1. Olympic.org Allabouttabletennis.com

2. History  It is thought that upper-class Victorians in England invented table tennis in the 1880s as an alternative to lawn tennis.

3. History  They used racquets or paddles with velum stretched over an outer casing attached to a handle.  This gave rise to the name Ping Pong which was derived from the sound that was made by different sized racquets striking a ball.

4. History  So when the English sports company John Jaques & Son became the market leader in the 1920s with their version of the game called "Ping Pong", they decided that they would only allow their trademarked name to be used if their brand of equipment was used.  An alternative name was required for this growing international sport and the name Table Tennis was chosen. Since that time, the modern game has been known as table tennis.

5. Gameplay  Use a coin toss to determine who will serve first. The winner can elect to serve first or make his opponent serve first.  The ball must above the level of the playing surface and behind the server's end line. This means that the server must stand behind the end of the table to serve.

6. Gameplay  Each player has two serves each.  Service continues to alternate between opponents until one player scores 11 points, unless both players or pairs score 10 points (called deuce).  If both players reach 10 points, service alternates after each point, until one player gains a two point lead.

7. Gameplay  The players then swap ends and the next game begins with the player who served second in the previous game.  The rules of table tennis state that a match is the best of any odd number of games - usually 3, 5 or 7 games.

8. Gameplay  Your opponent must hit the ball back over the net so that it bounces only on the server's side of the table and the ball must bounce at least once on the server's side of the table.  When returning the serve, or during a rally, if the ball hits the net but does not hit your opponent's half of the table, then a point is awarded to your opponent.

9. Gameplay  However, if the ball hits the net but still goes over and bounces on your opponent's half of the table, the rally continues.  The receiver can stand wherever they want.

10. Scoring A player loses a point if he:  Fails to make a good serve (eg. throwing the ball in the air and failing to hit the ball or failing to hit it onto his opponent's side of the table)  Allows the ball to bounce twice on his side of the table  Does not hit the ball after it has bounced on his side of the table  Does not hit the ball onto his opponent's side of the table

11. Scoring A player loses a point if he:  Hits the ball before it has bounced unless it's obviously not going to bounce on his side of the table  Hits the ball twice in succession (i.e. a double hit)  Puts his non-playing hand on the table or net or moves the table  To score a point, you must keep the ball in play longer than your opponent.