Sarhadchi Arena will host the table tennis competitions which will see male and female athletes compete in singles and team events across six days. Table Tennis, one of the fastest and most thrilling sports in the world, is played by opponents hitting a small ball back and forth towards each other using a table tennis racket.

The game takes place on a hard table, with each player’s territory defined by a net placed in the middle of the table. Thanks to its blend of power, speed and skill, table tennis is the biggest participation sport in the world. The sport originates in Great Britain, where upper-class British families developed it in the 19th century as an after-dinner game. In the sport’s early days, cigar boxes were used as rackets and books were used as nets. However, both the equipment and the rules had developed considerably by the time the International Table Tennis Federation, the international governing body for the sport of Table Tennis, was founded in 1926. Table tennis made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1988, and has remained part of the Olympic Games.

Facts and figures:

• The first World Championships took place in 1926 in London, England
• The 1936 World Championships in Prague featured the longest rally, with the first point taking over two hours to play
• After the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the table tennis ball size was increased to 40mm in diameter for improved television viewing