Rugby football | Best of Rugby football | Images of Rugby football | Photos of Rugby football

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union. See comparison of rugby league and rugby union.

Rugby football.

History

Rugby football developed from a version of football played at Rugby School and was originally one of several versions of football played at English public schools during the 19th century.

The game of football that was played at Rugby School between 1750 and 1859 permitted handling of the ball, but players were not allowed to run with it in their hands towards the opposition's goal.[citation needed] With no limit to the number of players per side, sometimes hundreds would participate in an enormous rolling maul, sometimes resulting in major injuries. The innovation of running with the ball was introduced between 1859 and 1865. The popular myth of the sport's origin states that Rugby pupil William Webb Ellis broke the local rules by running forward with the ball in his hands in 1823. Rugby School produced the first written rules for their version of the sport in 1845.

In the result that the teams were still tied at the end of the match, a drop goal shootout was held. The selected kickers of the two teams would have one shot at the goal each and would take turns shooting at the goal until one of the kickers missed

Rugby football

Status of rugby codes in various countries

Rugby union is both a professional and amateur game, and is dominated by the first tier unions: Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Second and third tier unions include Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Namibia , Peru , Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, the United States and Uruguay. Rugby Union is administered by the International Rugby Board (IRB), whose headquarters are located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the national sport in New Zealand, South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar, and is the most popular form of rugby globally, with the seven-a-side version of the game, known as Rugby Sevens, having been admitted into the programme of the Olympic Games from Rio de Janeiro in 2016 onwards. There is also a possibility that Rugby Sevens will also be a demonstration sport at the 2012 London Olympics.

In Canada and the United States rugby union evolved into the American football and Canadian football. The primary difference is that the quarterback can make a forward lateral pass behind the line of scrimmage (the line where the last play ended), and the system of down-and-distance rules. One team is given possession of the ball and must gain 10 yards in so many downs (4 for American football, and 3 for Canadian football).

Rugby league is also both a professional and amateur game, administered on a global level by the Rugby League International Federation. In addition to amateur and semi-professional competitions in the United States, Russia, Lebanon, Serbia, Europe and Australasia, there are two major professional competitions – the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League. International Rugby League is dominated by Australia, England and New Zealand. Other nations from the South Pacific and Europe also play in the Pacific Cup and European Cup respectively.

Laws

Further information: Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, Laws of rugby league, and Rugby union numbering schemes

Distinctive features common to both rugby codes include the oval ball and the ban on throwing the ball forward, so that players can gain ground only by running with the ball or by kicking it. As the sport of rugby league moved further away from its union counterpart, rule changes were implemented with the aim of making a faster-paced and more try-orientated game.

The main differences between the two games, besides league having teams of 13 players and union of 15, involve the tackle and its aftermath:
Union players contest possession following the tackle: depending on the situation, either a ruck or a maul can occur. League players may not contest possession after making a tackle: play is continued with a play-the-ball.
In league, if the team in possession fails to score before a set of six tackles, it surrenders possession. Union has no six-tackle rule; a team can keep the ball for an unlimited number of tackles before scoring as long as it maintains possession and does not commit an offence.

Set pieces of the union code include the "scrum", in which packs of opposing players push against each other for possession, and the "line-out", in which parallel lines of players from each team, arranged perpendicular to the touch-line, attempt to catch the ball thrown from touch. A rule has been added to line-outs which allows the jumper to be pulled down once a players's feet are on the ground.

In the league code, the scrum still exists, but with greatly reduced importance as it involves fewer players and is rarely contested. Set pieces are generally started from the play-the-ball situation. Many of the rugby league positions have similar names and requirements to rugby union positions, but there are no flankers in rugby league.

Culture

The Home Countries

In England, rugby union is widely regarded as an "establishment" sport, played mostly by members of the upper and middle classes. For example, many students at private schools and grammar schools play rugby union. In contrast, rugby league has traditionally been seen as a working class pursuit. An exception to this stereotype is evident in the neighbouring countries of England and Wales. In England rugby union is associated with the public school system. In Wales, rugby is associated with small village teams which consisted of coal miners and other industrial workers playing on their days off. In Ireland, and in particular Leinster, rugby union is also associated with private education and the "D4" stereotype, and this image of the spoilt, ignorant, wealthy rugby-playing jock inspired the best-selling Ross O'Carroll Kelly novels.

