With 40 million competitive players worldwide, table tennis is
the world's largest participation sport. The game, also called
Ping-Pong, Whiff-Whaff, Flim-Flam and Gossima, became an
official Olympic sport in the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, Korea.
Rules of the Game There are men's and women's single and team
events at the Olympics. Singles matches are played over the best
of seven games, with one-minute breaks between games. The first
player to score 11 points with a two-point margin wins each
game. Team matches are played over the best of five games,
consisting of four singles matches and one doubles match. All
events are single-elimination tournaments. Table tennis is a
fast-paced game. Players can hit the ball at speeds of more than
93 miles per hour. Players also outwit their opponents with
strategic shots called the Kill, the Hit and the Chop.