The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. Led by representatives of Germany, Hungary, and England, the International Table Tennis Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Tennis de Table ) was founded in 1926, the founding members being Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Sweden and Wales. The first international tournament was held in January 1926 in Berlin. Austria, Germany, Hungary and Sweden were charter members.
The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF runs numerous international competitions, including the Table Tennis World Championships that has continued since 1926.
Toward the end of 2000, the ITTF instituted several rules changes aimed at making table tennis more viable as a televised spectator sport. The older 38 mm balls were officially replaced by 40 mm balls. This increased the ball’s air resistance and effectively slowed down the game. By that time, players had begun increasing the thickness of the fast sponge layer on their paddles, which made the game excessively fast, and difficult to watch on television.
On February 29 , 2008 , the ITTF announced several rules changes after an ITTF Executive Meeting in Guangzhou, China with regards to a player's eligibility to play for a new association. The Olympic eligibility of registered players for the 2008 Summer Olympics was not affected and was not applied retroactively. The new ruling is to encourage associations to develop their own players.
There are currently 207 member organizations associated with the ITTF. The seat of the ITTF is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The current president of the ITTF is Adham Sharara, a Canadian.
Role in diplomacy
Unlike the organizations for more popular sports, the ITTF tends to recognize teams from generally unrecognized governing bodies for disputed territory. For example, it currently recognizes the Table Tennis Federation of Kosovo even though Kosovo is excluded from most other sports. It recognized the People's Republic of China in the 1970s and allowed some basic diplomacy which lead to an opening for U.S. President Richard Nixon, called "Ping Pong Diplomacy".
Rules
Player Eligibility
A player is eligible to play for his association by registering with the ITTF. If the player chooses to play for a new association, he shall register with the ITTF, through the new association.
- The player shall not represent the new association before.
- The player will be eligible to play for the new association after three, five, seven years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 15, 18, 21 respectively
- If the player is 21 years of age or older, he will not be registered with the ITTF and not be eligible to represent a new association at World Title events.
Service and point system
The table tennis point system is reduced from a 21 to an 11 point scoring system. This was intended to make games more fast-paced and exciting. The ITTF also changed the rules on service to prevent a player from hiding the ball during service, in order to increase the average length of rallies and to reduce the server’s advantage. Today, the game changes from time to time mainly to improve on the excitement for television viewers. In August 2008, ITTF officially banned the use of speed glue. Speed glue had allowed players to achieve greater spin and speed in their shots.
You may not strike the ball out of the air. The ball has to bounce on the opponents side to be returned.
Contests (Main Draw)
- Men's Singles
- Women's Singles
- Men's Doubles
- Women's Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
Men's Singles Contest
The men's singles contest consists of two male players playing against each other.
Current Men's Singles Competition
Women's Singles Contest
The women's singles contest consists of two female players playing against each other.
Current Women's Singles Competition
Men's Doubles Contest
The men's doubles contest consists of two pairs of male players (total of 4) playing against each other.
Current Men's Doubles Competition
The 2007 World Table Tennis Championship is currently held in Zagreb between May 21 to May 27, 2007 Current champions in the Men's Mixed Doubles Semifinals are:
- Ma Lin/Wang Nan defeat Ko Lai Chak/Tie Yana 12-10, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4
- Wang Liqin/Guo Yue defeat Qiu Yike/Cao Zhen 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3
Women's Doubles Contest
The women's doubles contest consists of two pairs of female players (total of 4) playing against each other.
Current Women's Doubles Competition
Mixed Doubles Contest
The mixed doubles contest consists of two pairs of mixed players (total of 2 women, 2 men) playing against each other.
Current Mixed Doubles Competition
References
- ^ "International Table Tennis Federation". Encyclopædia Britannica . 2008 . http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/291322/International-Table-Tennis-Federation . Retrieved 2008-05-30 .
- ^ New Rule in Favour of the Development of Table Tennis
- ^ McCurry, Justin (2008-05-06). "Ping-pong diplomacy back on table as Chinese premier visits Japan". The Guardian . http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/china . Retrieved 2008-05-30 .
- ^ International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
External links
- Official Homepage of the ITTF
Coordinates: 46°31′56″N 6°35′44″E / 46.532134°N 6.595596°E / 46.532134;
Archive Menu
... and maintain the Laws of Table Tennis and the Regulations for International Competitions; 1.04.01.06 : to publish the standard text, which shall be the English text, of the Rules ...
USA Table Tennis - Rules of the Game
TABLE TENNIS
TABLE TENNIS The Official Special Olympics Sports Rules for Table Tennis shall govern all Special Olympics competitions. As an international sports program, Special Olympics has ...
International Table Tennis Federation - Wikipedia, the free ...
The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF runs numerous international competitions ...
The Rules of Table Tennis ... Explained
These official rules are reviewed every two years by The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) - but if you're a beginner you only need to know a few of the official rules ...
Office of Student Affairs
Rules & Regulations . 1. Laws of the Game . The competition shall be conducted in accordance with the existing laws of the game as approved by the International Table Tennis ...
WPFG ABRIDGED RULES: TABLE TENNIS - Page 1
WPFG ABRIDGED RULES: TABLE TENNIS - Page 1 Jan 2006 GUIDING BODIES World Police and Fire ... (858) 571-9919 FAX: (858) 571-1641 E-MAIL: 4info@cpaf.org International Table Tennis ...
FSU Table Tennis Club - Useful Links
Table Tennis Rules. USATT Table Tennis Rules ... University of Georgia Table Tennis Club; Emory Table Tennis Club; Florida International University Table ...
Paralympic table tennis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Table Tennis in the Paralympics follow the rules set by the International Table Tennis Federation although there are slight modifications for wheelchair athletes.
The International Table Tennis Federation Para Table Tennis Committee
2 First edition: September, 1996 Second edition: August, 1997 Third edition: January, 2002 Fourth edition: February, 2003 Fifth edition: October, 2005 Sixth edition: Jun, 2007 ...