In Australia support for both codes is concentrated in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory (see Barassi Line). The same perceived class barrier as exists between the two games in England also occurs in these states, fostered by rugby union's prominence and support at private schools.

Exceptions to the above include New Zealand (although league is still considered to be a lower class game by many, or a game for 'westies' referring to lower class western suburbs of Auckland and more recently the poorer southern Auckland where the game is popular), Wales, France except Paris, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Somerset, the Borders region of Scotland, County Limerick in Ireland (see Munster), and the Pacific Islands, where rugby union is popular in working class communities. Nevertheless, Rugby League is perceived as the game of the working class people in northern England,and in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland.

In the United Kingdom, rugby union fans sometimes use the term "rugger" as an alternative name for the sport, (see Oxford '-er'). New Zealanders refer to rugby in general as "footy" or "football", rugby union simply as either "rugby" or "union" and to rugby league as "rugby league" or "league". In the U.S., people who play rugby are sometimes called "ruggers", a term little used elsewhere except facetiously.

Those considered to be heavily involved with the rugby union lifestyle—including heavy drinking and striped jumpers – sometimes identify as “rugger buggers”.[citation needed]

The Rest of the World

In France, rugby is widely played and has a strong tradition in the Basque people along the border regions between Spain and France. It rivals the popularity of Association Football. The game is very popular in South Africa among both blacks and whites, having been introduced by English-speaking settlers in the 19th century. British colonists also brought the game with them to Australia and New Zealand, where the game is widely played. It has spread thence to much of Polynesia, having particularly strong followings in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.

Rugby ball

In rugby union, the International Rugby Board the size and shape of the ball under Law 2(also known as Law E.R.B); an official rugby union ball is oval and made of four panels, has a length in-line of 280–300 millimetres, a circumference (end to end) of 740–770 millimetres, and a circumference (in width) of 580–620 millimetres. It is made of leather or suitable synthetic material, and may be treated to make it water resistant and easier to grip. The rugby ball may not weigh more than 460 grams or less than 410 and has an air pressure of 65.71–68.75 kilopascals, or 0.67–0.70 kilograms per square centimetre, or 9.5–10.0 lbs per square inch. Spare balls are allowed under the condition that players or teams do not seek an advantage by changing the ball. Smaller sized balls may also be used in games between younger players. Much larger versions of traditional balls are also available for purchase, but these are mainly for their novelty attraction.

Rugby football

Rugby shirt

Rugby shirts were formerly made of cotton but are now made of a cotton and polyester mix. This material has the advantage of not absorbing as much water or mud as cotton alone.

The rugby jerseys are slightly different depending on the type of rugby game played. The shirts worn by rugby league players commonly have a large "V" around the neck and they also tend to be more colourful than the rugby union jerseys. The players in the rugby union wear jerseys with a more traditional design, sometimes completely white (Cahors Rugby in France). However, most of the players in rugby union wear one color jerseys with a different color stripes.The number of the player and his or her surname are placed on the upper back of the jersey (often name above number, with the number being significantly larger and more central), and the logo of the team on the upper left chest.

The Images of the player while Playing Rugby.

Rugby Football.

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Rugby Football.

Rugby Football.

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Snooker

Snooker

Snooker (English pronunciation: /ˈsnuːkə(r)/ or /ˈsnʊkər/[citation needed]) is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular (full-size) table is 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m). It is played using a cue and 22 snooker balls: one white cue ball, 15 red balls worth one point each, and six balls of different colours: yellow (2 points), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). A player (or team) wins a frame (individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent(s), using the cue ball to pot the red and coloured balls. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won.

Snooker, generally regarded as having been invented in India by British Army officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries, with top professional players attaining multi-million pound career earnings from the game. The sport is now increasingly popular in China.

Snooker.

It is commonly accepted that snooker originated in the later half of the 19th century. Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British Army officers stationed in India, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation, devised in the officers' mess in Jabalpur during 1874 or 1875, was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool.The word snooker also has military origins, being a slang term for first-year cadets or inexperienced personnel. One version of events states that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment was playing this new game when his opponent failed to pot a ball and Chamberlain called him a snooker. It thus became attached to the billiards game now bearing its name as inexperienced players were labelled as snookers.

