THE ORIGINS OF TABLE TENNIS

It was in England, in the late 19th century, that table tennis made its appearance. Table tennis,
also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a racket sport derived from tennis but
distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court
on which players stand Taking inspiration from lawn tennis, the first players belonged to
middle-class Victorian society. The first game would have been played using a champagne cork
as a ball, cigar boxes as bats and books for the net. At that point, table tennis was seen as a mere
distraction for the wealthy classes. In 1890, Englishman David Foster, attracted by its wide
appeal, introduced the first game of tennis on a table. In 1897, the first national championships
were organized in Hungary. Following a trip to the United States, in 1901 James Gibb brought
back the first celluloid ball, which was a lot lighter than the rubber balls. A year later, in 1902,
E.C. Gould, a British enthusiast of the game, introduced the first bats covered in rubber and
rubberized pimples. It was game on for the history of table tennis!