When I picture a rousing game of ping pong, I usually imagine the venue to be held in someone's basement..or now as a college student, I more commonly picture red solo cups involved. But what is known as a fun past time for most Americans, has produced gold-medal Olympic athletes in China.
Here is a link to an Olympic women's single match
Here is a link to an Olympic men's double match
As you can see, this is much different than the leisurely game you grew up playing at a friend's house. An athlete of this caliber is able to hit the ball at speeds of 80 mph giving it 100 rotations per second.
"It’s all about spin—backspin, sidespin, corkscrew and topspin—and the best players keep opponents guessing with different combinations of shots every point. Though it’s not uncommon to see players standing as far as 20 feet behind the table, the smartest adhere to closer-lower-faster rule: the closer you are to the table, the lower you catch the ball off the bounce and the faster you hit it, the less time you’ll give your rival to respond to your shot.” -New York Times
China's Dominance
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Olympic sweep for men's singles at Beijing Olympics
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Anything but a sweep for China when competing in international tournaments is an upset.
The Chinese have won 16 of a possible 20 gold medals since the games inception as an Olympic sport in Seoul in 1988. The majority of the top international table tennis players are Chinese and end up facing each other toward the end of the elimination rounds. Both the men's and the women's teams have showed a strong presence.
Women's team
-won 11 of the 12 women's table tennis Olympic gold medals since 1988
-won 14 of the 15 World singles titles
-won every World Championship since 1975 (with the exception of 1991)
Men's team
-won 20 World titles since 1970 (including five of last six)
-won last four World Championships
-won seven of 10 Olympic gold medals
**China completed a sweep in every category from both the men's and women's teams at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (Demick).
Why China?
The sport of table tennis fits perfectly with China's culture and history making it clear why they have emerged as a powerhouse. The game does not require a strong and physically large physique that is uncommon among the Chinese population; it is more about precision and patience. It is also a sport that requires little equipment and space allowing people of all economic backgrounds to participate in a heavily populated nation. Table tennis tables are frequently found in parks, train stations and other waiting areas due to their compact size (Hays).
Table tennis quickly rose to the top of the ranks as the national sport of China. Despite limited means of viewership, it always managed to reach the general public.
"I can remember when I was 3, we had a black-and-white TV, with three channels...And we had Ping-Pong.” -New York Times
Table tennis stars such as Wang Hao and Wang Liqin have reached celebrity status in China flaunting extravagant lifestyles similar to American professional athletes.
The ITTF and media rights
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the official governing body of the sport. TMS International is the media and marketing partner of the ITTF and has done a spectacular job of broadening viewership of the sport.
A recent slew of deals included signing a television rights deal with Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, NHK.
Statistics reveal an increase of viewership for table tennis as showcased with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. 48.2% of the Chinese population tuned into a table tennis event for a minimum of 15 consecutive minutes. In addition, the Women's Team Final ranked fifth in the top 20 viewing figures for the entire Olympics while the Men's Team Final ranked seventh (Hays).
The ITTF website also features live streaming footage and highlight reels of top table tennis athletes and events.
Print
Several table tennis trade publications are printed and distributed not just in China but throughout the globe in countries such as Sweden, England, France and Germany (All About Table Tennis).
The ITTF publishes four installments of "Table Tennis Illustrated" annually. It is covered in five different languages and focuses on promoting the sport through high quality pictures, background stories and news
Table tennis publications even exist in America as a picture of the cover of "USA Table Tennis" is shown to your right. It is produced by the USATT, the governing body of table tennis in the US, and they create six editions annually.
Events and Sponsorships
The link below shows the calendar of events for table tennis tournaments that count for World rankings and qualifiers
Seven of this year's events are being played in China including two on the ITTF Pro Tour, two on the Junior Circuit and three World events.
Volkswagen, an automotive dealer, has been the Chinese table tennis sponsor since 2003. They continue to show full support this year as they are scheduled to host three events on the ITTF World Tour and the World match. The money from Volkswagen's sponsorship deal creates more opportunities and events for the Chinese table tennis athletes (All About Table Tennis).
The next big thing
China is always looking to stay one step ahead of the game. How they dominate the table tennis field is how they look to control other areas including technology and innovation.
The Chinese have created the first robots who have the ability to play table tennis. Take a look at the link below to check out "Wu" and "Kong" in action during their debut just one month ago.
Wu and Kong were created by a team of engineers at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou of the Zhejiang province in Southeast China. The 5'3", 121 lb. machines have 30 individually-powered joints allowing them to reach a full range of motion to assist with their serves, forehand and backhand swings. Inside of their eyes are cameras that take 120 images per second giving the robots 50 to 100 milliseconds to determine where the ball is bouncing and how to respond to it (Roach).
Architecture
China has plans to build the first ping-pong shaped hotel.
References
All About Table
Tennis. (2011). Table Tennis Magazine.
Retrieved October 22, 2011 from
http://www.allabouttabletennis.com/table-tennis-magazine.html
Demick, B.
(2008. August 16). Their Eyes are Always
on the Ball. Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/16/world/fg-pingpong16
Hays, Jeffery
(2011). Table Tennis in China.
Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1015&catid=12&subcatid=77
Kreiger, D.
(2011, May 13). Governing Body Tries to
Loosen Chinese Grip on Table Tennis. Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/sports/14iht-PINGPONG14.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Roach, J.
(2011, October 17). Pingpong-playing
robots debut. Retrieved October 22, 2011 from http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/17/8367833-pingpong-playing-robots-debut
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