Why Is The Table Tennis Often Called Ping Pong?

Table tennis is one of the most played indoor games. Often this favourite game is known or called Ping Pong. We are going to see why is table tennis, often called ping pong? We will dig deep into the history of the sport to find evidence and see how and why both names got associated with each other. Here you can see the guide how to select a ping pong table right now as well and play there whenever you want.

Reasons for table tennis often being called Ping Pong

To speak the truth, there’s no particular historical evidence that may suggest as to why table tennis is called Ping Pong. It may have been associated through the journey of the game development from the medieval age to modern-day.

Hence, reading history may reveal some shocking information that you won’t believe.

The first name

It was first introduced in China and then gradually spread in Europe and the United States. There in China, many claims that “Ping-pang” is the real name that transformed into Ping pong. In the 8^th century, this game was spreading in Asian countries. That time, players used Chinese fruit named “Lichee.”

Many people also called it “Whiff-whaff” due to the sound generated during the game. Many Europeans had the belief that European army officers were the inventor of table tennis. They used wine corks as the balls.

This indoor game had got an official recognition of the competitive sport in 1927. In 1926, ITTF was established who later on developed the game rules and took initiatives to make it a worldwide phenomenon.

The emergence of John Jaques & Son Ltd

Day by day, it became so popular that business people had started selling ping pong accessories. That time its name was “Gossima.” But already “Ping pong” was a more familiar name from 1901.

An English company named John Jaques & Son Ltd. had appeared to grab the market for table tennis. Yet they wanted to use “Ping pong” instead of table tennis. So, they thought of issuing “Ping pong” as their trademarked item. There were some specific reasons behind this. Their products were unique, classy, and bit pricy than contemporary table tennis products. They processed the whole situation as when someone thinks of ping pong or table tennis, people will choose ping pong, and it did happen.

The Growing Popularity

This game didn’t grow as Ping pong overnight. It took many years to present it as a perfect game. James Gibb observed that novelty celluloid balls are suitable for this game. Earlier in the 1950s, plastic balls took the place of celluloid balls.

According to America’s National Sporting Goods Association, people loved to play it regularly. They played this game in their apartment or at the picnic, get together, and other activities. However, Asian countries like China, Singapore, Japan, and other parts of the world started following ping pong games in a massive number. If you compare this game with golf or basketball, it will appear as a more reasonable and acceptable game.

Some fun facts about Table Tennis that you didn’t know

Here are some fascinating facts about Ping Pong or table tennis that you probably didn’t know:

In 1971 Ping Pong diplomacy took place. It happened when China invited players from the UK, USA, Canada, and Columbia to play ping pong after six years cut off from the whole world.
Since 1981, Chinese players have won 116 titles out of possible 138 championships around the world. It shows their total dominance in the sport.
Did you know that there’re 1600 varieties of rubbers that are used in table tennis? What’s more, these 1,600 variations are authorized by ITTF.
In the 2016 Rio Olympic, around 552.3 million of the audience watched table tennis from the stadium and at home via live telecast. This overwhelming number made it the most popular indoor sports game.

Conclusion

This indoor game is considered as the largest participation sport by the International Olympic Committee. It became the official part of the Olympic event in 1988. Around 40 million people play this game throughout the world.

And when we talk about the naming, we hope you have realized why Ping Pong got association with table tennis and almost became an exceedingly popular name. Playing ping pong is almost you need a ping pong table but that are extremely expensive other options to select a conversion top that are great things.