London 2012 Olympic Games

The 2012 Olympic Games are being held in London, England from 27 July to 12 August 2012 and I'm sure we'll see some fabulous table tennis at the ExCeL London.

The table tennis events, which comprise men's singles, women's singles, men's team event and women's team event, start on Saturday 28 July 2012 and finish on Wednesday 8 August 2012.

Unfortunately, not all the best players will be taking part.

For the London 2012 Olympic Games table tennis events, there's a limit on the total number of players who can take part - 86 men and 86 women.

And each National Olympic Committee (NOC) can only have a maximum of three men and three women competing (with a maximum of two men and two women in the singles events).

So some of the stronger table tennis nations, like China, who have several players in the top 20 of the World Ranking list, will only be able to send a maximum of three men and three women to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games.

However, this means that the rivalry between the various nationalities will be more intense, and should provide us with some excellent matches.

Table tennis players who compete in the Olympic Games are representing their National Olympic Committee rather than their country (for example, competitors from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will represent Great Britain), and they have to meet certain eligibility criteria before they can be considered.

So let's take a look at how table tennis players qualify.

There's a complicated system of qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games table tennis events, but without getting too bogged down with the full details, here's a brief summary ...

86 men and 86 women will qualify for the Olympic Games as follows:

For each gender...

• The top 28 players on the ITTF World Ranking list as at 16 May 2011 (with a maximum of two players per NOC)
  
  
• 40 players who qualify via continental qualification events held between 1 June 2011 and 22 April 2012 (Africa 6, Asia 11, Europe 11, Latin America 6, North America 3 and Oceania 3)
  
  
• The top 2 players at the Final World Qualification Tournament who have not already qualified (this number may be increased - see below*)
  
  
• One player by invitation of the IOC/ANOC/ITTF
  
  
• One player from the host NOC
  
  
• Up to 14 players (Team Quota) to enable NOCs that qualify for the team event, but do not otherwise qualify enough players, to form that team

But remember, each NOC can only have a maximum of three men and three women competing (with a maximum of two men and two women in the singles events).

*The Final World Qualification Tournament may qualify more than two players if all of the Team Quota (14 places) are not required.

The complicated system of qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games table tennis events will finally be over by 30 June 2012.

That is the date that the ITTF have to confirm the final allocation of all quota places, whilst 9 July 2012 is the deadline for the London 2012 Organising Committee to receive entry forms.

So players will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games between 16 May 2011 and 30 June 2012.

You can follow which players have qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games table tennis events here.