page_title: Table tennis
section_title: Competitions
hierarchical_section_title: Table tennis / Competitions
caption_attribution_description: _DSC5469
context_page_description: Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table, and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
  Table tennis is governed by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation, founded in 1926. ITTF currently includes 226 member associations. The table tennis official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook. Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988, with several event categories. From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008, a team event has been played instead of the doubles.
context_section_description: Competitive table tennis is popular in East Asia and Europe, and has been gaining attention in the United States. The most important international competitions are the World Table Tennis Championships, the Table Tennis World Cup, the Olympics and the ITTF World Tour. Continental competitions include the following: 
  European Championships
  Europe Top-16
  the Asian Championships
  the Asian Games
  Chinese players have won 60% of the men's World Championships since 1959; in the women's competition for the Corbillin Cup, Chinese players have won all but three of the World Championships since 1971. Other strong teams come from East Asia and Europe, including countries such as Austria, Belarus, Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan.
  There are professional competitions at the clubs level; the respective leagues of Austria, Belgium, China (China Table Tennis Super League), Japan (T.League), France, Germany (Bundesliga), and Russia are examples of the highest level. There are also some important international club teams competitions such as the European Champions League and its former competitor, the European Club Cup, where the top club teams from European countries compete.
caption: Li Jiao and Li Jie, representing the Netherlands, finished in the top 2 at the 2015 European Games. To date, all six women's singles medalists in the history of the European Games have been Chinese-born.
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