, because they are used to fix the rubber and are designed to give greater speed. However, there is a ban on the most toxic glues being used.

Tables measure 2.74m in length, 1.525m wide and 0.760m high. The table surface must be dark coloured and is usually blue or green. The net must be 15.25cm above the table. The ball is made of celluloid and weighs 2.5gm.

Olympic history

Table tennis first appeared in the Olympic programme at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

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