Table Tennis

                                                                                                Table tennis

     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. Thegame takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. 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 tragectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage. 

          History

The next major innovation was by James W. Gibb, a British enthusiast of table tennis, who discovered novelty  balls on a trip to the US in 1901 and found them to be ideal for the game. This was followed by E.C. Goode who, in 1901, invented the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled, or stippled, rubber to the wooden blade. Table tennis was growing in popularity by 1901 to the extent that  tournaments were being organized, books being written on the subject,{7} and an unofficial world championship was held in 1902. In those early days, the scoring system was the same as in lawn tennis.{10}

        Table     

The table is 2.74 m (9.0 ft) long, 1.525 m (5.0 ft) wide, and 76 cm (2.5 ft) high with any continuous material so long as the table yields a uniform bounce of about 23 cm (9.1 in) when a standard ball is 

dropped onto it from a height of 30 cm (11.8 in), or about 77%.{26}{27} The table or playing surface is uniformly dark coloured and matte, divided into two halves by a net at 15.25 cm (6.0 in) in height. The ITTF approves only wooden tables or their derivates. Concrete tables with a steel net or a solid concrete partition are sometimes available in outside public spaces, such as parks.{28}

Gameplay

Starting a game

According to ITTF rule 2.13.1, the first service is decided by lot,[34] normally a coin toss.{35} It is also common for one player (or the uunder the table, allowing the other player to guess which hand the ball is in. The correct or incorrmpire/scorer) to hide the ball in one or the other hand, usually hidden

ect guess gives the "winner" the option to choose to serve, receive, or to choose which side of the table to use. (A common but non-sanctioned method is for the players to play the ball back and forth three times and then play out the point. This is commonly referred to as "serve to play", "rally to serve", "play forserve", or "volley for serve".)