Watching the 2012 Olympic Games: Table tennis
How it worksA total of 172 athletes, equally split between men and women, will compete for the four medals on offer. Two medals will go to the winners of the singles and two to the winners of the doubles. The format for each competition is a straight knockout
Who’s hot
China have dominated the table tennis circuit since the sport was first added to the Olympic calendar in 1988, winning 20 of the 24 medals on offer. However, Timo Boll of Germany is currently No1 in the world ahead of Wang Hao and the Beijing Olympian Ma Lin in the men’s rankings. In the women’s game, Guo Yan and Li Xiaoxia are neck and neck at the top
Home hopes
Paul Drinkhall is Britain’s No1 and a former triple European champion, but will face an uphill battle, as he is ranked 106th in the International Table Tennis Federation’s rankings. Table tennis in general has suffered due to funding cuts of 50% in 2009
The road to London
- 8-15 May 2011 Individual world championships, Rotterdam
- 25 March-1 April 2011 Team world championships, Dortmund
The stage
The ExCeL near London City Airport. The centre will host 143 sessions across a variety of sports and at the completion of the Games will maintain its role in sport by being one of Europe’s largest exhibition spaces
What they say
“For other nations who have the money it doesn’t matter if they lose – the funding is not a problem. For us a loss now means there is a bigger chance of the funding going down”
Paul Drinkhall, British No1
Did you know?
Table tennis was banned in the former USSR in the early part of the 20th century as authorities believed it was harmful to the eyes
Competition dates
28 Jul–8 Aug 2012
Ticket prices
£20-£125
Tempted to be there? Sign up now
You can apply for Olympic tickets until 26 April. Visit: www.tickets.london2012.com
Tickets to watch Olympic events are not sold on a first-come-first-served basis – applications can be submitted at any stage in the 42-day period from 15 March to 26 April. There is no advantage in applying on the first day or the last day
Online payment is exclusively by Visa debit card, credit card or pre-paid card. Alternatively you can submit a paper application form which is available in Lloyds TSB branches and pay by cheque or postal order as well as Visa
Customers may not get all the tickets they apply for owing to high demand. Once an application is processed, customers cannot change their orders and must have the funds to pay for the tickets they have been allocated
This is a fair process and a fair ballot will be run for oversubscribed events where demand exceeds supply
The application process for tickets for the Paralympic Games will begin on 9 September 2011 and tickets for the London 2012 Festival (part of the Cultural Olympiad) in October 2011
