A Basic Table Tennis Rule - Expedite

How long can a game of table tennis last?

What happens if both players keep the ball in play? Can they continue playing forever? Do the rules of table tennis say anything about this?

Well, yes, the rules of table tennis do cover this eventuality, and since the change to the 11up scoring system in 2001, there's now a time limit of 10 minutes per game.

But before we go any further, let's take a quick look at the history of table tennis to see how we've arrived at this basic table tennis rule.

Although the history of table tennis can be traced as far back as the late 1880s, the game we know today started in the 1920s when Englishman Ivor Montagu and other Europeans formed the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1926.

But it didn't take long before problems started to arise with the basic table tennis rules.

Many players had adopted a defensive style of play and their games were taking longer and longer to reach a conclusion.

In fact, this caused a major controversy at the 1936 World Championships when the first point in a match between Poland and Romania lasted for over two hours!

Because games were becoming longer and longer, a basic table tennis rule was created to place a time limit of 20 minutes on games in World Championship events.

At the same time, all countries affiliated to the ITTF were asked to pursue measures to discourage their own players from using the defensive tactic of "pushing".

The basic table tennis rule at the time (1935) was Law 5 which stated that the player who first scored 21 points was the winner, unless both players had reached 20 points, when a two point lead was required.

But for World Championship events, a new rule was added to the laws of the game, over-riding and additional to Law 5.

It said ...

Provided that, where a game be unfinished 20 minutes after its commencement, the Umpire shall award the game to the player (or pair) leading, unless the two players (or pairs) shall be at equality, when he shall announce without interrupting play: "Five minutes more - the next point wins" and award the game to the player (or pair) scoring the next point.

If no further point shall have been scored, and the score thus remains at equality, after the further five minutes period thus permitted, the Umpire shall terminate the game, awarding it to neither player (or pair).

In the case of a game being terminated by the time limit as above, where this is not a deciding game, the match shall continue with the next game.

Also, if a match did not have a clear winner, both players would be disqualified from that event. And, if the event was a team event, each player would also be liable to additional penalties as determined by a disciplinary committee.

So, clearly this was a serious issue!

However, it was to be another 25 years before further changes were made to the basic table tennis rules.

With effect from the start of the 1961/62 table tennis season the following wording was added to Law 5 ...

If a game be unfinished 15 minutes after its commencement, the Umpire shall cause the game to be interrupted by declaration of a "let" and the players shall be notified before the next service that the game in progress will proceed under the following rule:

The player shall be permitted to hit the ball 12 times excluding the service stroke, and if all such strokes are safely returned by the opponent, one point shall be scored by the opponent.

The server for the point interrupted shall serve for the first point after the interruption, and thereafter the service shall alternate after each point whilst this rule is in force.

Where, in a match, this rule has been applied in one game, it shall be applied 10 minutes after commencement in each of the subsequent games of the match.

So the new rule was that games would last a maximum of 15 minutes before the Expedite rule came into operation.

After 15 minutes, the game would be interrupted. It would then restart with the onus effectively placed onto the server to play offensively.

This was because the new rule stated that if the receiver made 13 good returns, he would win the point.

And, in order to reduce the time taken to play subsequent games, a maximum of only 10 minutes was allowed before the Expedite rule was enforced in those games too.

The 1965 revision applied only to games which were played after the Expedite rule had already been enforced in an earlier game.

The relevant wording was ...

Where, in a match, this rule has been applied in one game it shall be applied 10 minutes after immediately at the commencement in each of the subsequent games of the match.

This meant that once the Expedite rule had been used in one game, all subsequent games in a match would use the Expedite rule from 0-0.

So each player would have one serve each, and if the receiver made 13 good returns, the receiver would win the point.

Subsequently, a number of countries suggested that, if both players agreed, the Expedite rule should come into force at the start of a match, rather than wait 15 minutes for the inevitable to occur between two defensive style players.

However, amending this basic table tennis rule did not receive the approval of the ITTF at that time, so no changes were made.

But in 1997, the Expedite law was slightly modified again. This time it was to make it clear that it could not come into operation if both players or pairs had scored at least 19 points.

The Expedite rule was amended again when the scoring system changed from 21up to 11up in 2001.

Because games would now be shorter, the time limit was reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

The relevant wording was ...

The Expedite rule was modified and restructured in 2010.

The wording was amended to clarify that the expedite system will not come into operation if 18 points have been scored. Previously the rule stated that the score had to be 9-9.

And the opportunity was taken to tidy up and restructure the other wording too. So now the basic table tennis rule for how long a game can last is as follows...