The game of snooker grew in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, and by 1927 the first World Snooker Championship had been organised by Joe Davis who, as a professional English billiards and snooker player, moved the game from a pastime activity into a more professional sphere.Joe Davis won every world championship until 1946 when he retired. The game went into a decline through the 1950s and 1960s with little interest generated outside of those who played. In 1959, Davis introduced a variation of the game, known as snooker plus, to try to improve the game's popularity by adding two extra colours. However, it never caught on.

A major advance occurred in 1969, when David Attenborough commissioned the snooker tournament Pot Black to demonstrate the potential of colour television, with the green table and multi-coloured balls being ideal for showing off the advantages of colour broadcasting. The TV series became a ratings success and was for a time the second most popular show on BBC Two. Interest in the game increased and the 1978 World Championship was the first to be fully televised. The game quickly became a mainstream sport in the UK, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth and has enjoyed much success in the last 30 years, with most of the ranking tournaments being televised. In 1985 a total of 18.5 million viewers watched the concluding frame of the world championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis. In recent years the loss of tobacco sponsorship has led to a decrease in the number of professional tournaments, although some new sponsors have been sourced;and the popularity of the game in the Far East and China, with emerging talents such as Liang Wenbo and more established players such as Ding Junhui and Marco Fu, bodes well for the future of the sport in that part of the world.

Snooker.

The game

Snooker.

The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by potting object balls in a predefined order. At the start of a frame, the balls are positioned as shown and the players take turns to hit a shot in a single strike from the tip of the cue, their aim being to pot one of the red balls and score a point. Whenever a red ball is potted, the shooter is allowed to pot one of the colours. If successful, they score the value of the colour potted, and it is returned to its correct position on the table. This process continues until they fail to pot the desired ball, at which point their opponent comes back to the table to play the next shot. The game continues in this manner until all the reds are potted and only the 6 colours are left on the table; at that point the aim is to pot the colours in the order yellow 2, green 3, brown 4, blue 5, pink 6, black 7, with the balls not being returned to play. When the final ball is potted, the player with the most points wins.

Points may also be scored in a game when a player's opponent fouls. A foul can occur for numerous reasons, such as hitting a colour first when the player was attempting to hit a red, potting the cue ball, or failing to escape from "a snooker" (a situation where the previous player finished their turn leaving the cue ball in a position where the object ball cannot be hit directly). Points gained from a foul vary from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 7 if the black ball is involved.

Professional and competitive amateur matches are officiated by a referee who is the sole judge of fair play. The referee also respots the colours on to the table and calls out how many points the player has scored during a break. Professional players usually play the game in a sporting manner, declaring fouls the referee has missed, acknowledging good shots from their opponent, or holding up a hand to apologise for fortunate shots.

Snooker.

Other terminology used in snooker includes a player's break, which refers to the total number of consecutive points a player has amassed (excluding fouls) when at one visit to the table. A player attaining a break of 15, for example, could have reached it by potting a red then a black, then a red then a pink, before failing to pot the next red. The traditional maximum break in snooker is to pot all reds with blacks then all colours, which would yield 147 points; this is often known as a "147" or a "maximum".

Snooker.

Accessories used for snooker include chalk for the tip of the cue, rests of various sorts (needed often, due to the length of a full-size table), a triangle to rack the reds, and a scoreboard. One drawback of snooker on a full-size table is the size of the room (22 by 16 feet (6.7 × 4.9 m)), which is the minimum required for comfortable cueing room on all sides. This limits the number of locations in which the game can easily be played. While pool tables are common to many pubs, snooker tends to be played either in private surroundings or in public snooker halls. The game can also be played on smaller tables using fewer red balls. The variants in table size are: 10' × 5', 9' × 4.5', 8' × 4', 6' × 3' (the smallest for realistic play) and 4' × 2'. Smaller tables can come in a variety of styles, such as fold away or dining-table convertible.

Snooker.

Governance and tournaments

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA, also known as World Snooker), founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiard Players' Association, is the governing body for the professional game. Its subsidiary, World Snooker, based in Bristol, England, organises the professional tour. Over the years the board of the WPBSA has changed many times, which some argue is an indication of in-fighting within the sport.The amateur game is governed by the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).

