Pingpong, or
table tennis, is
China's national sport and a source of national pride on par with the
Great Wall and
pandas.
Table tennis has been transformed from a
Victorian gentleman's leisure to a popular sport thanks to the Chinese.
Deng Yaping, a Chinese sports icon, is regarded as one of the best table tennis players of all time.
Table tennis
is owned by
China, much as
men's basketball was originally owned by the
United States. China has won every
gold medal in the last three
Olympics, and it swept all conceivable medals in
Beijing four years
ago.
There is no weak link in the
Chinese teams. Even if one of the team members is removed, the team remains incredibly powerful. In fact, they could enter two teams and still win
gold and
silver. Because of China's dominance, the
International
Table Tennis Federation changed its regulations for the London Games in the hopes of giving a few countries a chance.
Despite the fact that table tennis is played all over the world, few countries can compete with
China.
Asia's biggest challenges are likely to be
Japan and South Korea, with
Germany posing the greatest danger from
Europe.
China's dominance in world table tennis has become a worry as the
London Olympics approaches. The top five men and women in the global rankings are all
Chinese, but Olympic rules limit each squad to three men and women.