World Table Tennis Championship

The premier competition for professional table tennis players is ... the World Table Tennis Championship.

Alongside the Olympic Games, the World Championship is where every table tennis player wants to be ... and perform at their best in order to claim the title of World Champion.

Well, since 2000, the World Table Tennis Championship has been split into two separate competitions.

Team events are now held in even numbered years, whilst individual events (singles and doubles) are held in odd numbered years.

So the next World Championship team event will be held from 25 March to 1 April 2012 in Dortmund, Germany, whilst the next individual events will be held in Paris, France in 2013.

Zhang Jike
Photo courtesy of ITTF

Zhang Jike of China is the current holder of the individual men's title following his victory in Rotterdam, Netherlands in May 2011 when he won his first men's singles crown (the St Bride Vase).

He will hold the title until the next individual events take place in Paris, France in 2013.

Ding Ning
Photo courtesy of ITTF

In the 2011 women's event, it was Ding Ning of China who took the title of World Champion when she beat compatriot Li Xiaoxia to win The Geist Prize in a closely contested final.

Ding will hold the title until the next individual events take place in Paris, France in 2013.

Ma Long and Xu Xin
Photo courtesy of ITTF

In the 2011 men's doubles event, it was Ma Long and Xu Xin of China who took the title of World Champions when they beat compatriots Chen Qi and Ma Lin to win The Iran Cup.

Ma Long and Xu Xin will hold the title until the next individual events take place in Paris, France in 2013.

Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia

In the 2011 women's doubles event, it was Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia of China who took the title of World Champions when they beat compatriots Ding Ning and Guo Yan to win The W.J.Pope Trophy.

Guo Yue and Li Xiaoxia will hold the title until the next individual events take place in Paris, France in 2013.

Zhang Chao and Cao Zhen
Photo courtesy of ITTF

In the 2011 mixed doubles event, it was Zhang Chao and Cao Zhen of China who took the title of World Champions when they beat compatriots Hao Shuai and Mu Zi to win The Heydusek Cup.

Zhang Chao and Cao Zhen will hold the title until the next individual events take place in Paris, France in 2013.

The 2010 World Team Table Tennis Championships took place in Moscow, Russia from 23-30 May 2010.

China were the clear favourites to retain their men's team title which they won in 2008 in the city of Guangzhou, China, and they duly obliged, beating Germany 3-1 in a closely contested final to retain The Swaythling Cup.

China - World Team Champions

Singapore women caused the biggest upset of the century when they beat China in the women's team event final at the 2010 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow, Russia on 30 May 2010.

China were the clear favourites to retain their women's team title, having held the title since 1993, but were beaten 3-1 by Singapore who claimed The Corbillon Cup for the first time.

Singapore - World Team Champions

The history of table tennis goes back to the late 1800s, but it was in 1926 that the modern game of table tennis began and the inaugural World Championship took place that year in London, England.

Hungarian Roland Jacobi took the men's singles title in that first year, beating another Hungarian (Zoltan Mechlovits) in the final as European players dominated the championship.

However, the frequency and format of the world championship has changed through the years.

Although the World Championship went from strength to strength - being held annually until 1939 - the second world war prevented it from being played in 1940 ... and for the following six years.

However, by 1947 the time was right to recommence, and it once again became an annual event.

The Hungarian and English players dominated the World Championship for the first 25 years and it wasn't until 1952 that the European stranglehold was finally broken.

Japan's Hiroji Satoh (pictured right) astonished the world with his unexpected victory in the men's singles that year - in part due to the unique sponge racket he used to bamboozle his opponents.

But it wasn't until 1953 in Bucharest, Romania that China first entered the World Championships as they became full members of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

At the World Championship's Annual General Meeting in Tokyo, Japan in 1956, the ITTF voted in favour of changing it to a biannual event.

By starting this change with effect from the 1957 event in Stockholm, Sweden, they also ensured that it wouldn't clash with the Olympic Games held in the even numbered years.

The 1959 World Table Tennis Championships were held in Dortmund, West Germany and that year also saw the first Chinese winner of the men's singles title as Jung Kuo-Tuan beat Hungarian Ferenc Sido in the final.

From that point on, China and Japan started to dominate world table tennis, consistently taking the men's singles title.

It was only Stellan Bengtsson (pictured right) of Sweden in 1971, and Istvan Jonyer of Hungary in 1975 who stopped the men's singles title from going to the Far East between 1959 and 1987.

However, during the 1990s, the European players once again dominated the world game with Jan-Ove Waldner, Jorgen Persson and Jean-Philippe Gatien becoming World Champions in 1989, 1991 and 1993, and Jan-Ove Waldner winning his second title in 1997.

Starting in Kuala Lumpur in 2000, the World Table Tennis Championship was split into two separate competitions.

The team events are now held in even numbered years, whilst the individual events (singles and doubles) are held in odd numbered years.

So the next World Championship team event will be held from 25 March to 1 April 2012 in Dortmund, Germany, whilst the next individual events will be held in Paris, France in 2013.