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            Table Tennis

            Buy Tickets Here
            Riocentro - Pavilion 3
            Part of the Paralympic Games since Rome 1960, table tennis brings together devilish spin and incredible reflexes in a spellbinding spectacle. There are 29 medal events, for individuals and teams.
            Spectator's Guide - Table Tennis
            • Table Tennis

            About

            About

            Aim of the game

            Following the same rules as the Olympic tournament, each player must use a bat to hit the ball over the net onto the opponent’s side, and wins a point if the other player fails to return it

            Why should you watch this?

            Prepare to be inspired by the agility and precision of the players during the quick-fire matches in which extraordinary things can happen in the blink of an eye

            Venues

            Riocentro - Pavilion 3

            International Federation

            ITTF

            Paralympic debut

            Rome 1960

            Rules
            • Backspin

              Backspin

              Striking sharply under the ball with the aim of slowing it down and making it bounce as low as possible off the playing surface

            • Drive

              Drive

              Hard, attacking stroke in which the ball is hit across its topside with the bat held at an acute angle

            • Forehand

              Forehand

              Shot performed with the palm of the bat-holding hand facing the opponent

            Impress your friends

            • Table tennis was invented in England around 1880, an after-dinner game played by wealthy families as an alternative to lawn tennis

              Table tennis was invented in England around 1880, an after-dinner game played by wealthy families as an alternative to lawn tennis

            • The earliest equipment was improvised, with piles of books used as the net, a ball fashioned out of a champagne cork and the lids of cigar boxes used as bats

              The earliest equipment was improvised, with piles of books used as the net, a ball fashioned out of a champagne cork and the lids of cigar boxes used as bats

            • Para-table tennis first appeared in the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games, almost 30 years before its debut as an Olympic sport in Seoul 1988

              Para-table tennis first appeared in the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games, almost 30 years before its debut as an Olympic sport in Seoul 1988

            • At the Beijing 2008 Games, Brazil won its first and only para-table tennis medal when Welder Knaf and Luiz Algacir took silver in the doubles

              At the Beijing 2008 Games, Brazil won its first and only para-table tennis medal when Welder Knaf and Luiz Algacir took silver in the doubles

            • Britain’s David Wetherill lost to Germany’s Thomasz Kusiak at London 2012 but his ‘superman’ shot (see video above) went viral and made him a star of the Games

              Britain’s David Wetherill lost to Germany’s Thomasz Kusiak at London 2012 but his ‘superman’ shot (see video above) went viral and made him a star of the Games

            • Jochen Wollmert won the Baron de Coubertin Fair Play Award for comforting Britain’s Will Bailey, who was distraught after losing to the German in the London final

              Jochen Wollmert won the Baron de Coubertin Fair Play Award for comforting Britain’s Will Bailey, who was distraught after losing to the German in the London final

            • Poland's Natalia Partyka has won three Paralympic gold medals, and is one of only 10 athletes worldwide to compete in both Paralympic and Olympic competitions

              Poland's Natalia Partyka has won three Paralympic gold medals, and is one of only 10 athletes worldwide to compete in both Paralympic and Olympic competitions

            • Table tennis is the most popular racket sport in the world, with over 300 million players across five continents

              Table tennis is the most popular racket sport in the world, with over 300 million players across five continents

            • One of the longest-running Paralympic sports, table tennis has been a feature of every edition of the Paralympic Games to date

              One of the longest-running Paralympic sports, table tennis has been a feature of every edition of the Paralympic Games to date

            • Athletes can use orthopaedic braces, artificial limbs, crutches, trainers with a heel uplift to offset a difference in leg length, and a strap or binding to secure the bat

              Athletes can use orthopaedic braces, artificial limbs, crutches, trainers with a heel uplift to offset a difference in leg length, and a strap or binding to secure the bat

            Service

            Paralympic table tennis is bound by the same rules as Olympic, except that from a seated player’s service the ball has to cross the baseline on the opponent’s side.

            The server alternates every two points, or after each point if the score reaches 10-10. In doubles games, players don’t need to take turns returning the ball.

            The ball is in play as long as it hits the playing surface on the opponent’s side, even if it hits the line or the table’s edge. After a service, the ball must bounce off the opponent’s side of the table before it is returned.

            Scoring

            Matches consist of five sets of 11 points. Players score a point when the opponent:

            - hits the ball but misses the playing surface

            - does not reach the ball after it is hit over the net to his/her side of the table

            - touches the table with the free hand

            - plays the ball into the net

            Equipment

            Always made of wood, the bat is covered with a maximum of 4mm of rubber on each side (one smooth, one bobbled) to help the player apply spin to the ball. The rubber must have different colours on each side – one red, one black.

            The plastic ball is 40mm in diameter and weighs about 2.7 grams.

            Stats

            Top Medalists

            Men
            kor
            Kyung Mook Kim             		4 2 6 12
            ger
            Jochen Wollmert             		5 2 3 10
            fin
            Matti Launonen             		2 4 4 10
            Women
            chn
            Xiaoling Zhang             		7 0 2 9
            bel
            Ingrid Borre             		3 2 2 7
            fra
            Thu Kamkasomphou             		2 1 4 7

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