With speeds reaching over 100 miles an hour, table tennis is the world's fastest racket sport.
Table tennis is a sport of precision and fast reactions. It works your heart and lungs, reflexes and co-ordination.
It's been an Olympic sport since 1988 and a Paralympic sport since 1960. Table tennis is now the second-most practised sport in the world, with an estimated 300 million players.
Table tennis has come a long way since its beginnings as a form of after-dinner entertainment for upper-class Victorians. Cigar boxes were used as rackets, a line of books served as a net and the ball was a knot of string or a rounded-off champagne cork.
Despite its elitist origins, table tennis is now one of the most accessible sports.
"If you can pick up a bat, you can play," says Richard Pettit of the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA). "Table tennis is a game for life, no matter what your age or ability.
"If you start to get competitive and fancy more than a game with friends, there is a large regional and national scene with games played in local village halls right up to international sporting complexes."
Matches are played as the best of five or seven games, with each game going up to 11 points and the winner needing a two-point advantage to win.
Tuning in
To widen the sport's appeal and to make it more spectator friendly, the ball size has been increased from 38 to 40mm.
A unique aspect of this fast-paced game is the amount of spin put on the ball, so much so that competitive players tune their rackets to their own playing style.
"The tuning is done using sponges, rubbers and glues that are applied to the blade of the racket," says Richard.
Find out more about table tennis on the English Table Tennis Association website.
