Table tennis became a medal Olympic sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul

A modern table tennis match at the elite level lasts on the average about 30 minutes

The speed of the ball can very from very slow to as fast as 112km per hour

Players use a ‘racket’ to play table tennis, however if you live in the USA you would call it a ‘paddle’ and if you lived in Europe you would call it a ‘bat’. It is also sometimes called a ‘blade’. You choose!

Early table tennis paddles were normally made of cork, cardboard, or wood, and covered with cloth, leather or sandpaper

Table tennis is the most popular racquet sport in the world

Opposition shall be awarded one point should a player place their free hand on the table!

The nickname for table tennis is ‘ping pong’

Racket grips can be classified by two main styles – the Penhold and the Shakehand