Table Tennis is a sport with origins you may not expect. Despite its dominance by Asian competitors, Table Tennis was initially invented in Victorian England. It is derived from Tennis, which had become a nationally beloved sport and had been adapted into a tabletop game. While the game is also known by the name Ping Pong, it is officially known as Table Tennis.

Table Tennis can be played by either two players or two teams of four players. A game is split into three sets with the winner being the first player to win two. To win a set, a player must reach eleven points and be two or more points clear of their opponent.

A point is mainly obtained in one of three ways. Firstly, a player will win a point if they can strike the ball into the opponent’s half and have the ball bounce twice without their opponent being able to return the ball. To win the point, the player must hit their first shot on the table, the edges also count. The second is for an opponent to hit their ball into the net. If a ball clips the net but is still able to reach the opponent’s half of the table, the ball will still be in play. Thirdly, if your opponent is unable to land the ball back onto the table, they will forfeit the point. A server can also lose a point if they don’t hit the ball on their side of the court first during the service, or if the ball is handled incorrectly during the serve. In a doubles match, players must hit the ball consecutively. If a team player hits the ball twice in a row, they will lose the point on behalf of the team.

Despite inventing the game, Great Britain has never won a medal in Table Tennis at the Olympic Games. They competed most recently in the 2020 Olympic Games, where they were represented by Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Tin-Tin Ho

Scottish Student Sport holds both a Table Tennis League and the Table Tennis Championships at the Scottish Student Games.

For more information, click this link: https://www.scottishstudentsport.com/sports/table-tennis/

If you’re interested in joining a Table Tennis club, click the following links:

Edinburgh College: https://twitter.com/ecsportsunion?lang=en

Heriot-Watt University: https://sportsunion.site.hw.ac.uk/tabletennis/

RGU: https://www.rguunion.co.uk/getinvolved/societies/tabletennis/

University of Aberdeen: https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/club/tabletennis/

University of Edinburgh: https://www.eusu.ed.ac.uk/organisation/shinty/

University of Glasgow: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/sport/whatson/club/tabletennis/

University of St. Andrews: https://table-tennis.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/

University of Stirling: https://www.stirlingstudentsunion.com/sportsunion/clubs/tabletennis/

University of Strathclyde: https://www.strathunion.com/sports-union/club-sport/club/7844/

UWS: https://www.facebook.com/teamUWSonline/

Sports Chair: Edmund Lau – scotstutabletennis@gmail.com

Governing Body: Table Tennis Scotland – https://tabletennisscotland.co.uk/

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