Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world in terms of player numbers, as well as being one of the newest of the major sports.

(Ping Pang Qiu) is the official name for the sport in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
(Takkyu) is the official name for the sport in Japan.
(Tak-ku) is the name for the sport in Korea.

Table tennis is a sport where two players hit a ball back and forth to each other, with a racket on a table, in a manner similar to tennis. The rules are slightly different, but the concept is essentially the same. Table tennis is an Olympic sport, "ping-pong" is the recreational version of the same sport. Spin, speed and strategy play an important part in competitive table tennis matches. The speed of the ball can vary from slow spinny serves to fast smashes that travel as fast as 110 km/h.[citation needed]

The playing surface is a 9 ft × 5 ft × 30 in high (2.7 m × 1.5 m × .762 m) hard rectangular table with the surface usually colored green, dark blue, or black. A 6 inch (15.2 cm) tall net divides the table in half (much like a tennis court) and is strung to extend 6 inches (15.2 cm) beyond the table on each side.

The paddles, also known as bats or rackets, are usually about 10 inch long, with a hitting surface that is approximately 6 in × 6 in (15.8 cm × 15.8 cm), although the rules specify no limitations in size or shape. The paddle is covered with pimpled rubber on one or both sides. Modern table tennis paddles are usually covered with rubber, and may have the pimples pointing outwards or inwards, and a thin layer of sponge between the plywood and the rubber.

Spin plays a large part in the modern sport of table tennis, and the composition of the rubber and the combination of sponge and rubber is designed to maximize the amount of spin and speed a player can impart to the ball. Other technological improvements include the use of carbon or other synthetic layers as part of the blade to increase the sweet spot or the stiffness of the blade. The ball used in table tennis is a 40 mm diameter ball, made of celluloid, completely hollow and lightweight. A three star rating on a ball usually implies a top quality ball, in bounce and roundness.

Play is fast and demands possibly the quickest reactions of any sport. A skilled player can impart spin to the ball which makes its bounce difficult to predict or return with confidence. Spin combined with speed makes table tennis an exciting sport to play as well as to watch. The difference between Olympic level play and the average home recreational player is tremendous. Often a proper foundation of table tennis skills is required to understand how competitive players can do what seems impossible to the untrained eye.

The winner is the first to score 11 points, with each player alternating serves every two points. At 10-10 (or deuce) the players alternate with every serve. The winner is the first person to gain a clear two points advantage over his opponent. The 11 point game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) change which occurred in 2001. The 21 point game is still widely played at recreational level. All games played at national level and at international tournaments (ITTF) are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches).