Major Table Tennis Tournaments

Table tennis tournaments (sometimes incorrectly called ping pong tournaments) take place all around the world, so there's bound to be a table tennis tournament somewhere near you right now.

So whether you're hoping to play table tennis or watch table tennis, I've got some great information here for you.

There are plenty of TT tournaments around the world for both amateur and professional table tennis players alike, but I'll be concentrating here on the professional table tennis tournaments.

However, if you're looking for information about organising your own table tennis tournament ... then I'll be covering that too.

Table tennis is one of the largest participation sports in the world so inevitably you'll find that there are table tennis tournaments taking place all around the globe, whether they be local, regional, national, continental or international tournaments.

And since table tennis became part of the Olympic Games in 1988, the sport is becoming even more popular every year.

So let's take a look at the major tournaments for professional players, and then we'll take a look at how to organise a successful tournament and how to organise a table tennis league.

The two biggest TT tournaments for the top professional table tennis players are the Olympic Games and the World Championships.

The World Table Tennis Championships started in 1926 in London, England with Hungarian Roland Jacobi taking the inaugural men's singles title, whilst Yoo Nam Kyu became the first winner of the Olympic Games Table Tennis title when it became an Olympic Sport in his home country of South Korea in 1988.

The top international table tennis players also play in many other international events throughout the year such as the World Cup, the World Clubs Championships, ITTF Pro Tour Events and the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals.

Professional table tennis players also compete in their own continental events - the African Championships, the Asian Championships, the European Championships, the Latin American Championships, the North American Championships and the Oceania Championships.

The list of competitions just goes on and on.

Some of the other significant tournaments are the Pan-American Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Mediterranean Games and the Arab Championship.

If you get the chance to go to any major table tennis event I would urge you to go.

They provide great inspiration for any player, or prospective player, as you get to see the best players in action, close up.

I've been fortunate enough to attend some of these big events and in particular I remember the World Table Tennis Championships in Manchester, England in 1997 when the Swedish table tennis legend Jan-Ove Waldner won the mens singles title without losing a single game. Awesome.

You can also buy videos and DVDs of many of these top TT tournaments and although it's never as good as being there yourself, they're well worth watching as you can learn so much about the subtleties of this great game.

Another benefit of going to these table tennis competitions is that you get to see many of the table tennis manufacturers and have the chance to look at their table tennis equipment and try out different rackets (paddles / bats) etc.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) controls the world game and therefore they set the official table tennis rules and regulations.

As in many sports, the best men and women earn their living as professional table tennis players, by competing in world ranking and other events throughout the year.

The results from these events enables the ITTF to produce a monthly world ranking list (sometimes known as a rating list).

The World Table Tennis Championships is considered to be the most important event by some players, whilst the Olympic Games is favoured by others because it's only held once every four years.

However ... if you're a mere mortal like me, and you don't play the game like the Chinese table tennis professionals do, there'll be local and regional competitions taking place near you which you can play in.

I've played in lots of table tennis tournaments over the last 40 years, and I've also organised quite a few local events as well.

During that time, I've discovered how to organise a successful tournament and table tennis league and you may be interested in some of my top tips (coming soon).