Table tennis is an individual sports game, which is made according to certain rules by two (singles) or four (doubles) players, a racket and a ball on a tennis table divided into two equal halves by a net. The game continues to win one of the opponents 11 points with an advantage of at least 2 points.
Follis – analogy of table tennis Source: «Theory and methods of table tennis»
Unfortunately, historians and researchers do not have reliable facts of the origins of this sport game. The found historical documents are very contradictory: the sources mention England, China and Japan.
There is a version that table tennis appeared at the end of the 19th century thanks to one extravagant lover of lawn tennis and rainy English weather. As it is difficult to play on wet lawns, he suggested playing the game indoors. Over time, they began to play on two tables with a net stretched between them.
Jeu de paume (“palm game”) Source: «Theory and methods of table tennis»
At the end of the 19th century John Jacques (John Jacques) calls the game "ping-pong" (because of the sound made by the balls: "ping" when a tennis ball stroke back with a racket, "pong" when it hits the table).
The game was spread by English sailors across the countries and continents.
A new stage in the development of table tennis begun in 1891. James Gibbs replaced the rubber and cork balls with hollow celluloid balls, ideal for playing ping-pong. The low weight of the ball caused the transformation of the rackets. Rackets with strings were replaced by ones made of plywood with short handles.
In 1900, table tennis was recognized as a sport.
In 1902, the English athlete E. Good used a racket with a porous rubber layer to play a dynamic game during the table tennis competitions. He is rightly considered the author of the racquet modifications who made a significant contribution to the development of this sport.
In 1908, table tennis was included in the London Olympics programme.
The “great-grandfather” of the modern table tennis table: table with nets for the Gossima. The second half of the 19th century. Source: http://ttfr.ru
In January 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was established in Berlin. Due to its efforts the world table tennis championship was held in the same year. It has to be noticed that I. Montagu, chairman of the federation, personally sponsored this championship.
A sponge-covered racket was invented in the early 1950s.
In 1957, the European Table Tennis Union was established (European Table Tennis Union − ETTU).
«Ping-Pong» by Lucien Davis (1901) Source: «Theory and methods of table tennis»
In 1961, the Japanese athletes became the ancestors of the new “top spin” stroke (the second name is “the devil's ball from Tokyo”). Due to the use of the “top-spin” element, table tennis has become one of the most technically challenging sports.
The enormous popularity and widespread development of table tennis in the world caused the inclusion of this sport to the Olympics programme.
Table tennis in the BSSR began to develop after the Great Patriotic War. In 1955–1956 the first Republican Table Tennis Competitions were held.
The development of table tennis in the Byelorussian SSR
Famous trainers of the BSSR:
Y. K. Kultiyasov, V. S. Metelitsa, V. G. Bolikov, V. G. Prokhorov, R. I. Harlap (Kulitskaya), A. L. Weinstein, Z. M. Shanyukevich and E. A. Zub , N.F. Ioffe and V.A. Yefremov.
Famous athletes of the BSSR:
L. Korotky, V. Zlenko, V. Shevchenko, A. Mukhomorova, G. Yakovtseva, I. Minkevich, V. Sinkevich, A. Petkevich, R. Ioffe, T. Reshetnik, I. Yavorovskaya, A. Skuratovich.
In the period from the 90s to the present time high performance of the Belarusian table tennis athletes at the World and European Championships are associated with the names of Vladimir Samsonov, Victoria and Veronika Pavlovich, Evgeny Schetinin, Tatyana Kostromina, Pavel Platonov, Alexandra Privalova, etc., as well as their coaches A. N. Petkevich, T. G. Petkevich and V. A. Efremova.
Belarus Table Tennis Federation is aimed at development table tennis in the Republic of Belarus.
Website: http://www.bttf.by
Silver medal:
Vladimir Samsonov (singles)
Honored Master of Sports, multiple winner and medalist of European Championships; three-time World Cup winner; 27 ITTF WORLD TOUR titles holder; winner of the 1997 ITTF WORLD TOUR Grand Final; first world No. 1 in 1998; participant of six Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016); 4th place at the 2016 Olympics.
Reference list. Download full text PDF
Books:
- Барчукова Г. В. Теория и методика настольного тенниса : учеб. для студентов вузов / Г. В. Барчукова, В. М. Богушас, О. В. Матыцин ; под ред. Г. В. Барчуковой. – М. : Академия, 2006. – 528 с.
- Захаров, Г. В. История настольного тенниса в Белоруссии (50–70-е годы) / Г. В. Захаров. – Минск : МЕТ, 2012. –125 с.
- Спортивные и подвижные игры : курс лекций / Витеб. гос. ун-т. – Витебск : Изд-во ВГУ, 2007. – 198 с.
Electronic resources:
- Белорусская федерация настольного тенниса [Электронный ресурс] . – Режим доступа: http://www.bttf.by. – Дата доступа: 19.01.2019.
- История развития настольного тенниса в Мире [Электронный ресурс] // ФНТР : Федарация наст. тенниса России. – Режим доступа: http://ttfr.ru/rus/world_table_tennis_history. – Дата доступа: 19.01.2019.
