Table tennis

Table tennis (ping-pong) is an indoor game. The ITTF and India's TTFI were both founded in 1926; it has been in the Asian Games since 1958 and the Olympics since Seoul 1988. Games went from 21 to 11 points in 2001.

Table 2.74 m x 1.525 m, 76 cm high, dark and matt with white lines; a ball dropped from 30 cm should bounce about 23 cm. Net 15.25 cm high. Ball 40 mm, 2.7 g, white or orange. Racket any size, shape or weight, but the blade must be flat and rigid and mostly natural wood.

Serve changes every 2 points (every point from 10-all). In doubles the receiver becomes the server and the server's partner the receiver. Ends change each game and at 5 points in the last game.

Expedite system: after 10 minutes of a game (unless 18 points are scored), each player serves one point in turn and 13 good returns by the receiver win the point. A game is to 11 with a 2-point lead; a match is the best of an odd number of games.

Grips: penhold (Chinese and Japanese players) and shakehand (most common). Strokes are offensive (drive, loop, smash) and defensive (push, block, chop); the forehand push is the most used.