Professional snooker players can play on the World Snooker main tour ranking circuit. Ranking points, earned by players through their performances over the previous two seasons, determine the current world ranking. A player's ranking determines what level of qualification they require for ranking tournaments. The elite of professional snooker is generally regarded as the "Top 16" ranking players, who are not required to pre-qualify for any of the tournaments. The tour contains 96 players – the top 64 from the previous two seasons, the 8 highest ranked professional players on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit who are not in the top 64, 12 players from the Q School, and various regional, junior and amateur champions.

The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship, held annually since 1927 (except during the World War II and between 1958 and 1963). The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England since 1977, and was sponsored by Embassy from 1976 to 2005. Since 2005, tobacco companies have not been allowed to sponsor sporting events in the United Kingdom, and the World Championship had to find a new sponsor. It was announced in January 2006 that the 2006–2010 world championships would be sponsored by online casino 888.com. The Championship is currently sponsored by BetFred.com after 888.com pulled out of their five year sponsorship deal after three years. On 15 April 2009 the World Snooker Championship website announced that Betfred.com would be the new sponsor of the World Championship for the next four years.

The group of tournaments that come next in importance are the other ranking tournaments. Players in these tournaments score world ranking points. A high ranking ensures qualification for next year's tournaments, invitations to invitational tournaments and an advantageous draw in tournaments.The most prestigious of these after the World Championship is the UK Championship. Third in line are the invitational tournaments, to which most of the highest ranked players are invited. The most important tournament in this category is The Masters, which to most players is the second or third most sought-after prize.

In an attempt to answer criticisms that televised matches can be slow or get bogged down in lengthy safety exchanges and that long matches causes problems for advertisers,an alternative series of timed tournaments has been organised by Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn. The shot-timed Premier League Snooker was established, with seven players invited to compete at regular United Kingdom venues, televised on Sky Sports. Players have twenty-five seconds to take each shot, with five time-outs per player per match. While some success has been achieved with this format it generally does not receive the same amount of press attention or status as the regular ranking tournaments.

There are also other tournaments that have less importance, earn no world ranking points and are not televised. These can change on a year-to-year basis depending on calendars and sponsors.

Equipment

Chalk.

Chalk
The tip of the cue is 'chalked' to ensure good contact between the cue and the cue-ball.
Cue
A stick, made of wood or fibreglass, the tip of which is used to strike the cue-ball.
Extension
A shorter baton that fits over, or screws into, the back end of the cue, effectively lengthening it. Is used for shots where the cue-ball is a long distance from the player.
Rest
A stick with an X-shaped head that is used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension.

Rest head adaptor

An attachment that slips onto a conventional rest head to make a spider or just to give a slightly different bridge.
Hook rest
Identical to the normal rest, yet with a hooked metal end. It is used to set the rest around another ball. The hook rest is the most recent invention in snooker.


Spider

Similar to the rest but with an arch-shaped head; it is used to elevate and support the tip of the cue above the height of the cue-ball.
Swan (or swan-neck spider)
This equipment, consisting of a rest with a single extended neck and a fork-like prong at the end, is used to give extra cueing distance over a group of balls.
Triangle/Rack
The piece of equipment is used for gathering the red balls into the formation required for the break to start a frame.
Extended rest
Similar to the regular rest, but with a mechanism at the butt end which makes it possible to extend the rest by up to three feet.

Extended spider

A hybrid of the swan and the spider. Its purpose is to bridge over large packs of reds. Is less common these days in professional snooker but can be used in situations where the position of one or more balls prevents the spider being placed where the striker desires.
Half butt
Usually housed underneath the side of the table, the half butt is a combination of a table length rest and cue which is rarely used unless the cue ball needs to be struck in such a way that the entire length of the table is the actual obstacle.

Ball marker

A multi-purpose instrument with a 'D' shaped notch, which a referee can (1) place next to a ball, in order to mark the position of it. They can then remove the ball to clean it; (2) use to judge if a ball is preventing a colour from being placed on its spot; (3) use to judge if the cue ball can hit the extreme edge of a "ball on" when awarding a free ball (by placing it alongside the potentially intervening ball).

Notable players

In the professional era that began with Joe Davis in the 1930s and continues up until the present day, a relatively small number of players have succeeded at the top level. Reaching and maintaining a place amongst the snooker elite is a tough task, with the standards of the game being such that it requires many years of dedication and effort as well as natural ability.

