There are a lot of people in this world who are the greatest fans and admirer of the game of Table Tennis. The History of Table Tennis is quite an interesting one. The game is a nice combination of the two great games of Lawn Tennis and Badminton. The game started its journey in the 1880s. At that time, the Lawn Tennis players decided to play their game indoors as the time was the winter. At the beginning, the game was taken as a "parlor game" where anyone could access to a table, paddle and ball. In the ending decade of the 19th century, the game got a lot of popularity in England.

The most popular name of the game, `Ping-Pong` was invented by the English firm J. Jacques & Son in the year of 1901. In the later period, the name was trademarked in the United States by Parker Brothers, the famous board game company. This very name `Ping-Pong` was given as an imitation of the sound made after the ball strikes the table and the vellum bats. After the introduction of the name, the game became a fashionable craze. Before this popular name was given, the game did get a lot of trade names such as `Gossima` and `Whiff-Whaff`. From the 1920`s the sport got the name of Table Tennis in Europe. There are a lot of contemporary references and illustrations have been found that suggest the game was being played, usually in domestic surroundings. People at that time used to play the game after their dinner by making their dinning table as the playground.

As the game started to spread out very quickly, the tournaments were being conducted with over 300 participants from 1901. In the year of 1902, a Japanese university professor visited England and when he returned home, he took the game back to Japan and introduced it his university students. After a very short period of that introduction in Japan, a British salesman, Edward Shires introduced it to the people of Vienna and Budapest. As the game got more popularity, there came the need to have some kinds of rules and regulations for the game. In the year of 1903, a book was published in order to give some detailed technical advice about pimpled rubber, the penholder grip and tactics. During the years of 1905-10, the game got its popularity in Central Europe. At that time, there were some associations as well that came to their existence. `The Ping Pong Association` was formed, but was renamed as `The Table Tennis Association` in 1922. In the same year, an `All England Club` was formed in which some great personalities such as Jack Hobbs, the cricketer, and other famous names of the time from the world of sport were present. The `English Table Tennis Association` (ETTA) was born on April 24, 1927 in order to help the game of Table Tennis to be firmly on the map. At the beginning, the `ETTA` had a membership of only 19 leagues, but at present it has over 300 members and around 75,000 registered players.

After the game revived in England and Wales in the early twenties, some National associations were being formed and standardization of the rules also began, both in Europe and the Far East. The `International Table Tennis Federation` (ITTF) was founded in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales. With these associations being formed, there were some competitions as well that started to be organised. The first World Championships of Table Tennis were held in 1927 that was successfully organised by the newly formed ITTF. At the starting periods of the game, the Hungarian players completely dominated the world. The legendary Victor Barna was the leader of their team and he did inspired and elevated the game to sports status with his extraordinary skill. However, their domination did not last forever as the game spread out to the Asian countries like China and Korea along with Japan and the players from those countries started to adopt the game very quickly. In the year of 1952, Japanese player Horoi Satoh introduced the foam rubber paddle for the first time. This paddle made the game faster and spinning the ball became an even greater factor. For the great flexibility of their body, the Japanese players started to rule the world of Table Tennis and Japan became the major winner in the world competitions in 1960. By the mid 1960`s China took over the reigns from Japan and they ruled through to the early 1980`s. However, when the game was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1988, their absolute domination of the sport finally subdued as the players from Korea and Sweden started to participate.

After the game revived in England and Wales in the early twenties, some National associations were being formed and standardization of the rules also began, both in Europe and the Far East. The `International Table Tennis Federation` (ITTF) was founded in Berlin in 1926 by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Wales. With these associations being formed, there were some competitions as well that started to be organised. The first World Championships of Table Tennis were held in 1927 that was successfully organised by the newly formed ITTF. At the starting periods of the game, the Hungarian players completely dominated the world. The legendary Victor Barna was the leader of their team and he did inspired and elevated the game to sports status with his extraordinary skill. However, their domination did not last forever as the game spread out to the Asian countries like China and Korea along with Japan and the players from those countries started to adopt the game very quickly. In the year of 1952, Japanese player Horoi Satoh introduced the foam rubber paddle for the first time. This paddle made the game faster and spinning the ball became an even greater factor. For the great flexibility of their body, the Japanese players started to rule the world of Table Tennis and Japan became the major winner in the world competitions in 1960. By the mid 1960`s China took over the reigns from Japan and they ruled through to the early 1980`s. However, when the game was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1988, their absolute domination of the sport finally subdued as the players from Korea and Sweden started to participate.

However, as the game`s governing body ITTF was constantly concerned about the fact that the game of Table Tennis should always remain as a contest of human skills, they quickly legislate a bid to control this new development that was seen as equipping players with an unfair advantage in some quarters. They also tried to ensure that though the technological developments added a new aspect to the game, they do not give much advantage to the players so that they become dependant to them. In order to do so, the ITTF carefully laid down some equipment specifications and also enforced them strictly. It controlled the thickness of the sponge and rubber sandwich of the Racquets and this change remains so till today. However, the nature of the game had been changed in a great way and it has established the fast attacking speed and spin style of the modern game.

In today`s world, the game of `Table Tennis` at national and international level demands for the highest degree of physical fitness and mental concentration. These special qualities can be attained only by tough training meant to develop natural skill. It can be said undoubtedly that no sport requires faster reactions and more delicate muscular co-ordination than this. Only the ITTF has the power to make changes to the rules of the sport and it can do so only at its Biennial General Meeting. No rules can be made without the agreement of a substantial majority of the hundred or so member of Associations that represent at the BGM. All these Associations have an equal vote.