One event that slipped past us took place in London at the start of the year and that was the World Championship of Ping Pong, held at Alexandra Palace. Sixty four of the World’s top Ping Pong players did battle for a two-day tournament, live on Sky Sports for prize money worth $100000. One thing that made this event special was the fact that the players used traditional sandpaper rackets.
One of the other key things at the World Championships was that T3 was unveiled. What is T3 you ask?
This is three-a-side ping pong played with a revolutionary circular table. The triples (3-a-side) version of ping pong, was invented in New Zealand in 1979; six players compete in two teams of three around a specially shaped table. Its unusual circular design and specially constructed nets are the foundations of a game which is fast and fun.
The idea behind Triples ping pong is that it offers players a far greater range of shot directions and lengths than the conventional game with increased scope for spectacular rallies. Apparently the table can even accommodate 12 players. The organisers say that three-a-side with one ball in play is one option, or six-a-side with two different coloured balls in play is another. We would like to see that!
The game was showcased in London at the weekend by six of Britain’s best players at Parliaments Hills in what is believed to have been the world first outdoor tournament.
The people behind T3 claim the game is going from strength to strength along with the revival of standard table tennis. This new version of the game is suitable for all ages, all abilities and T3 tables are also suitable for players in wheelchairs. The table is the same length as in standard ping pong, is foldable and portable since the legs are mounted on wheels.
Sadly the game is unlikely to see an additional “Ping” added to accommodate the third player, as trademark law is likely to prevent that.
In the early days rackets were often simply pieces of parchment stretched across a frame, and as a result of the sound generated when a shot was played the game earned its first nicknames of “wiff-waff” and “ping-pong”.
The name “ping-pong” was widely used before a British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. The name “ping-pong” then came to be used only for the game played using the rather expensive Jaques’s equipment, other manufacturers forced to call it table tennis. Not surprisingly a similar situation arose in the United States, when Jaques sold the rights to “ping-pong” as well as the name to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers then enforced their trademark for the name in the 1920s forcing the various associations change their names to “table tennis” instead of the more common term. This is probably why the new variant has had to be named T3.