Certain players have tended to dominate the sport through the decades. John Pulman is generally regarded as the principal player through the 1960s, Ray Reardon through the 1970s, Steve Davis through the 1980s and Stephen Hendry through the 1990s, winning 6 (1970, 1973–76 and 1978), 6 (1981, 1983, 1984 and 1987–89) and 7 (1990, 1992–96 and 1999) World Championships respectively. No one dominated in the 2000s, however Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the title on three occasions (2001, 2004 and 2008) and Mark Williams and John Higgins winning twice (2000, 2003 and 2007, 2009 respectively). Higgins has four world titles in total, having won his first title in 1998 and his fourth in 2011. Last successful title defence was in 1996 when Hendry won the sixth of his seven titles (and 5th in a row).


The Images of the snooker players while playing snooker.

Snooker.

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Table tennis | Best of Table tennis | Images of Table tennis | Photos of Table tennis

Table tennis:

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, players must allow a ball played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side. Points are scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. A skilled player can impart several varieties of spin to the ball, altering its trajectory and limiting an opponent's options to great advantage.

Table tennis is controlled by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. ITTF currently includes 215 member associations. The table tennis official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook. Since 1988, table tennis has been an Olympic sport,with several event categories. In particular, from 1988 until 2004, these were: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008 the doubles have been replaced by the team events.

Table Tennis.

History

The game originated as a sport in Britain during the 1880s, where it was played among the upper-class as an after-dinner parlour game, then commonly known as "wiff-waff". A row of books were 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 from one end of the table to the other. Alternatively table tennis was played with paddles made of cigar box lids and balls made of champagne corks. The popularity of the game led game manufacturers to sell the equipment commercially. Early rackets were often pieces of parchment stretched upon a frame, and the sound generated in play gave the game its first nicknames of "wiff-waff" and "ping-pong". A number of sources indicate that the game was first brought to the attention of Hamley's of Regent Street under the name "Gossima". The name "ping-pong" was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked it in 1901. The name "ping-pong" then came to be used for the game played by the rather expensive Jaques's equipment, with other manufacturers calling it table tennis. A similar situation arose in the United States, where Jaques sold the rights to the "ping-pong" name to Parker Brothers.

The next major innovation was by James 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. This was followed by E.C. Goode who, in 1901, invented the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of pimpled, or stippled, rubber to the wooden blade. Table tennis was growing in popularity by 1901 to the extent that table tennis tournaments were being organized, books on table tennis were being written,and an unofficial world championship was held in 1902. During the early 1900s, the game was banned in Russia because the rulers at the time believed that playing the game had an adverse effect on players' eyesight.[citation needed]

In 1921, the Table Tennis Association was founded in Britain, and the International Table Tennis Federation followed in 1926. London hosted the first official World Championships in 1926. In 1933, the United States Table Tennis Association, now called USA Table Tennis, was formed.

In the 1950s, rackets that used a rubber sheet combined with an underlying sponge layer changed the game dramatically, introducing greater spin and speed.These were introduced to Britain by sports goods manufacturer S.W. Hancock Ltd. The use of speed glue increased the spin and speed even further, resulting in changes to the equipment to "slow the game down". Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in 1988.

After the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the International Table Tennis Federation instituted several rules changes aimed at making table tennis more viable as a televised spectator sport.First, the older 38 mm balls were officially replaced by 40 mm balls in 2000.This increased the ball's air resistance and effectively slowed down the game. By that time, players had begun increasing the thickness of the fast sponge layer on their rackets, which made the game excessively fast and difficult to watch on television. Second, the ITTF changed from a 21-point to an 11-point scoring system in 2001This was intended to make games more fast-paced and exciting. The ITTF also changed the rules on service to prevent a player from hiding the ball during service, in order to increase the average length of rallies and to reduce the server's advantage.

Variants of the sport have recently emerged. "Large-ball" table tennis uses a 44 mm ball, which slows down the game significantly. This has seen some acceptance by players who have a hard time with the extreme spins and speeds of the 40 mm game.

