International Table Tennis Federation

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. Led by representatives of Germany, Hungary, and England, the International Table Tennis Federation ( _fr. Fédération Internationale de Tennis de Table) was founded in 1926 [cite encyclopedia |last= |first= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=International Table Tennis Federation |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/291322/International-Table-Tennis-Federation |accessdate=2008-05-30 |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |date=2008 |year= |month= |publisher= |volume= |location= |id= |isbn= |doi= |pages= |quote= ] . The first international tournament was held in January 1926 in Berlin. Austria, Germany, Hungary and Sweden were charter members.

The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF runs numerous international competitions, including the Table Tennis World Championships that has continued since 1926.

Toward the end of 2000, the ITTF instituted several rules changes aimed at making table tennis more viable as a televised spectator sport. The older 38 mm balls were officially replaced by 40 mm balls. This increased the ball’s air resistance and effectively slowed down the game. By that time, players had begun increasing the thickness of the fast sponge layer on their paddles, which made the game excessively fast, and difficult to watch on television.

On February 29 2008, the ITTF announced several rules changes after an ITTF Executive Meeting in Guangzhou, China with regards to a player's eligibility to play for a new association. The Olympic eligibility of registered players for the 2008 Summer Olympics will not be affected and will not be applied retroactively. The new ruling is to encourage associations to develop their own players. [ [http://www.ittf.com/World_Events/press_release.asp?ID=14865&PT_Title=&s_Year=& New Rule in Favour of the Development of Table Tennis ] ]

There are currently 205 member organizations associated with the ITTF. The seat of the ITTF is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The current president of the ITTF is Adham Sharara, a Canadian.

Role in diplomacy

Unlike the organizations for more popular sports, the ITTF tends to recognize teams from generally unrecognized governing bodies for disputed territory. For example, it currently recognizes the Table Tennis Federation of Kosovo even though Kosovo is excluded from most other sports. It recognized the People's Republic of China in the 1970s and allowed some basic diplomacy [cite news |first=Justin |last=McCurry |authorlink= |author= |coauthors= |title=Ping-pong diplomacy back on table as Chinese premier visits Japan |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/china |format= |work=Guardian |publisher= |location= |id= |pages= |page= |date=2008-05-06 |accessdate=2008-05-30 |language= |quote= |archiveurl= |archivedate= ] which lead to an opening for U.S. President Richard Nixon, called "Ping Pong Diplomacy".

Rules

Player Eligibility

A player is eligible to play for his association by registering with the ITTF. If the player chooses to play for a new association, he shall register with the ITTF, through the new association.

*The player shall not represent the new association before.
*The player will be eligible to play for the new assocication:*3 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 15 when registered;:*5 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 18 but at least 15 years of age when registered;:*7 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 21 but at least 18 years of age when registered:*If the player is 21 years of age or older he will not be registered with the ITTF and will not be eligible to represent a new association at World Title events.

ervice and point system

The table tennis point system is reduced from a 21 to an 11 point scoring system. This was intended to make games more fast-paced and exciting. The ITTF also changed the rules on service to prevent a player from hiding the ball during service, in order to increase the average length of rallies and to reduce the server’s advantage.

Contests (Main Draw)

* Men's Singles
* Women's Singles
* Men's Doubles
* Women's Doubles
* Mixed Doubles

Men's Singles Contest

The men's singles contest consists of two male players playing against each other.

[http://www.ittf.com/competitions/_groups_matches.asp?grp=&Event_Type=msp&Competition_ID=1625 Current Men's Singles Competition]

Women's Singles Contest

The women's singles contest consists of two female players playing against each other.

[http://www.ittf.com/competitions/_groups_matches.asp?grp=&Event_Type=wsp&Competition_ID=1625 Current Women's Singles Competition]

Men's Doubles Contest

The men's doubles contest consists of two pairs of male players (total of 4) playing against each other.

[http://www.ittf.com/competitions/matches_per_round.asp?competition_ID=1625&rnd=128&s_Event_Type=MQ Current Men's Doubles Competition]

The 2007 World Table Tennis Championship is currently held in Zagreb between May 21 to May 27, 2007 Current champions in the Men's Mixed Doubles Semifinals are:
* Ma Lin/Wang Nan defeat Ko Lai Chak/Tie Yana 12-10, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4
* Wang Liqin/Guo Yue defeat Qiu Yike/Cao Zhen 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3

(Source: http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf.asp?category=General)

Women's Doubles Contest

The women's doubles contest consists of two pairs of female players (total of 4) playing against each other.

[http://www.ittf.com/competitions/matches_per_round.asp?competition_ID=1625&rnd=64&s_Event_Type=WQ Current Women's Doubles Competition]

Mixed Doubles Contest

The mixed doubles contest consists of two pairs of mixed players (total of 2 women, 2 men) playing against each other.

[http://www.ittf.com/competitions/matches_per_round.asp?competition_ID=1625&rnd=128&s_Event_Type=QXD Current Mixed Doubles Competition]

References

External links

* [http://www.ittf.com/ Official Homepage of the ITTF]