MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

SPORTS

TABLE TENNIS

Table tennis was invented in England during the Victorian era. Similar to tennis, play involves hitting a ball back and forth over a net with a racket until the other player or team fails to return it. It can be played with two people, called a singles match, or with four players, two on each team, for a doubles match. The main difference between the two sports is that table tennis is played on a 9x5-foot table, while tennis is played on a 78x27-foot court. While table tennis and ping pong are essentially the same and both terms have been used to describe the play, it is generally accepted that table tennis is the formal, competitive version, while ping pong, whose name was later trademarked, refers to casual recreation.

In 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) was formed in London to oversee the sport's rules and regulations, and the first World Table Tennis Championship was held there later that same year. The governing organization for the U. S., the United States Table Tennis Association, also known as USA Table Tennis (USATT), formed in 1933. North American Table Tennis (NATT), founded in 1998 and based in Rockville, Montgomery County, organies major events for the USATT, including the U.S. Open Championships, the U.S. Open Teams Championships, the National Championships, and the Olympic Team Trials. In 2000, NATT formed the North American Table Tennis Tour in an effort to bring professional table tennis events all across the country, including the North American Teams Championships. First held in Baltimore in 1998, the North American Teams Table Tennis Championship has generally been held in Maryland over the years. The next Championships will taken place at the Baltimore Convention Center on November 27-29, 2026.

Local interest in table tennis is fostered by the Maryland Table Tennis Center in Gaithersburg and the Howard County Table Tennis Center in Jessup.

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