There is a move towards reviving the table tennis game that existed prior to the introduction of sponge rubber. "Hardbat" table tennis players reject the speed and spin of reversed sponge rubber, preferring the 1940–60s play style with no sponge and short-pimpled rubber. Defense is less difficult by decreasing the speed and eliminating any meaningful magnus effect of spin. Because hardbat killer shots are almost impossible to hit against a skilled player, hardbat matches focus on the strategic side of table tennis, requiring skillful maneuvering of the opponent before an attack can become successful.

Equipment

Ball

The international rules specify that the game is played with a light 2.7 gram, 40 mm diameter ball.[14] The rules say that the ball shall bounce up 24–26 cm when dropped from a height of 30.5 cm on to a standard steel block thereby having a coefficient of restitution of 0.89 to 0.92. The 40 mm ball was introduced after the 2000 Olympic Games.[13] However, this created some controversy as the Chinese National Team argued that this was merely to give non-Chinese players a better chance of winning since the new type of balls has a slower speed, while at that time most Chinese players were playing with fast attack and smashes. A 40 mm table tennis ball is slower and spins less than the original 38 mm (1.5 inch) one. The ball is made of a high-bouncing air-filled celluloid or similar plastics material, colored white or orange, with a matte finish. The choice of ball color is made according to the table color and its surroundings. For example, a white ball is easier to see on a green or blue table than it is on a gray table. Stars on the ball indicate the quality of the ball. Three stars indicate that it is of the highest quality, and is used in official competition.

Table

The table is 2.74 m (9 ft) long, 1.52 m (5 ft) wide, and 76 cm (30 inch) high with a Masonite (a type of hardboard) or similarly manufactured timber, layered with a smooth, low-friction coating.The table or playing surface is divided into two halves by a 15.25 cm (6 inch) high net. An ITTF approved table surface must be in a green or blue color.

Table Tennis.

Racket

Players are equipped with a laminated wooden racket covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the grip of the player. The official ITTF term is "racket", though "bat" is common in Britain, and "paddle" in the U.S.

The wooden portion of the racket, often referred to as the "blade", commonly features anywhere between one and seven plies of wood, though cork, glass fiber, carbon fiber, aluminum fiber, and Kevlar are sometimes used. According to the ITTF regulations, at least 85% of the blade by thickness shall be of natural wood. Common wood types include Balsa, Limba, and Cypress or "Hinoki," which is popular in Japan. The average size of the blade is about 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) long and 6 inches (15 cm) wide. Although the official restrictions only focus on the flatness and rigidness of the blade itself, these dimensions are optimal for most play styles.

Table tennis regulations allow different surfaces on each side of the racket.[ Various types of surfaces provide various levels of spin or speed, and in some cases they nullify spin. For example, a player may have a rubber that provides much spin on one side of his racket, and one that provides no spin on the other. By flipping the racket in play, different types of returns are possible. To help a player distinguish between the rubber used by his opposing player, international rules specify that one side must be red while the other side must be black.[16] The player has the right to inspect his opponent's racket before a match to see the type of rubber used and what color it is. Despite high speed play and rapid exchanges, a player can see clearly what side of the racket was used to hit the ball. Current rules state that, unless damaged in play, the racket cannot be exchanged for another racket at any time during a match.

Gameplay

Starting a game

According to ITTF rule 2.13.1, the first service is decided by lot, normally a coin toss. It is also common for one player (or the umpire/scorer) to hide the ball in one or the other hand (usually hidden under the table), allowing the other player to guess which hand the ball is in. The correct or incorrect guess gives the "winner" the option to choose to serve, receive, or to choose which side of the table to use. (A common but non-sanctioned method is for the players to play the ball back and forth four times and then play out the point. This is commonly referred to as "play to serve" or "rally to serve".)

Service and return

In game play, the player serving the ball commences a play. The server first stands with the ball held on the open palm of the hand not carrying the racket, called the freehand, and tosses the ball directly upward without spin, at least 16 centimeters (approximately 6 inches) high. The server strikes the ball with the racket on the ball's descent so that it touches first his court and then touches directly the receiver's court without touching the net assembly. In casual games, many players do not toss the ball upward; however, this is technically illegal and can give the serving player an unfair advantage.

The ball must remain behind the endline and above the upper surface of the table, known as the playing surface, at all times during the service. The server cannot use his body or clothing to obstruct sight of the ball; the opponent and the umpire must have a clear view of the ball at all times. If the umpire is doubtful of the legality of a service they may first interrupt play and give a warning to the server. If the serve is a clear failure or is doubted again by the umpire after the warning, receiver scores a point.

