In those early days, the scoring system was the same as in lawn tennis. Table tennis was growing in popularity by 1901 to the extent that tournaments were being organized, books being written on the subject, and an unofficial world championship was held in 1902. Goode who, in 1901, invented the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled, or stippled, rubber to the wooden blade. Gibb, a British enthusiast of table tennis, who discovered novelty celluloid balls on a trip to the US in 1901 and found them to be ideal for the game. The next major innovation was by James W. Parker Brothers then enforced its trademark for the term in the 1920s, making the various associations change their names to 'table tennis' instead of the more common, but trademarked, term. A similar situation arose in the United States, where Jaques sold the rights to the 'ping-pong' name to Parker Brothers. The name 'ping-pong' then came to describe the game played using the rather expensive Jaques's equipment, with other manufacturers calling it table tennis.

The name 'ping-pong' was in wide use before British manufacturer J. A row of books stood up along the center of the table as a net, two more books served as rackets and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball. It has been suggested that makeshift versions of the game were developed by British military officers in India around the 1860s or 1870s, who brought it back with them. The sport originated in Victorian England, where it was played among the upper-class as an after-dinner parlour game. Since 2008, a team event has been played instead of the doubles. From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988, with several event categories. The table tennis official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook. ITTF currently includes 226 member associations. Table tennis is governed by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules.

Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce once on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets.

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