History of Table Tennis

Table tennis has several names: Ping-Pong (English), Ping Pang (Philippines), Wiff-Waff (Luxembourg), Gossima (Italy)…

Since ancient times, all kinds of ball games have entertained nobility in many countries: the game of backhand, the palm game, lawn tennis, pelotta (Finland), cricket, golf, bowling, polo …

Around 1880, the first forms of table tennis appeared in England to distract aristocrats when the weather conditions did not allow outdoor sports activities.

In 1886, an English store marketed a mini tennis kit.

In 1890, David Foster invented a game – under the name of table tennis – played on an ordinary table, indoors.

Around 1900, the Englishman James Gibb traveled to the USA and brought back a celluloid ball which replaced the rubber ball. The Ping-Pong name appears at this time because the celluloid ball emits a characteristic noise in contact with the table and then in contact with the racket, then made of stretched skin.  Over time, the evolution of the racket improved performance.

In 1926 the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was founded with only 9 nations. The first World Championships were held that same year in London.

In 1988 in Seoul, the Olympic Games hosted table tennis for the first time.

Around 2014, the plastic ball was invented.

Therefore, table tennis has gone from being a simple parlour game at the end of the 19th century to that of a true Olympic discipline, practiced today by millions of players around the world.