Table Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Table tennis has been part of the Olympic Games since Seoul in 1988. It is the most popular racket sport in the world and, with devilish spin and incredible reflexes, the sport is a spellbinding spectacle. The Rio events took place from 6-17 August at the third pavilion of Riocentro with 172 competitors (86 men and 86 women) who competed in both singles and team events. The singles competitions were held from 6-11 August and 70 players took part in both men’s and women’s events, with a maximum of two players from any one country.

The dominant nation was China, who won all four events, just as they did in 2008 and 2012. After missing out on selection for the Beijing Games, and only competing in the team event at London in 2012, Ma Long won his first Olympic singles title. Ma Long’s team-mate Ding Ning also won her first singles gold medal, to add to the silver she won in 2012. After the Chinese, who won six of the 12 medals, Jun Mizutani from Japan won a team silver medal and singles bronze, while the Japanese women took the bronze in the team event. The German women’s team won a surprise silver medal, while the men’s team won the bronze medal.