Key facts

Venue: ExCeL
Dates: Thursday 30 August – Saturday 8 September 2012
Medal events: 29
Athletes: 276 (174 men, 102 women)

Table Tennis has come a long way from its origins in the late nineteenth century, when it developed as an after-dinner game played by upper-class English families. A permanent part of the Paralympic programme since the first Games in 1960, the sport blends power, speed, skill and subtlety – no wonder it is the biggest participation sport in the world.

The basics

Table Tennis is based on the same basic principles as Tennis, but it has a very different scoring system. At the Paralympic Games, matches are played over the best of five games, with the first player to 11 points (by a margin of two clear points) winning each game. The programme includes individual and team events for both standing players and wheelchair athletes.

At London 2012, all individual events will begin with a group qualification stage followed by a knockout competition, with athletes progressing through the draw until the finals. The team events will be conducted according to a direct knockout format.

A total of 11 different classifications are used in Table Tennis at the Paralympic Games. Classes 1-5 cover wheelchair athletes, classes 6-10 cover standing athletes, and class 11 covers athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Paralympic Table Tennis, past and present

Table Tennis has been part of the Paralympic programme since the first Games at Rome in 1960 (28 years before the sport made its Olympic debut). Events for standing players were first included at the Toronto 1976 Games, while athletes with cerebral palsy took part for the first time at Moscow in 1980.

Jargon buster

- Loop: An attacking shot, often played with plenty of topspin.
- Penhold: A type of grip where the racket is held as if it was a pen.
- Let: As well as service lets (similar to Tennis), a let may be called if play is interrupted – for example, by a ball from another table entering the playing area. If this happens, the rally is replayed.
- Time-out: Each player may claim a time-out of up to one minute during an individual match.

See the London 2012 Paralympic Games competition schedule

Get involved

Table tennis is fast, fun, and easy to learn. The British Table Tennis Association for People with Disabilities is always on the lookout for new players. More information on the sport – including details of regional associations, leagues and clubs – can be found on the WheelPower website, and you can also learn more about how to get involved on the Parasport website.

The international governing body for the sport, the International Table Tennis Federation, is another good resource.

See also