Okay, let me be upfront: I’m not a big fan of Olympic table tennis. It’s not going to be at the top of my list to watch during the games. Most sports I respect, even if they don’t interest me. I acknowledge that table tennis requires an enormous amount of skill and agility. The sport is also quite different from when it was first considered for Olympic inclusion in 1936, as it now requires more athleticism. Nevertheless, I struggle with table tennis being an Olympic sport, and I’ll tell you why.
While table tennis is played on a recreational level worldwide, the number of countries who have players good enough to be on the competitive level is quite small. When I looked at the current world rankings for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), 20 of the top 30 men were from Asian countries, with the top five, all from China. For women’s current rankings, 26 of the top 30 are from Asian countries, with China in the top four slots. Of the 76 medals awarded in Olympic table tennis (since 1988), 41 have been awarded to China, and another 17 to South Korea. Disparity in sports has become a hot topic in Olympic Sports. In 2010, IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that there was too much disparity in women’s hockey. He said that North American countries dominate the sport and alluded to the possibility of it being removed from the Olympics. Women’s softball has already been taken out of the Olympics for this reason, and other sports have faced difficulty in becoming Olympic sports for this very reason. Is there really enough of a competitive field in table tennis to merit inclusion into the Olympics? I don’t think so.
I’m going to make a bold and daring prediction regarding table tennis at the 2012 Olympics: China will win gold in men’s, women’s, and team table tennis, and it will also win the majority of all table tennis medals.
Published with permission from The Olympic Fanatic.
2 Comments
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Abhirup Mukherjee Joined 0 pointsRight! So what’s your opinion on swimming? I only see a handful of countries dominating there as well. And it also offers the highest number of medals among all categories. Or is it because you are just worried about the Asian countries doing well? Do anything to stop them! And why is basketball still an Olympic sport? How many countries do you think are at a level high enough to compete for that medal? What is quite evident from your article is that you, in all probability, belong to a European country or an American nation who just can’t cope with the fact that an Asian country (read china) beat their guts out in the last Olympics.
commented on 21st Jun 2012 at 12:50 pm
And you will have to make that prediction about China, because, except for Germany, another European or American nation won’t even come close to taking a game away from those gladiators. Not because the sport is flawed, but because you people don’t have your monopoly over here.