Table Tennis | Ping-Pong
Table tennis, also popularly called ping-pong, is a table sport where players use paddles (rackets) to hit a lightweight polymer ball over a central net. Played on a hard table surface that provides a uniform bounce to the ball, table tennis is a fast paced game that requires players to react quickly to the services and returns made by their opponents.
Points are score when a player does not return the ball across the net after a single bounce has occurred on their side of the table or if they themselves do not land the ball on the opposite surface. Ping-pong is a worldwide sport that can be played competitively in both two player (singles) or four player (doubles) formats.
Ping Pong (table tennis) was invented as a parlor game trademarked by the English firm of J. Jacques and Son in the 1880s. The game quickly grew in popularity and spread to the United States, Europe, and Asia over the next few decades.
Ping pong (table tennis) is played by first serving the ball across the net while bouncing it once on the service side of the table. Points are scored when a player fails to return the ball across the net after only one bounce on their side of the table. Service alternates between players after every two points. Ping pong games are commonly played to 21 or 11 points.
Ping pong (table tennis) games are played to either 21 points in casual games, or 11 points in competitive games. Games must be won by two points.
