Today (August 02, 2012, Thursday) Google is featuring “Table Tennis” by showing the Doodle “London 2012 Table Tennis“. This is the Seventh Doodle for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
The event is taking place from Saturday 28 July to Wednesday 8 August.
Table Tennis joined the Olympic programme in 1988.
Table Tennis is based on the same basic principles as Tennis, but it has a very different scoring system. Table Tennis balls are hollow, made of celluloid and weigh approximately 2.7g.
The court is 18m x 9m; the Table Tennis table itself is 2.74m long and 1.525m wide. It is 76cm above the floor and divided in half by a 15.25cm high net.
Table tennis is played at high speed and players need lightning reactions, incredible agility and high levels of fitness.
Other names for Table Tennis include ‘Ping Pong’, ‘Whiff Waff’ and ‘Flim Flam’, reflecting the sound of the ball being struck and bouncing off the table.
Table Tennis was banned in the former Soviet Union during the early 20th century because the sport was believed to be harmful to the eyes.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games – Table Tennis
2004 Athens Olympic Games – Table Tennis Google Doodle
I just came onto your post and found it quite interesting. I am also associated with table tennis, stiga table tennis, online table tennis, and love to enjoy the stuff on the same as its rarely found on internet. Thanks again for writing such a good post.