The Beginning
Ping pong started in England towards the end of the 19th century. It evolved from the popular game “Shuttlecock”, which is our modern day Badminton. In the 19th century, it wasn’t uncommon for upper-middle class Victorians to turn their dining room tables into miniature versions of the traditional lawn tennis playing field.
What’s in a Name?
There were many names for table tennis in its early days. “Whif whaf,” “gossamer,” and “flim flam” were popular terms. In 1901, English manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd registered, Ping-Pong, as a copyright. He later sold the trademark to the Parker Brothers in the United States.
It Changes
The turn of the century brought many other refinements to table tennis. Players began to use celluloid balls after an English man named James Gibb discovered them during a trip to the United States in 1901. In 1903, E.C Goode designed the popular table tennis paddles we use now. He invented the pimpled rubber on wooden paddles. The net became smaller and lower to the table after the world championships in Prague in 1936. Two defensive players took over an hour to contest one point, so they lowered the net to make the pace of the game-play faster.
It Conquers
Also around 1936, the sport spread to other European countries and to the United States. Asian countries like China, Korea and Japan learned about it from British Army officers during the Cold War. The first official world championship was held in London in 1927 by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ITTF was founded in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales.
Current Day
This brings us to where we are today. Table tennis is enjoying wild popularity in several countries.