If the service is "good", then the receiver must make a "good" return by hitting the ball back before it bounces a second time on receiver's side of the table so that the ball passes the net and touches the opponent's court, either directly or after touching the net assembly.Thereafter, the server and receiver must alternately make a return until the rally is over. Returning the serve is one of the most difficult parts of the game, as the server's first move is often the least predictable and thus most advantageous shot due to the numerous spin and speed choices at his or her disposal.
Let

A let is a rally of which the result is not scored, and is called in the following circumstances:
The ball touches the net in service, provided the service is otherwise correct or the ball is obstructed by the player on the receiving side. Obstruction means a player touches the ball when it is above or traveling towards the playing surface, not having touched the player's court since last being struck by the player.
When the player on the receiving side is not ready and the service is delivered.
Player's failure to make a service or a return or to comply with the Laws is due to a disturbance outside the control of the player.
Play is interrupted by the umpire or assistant umpire.

ScoringA point is scored by the player for any of several results of the rally:
Opponent fails to make a correct service or return.
After making a service or a return, the ball touches anything other than the net assembly before being struck by the opponent.
The ball passes over the player's court or beyond his end line without touching his court, after being struck by the opponent.
The opponent obstructs the ball.
The opponent strikes the ball twice successively. Note that the hand that is holding the racket counts as part of the racket and that making a good return off one's hand or fingers is allowed. It is not a fault if the ball accidentally hits one's hand or fingers and then subsequently hits the racket.
The opponent strikes the ball with a side of the racket blade whose surface is not covered with rubber.
The opponent moves the playing surface or touches the net assembly.
The opponent's free hand touches the playing surface.
As a receiver under the expedite system, completing 13 returns in a rally.
The opponent has been warned by umpire commits a second offense in the same individual match or team match. If the third offence happens, 2 points will be given to the player. If the individual match or the team match has not ended, any unused penalty points can be transferred to the next game of that match.

A game shall be won by the player first scoring 11 points unless both players score 10 points, when the game shall be won by the first player subsequently gaining a lead of 2 points. A match shall consist of the best of any odd number of games. In competition play, matches are typically best of five or seven games.

Table Tennis.

Alternation of services and ends

Service alternates between opponents every two points (regardless of winner of the rally) until the end of the game, unless both players score 10 points or the expedite system is operated, when the sequences of serving and receiving stay the same but each player serves for only 1 point in turn. Player serving first in a game shall receive first in the next game of the match.

After each game, players switch sides of the table. In the last possible game of a match, for example the seventh game in a best of seven matches, players change ends when the first player scores 5 points, regardless of whose turn it is to serve. If the sequence of serving and receiving is out of turn or the ends is not changed, points scored in the wrong situation are still calculated and the game shall be resumed with the order at the score that has been reached.

Doubles game

In addition to games between individual players, pairs may also play table tennis. In doubles, all the rules of single play are applied except for the following.
A line painted along the long axis of the table to create doubles courts bisects the table. This line's only purpose is to facilitate the doubles service rule, which is that service, must originate from the right hand "box" in such a way that the first bounce of the serve bounces once in said right hand box and then must bounce at least once in the opponent side's right hand box (far left box for server), or the receiving pair score a point.
Players must alternate hitting the ball. For example, if A is paired with B, X is paired with Y, A is the server and X is the receiver. The order of play shall be A → X → B → Y. The rally proceeds this way until one side fails to make a legal return and the other side scores.
At each change of service, the previous receiver shall become the server and the partner of the previous server shall become the receiver. For example, if the previous order of play is A → X → B → Y, the order becomes X → B → Y → A after the change of service.
In each game of a doubles match, the pair having the right to serve first shall choose which of them will do so. The receiving pair, however, can only choose in the first game of the match. When the first server is chosen in the second or the latter games of the match, the first receiver of the game is the player who served to the first server of the game in the preceding game. For example, if the order of play is A → X → B → Y at beginning of the first game, the order begins with X → A → Y → B or Y → B → X → A in the second game depending on either X or Y being chosen as the first server of the game.
When a pair reaches 5 points in the final game, the pairs must switch ends of the table and the team that receives the service must switch receiver. For example, when the last order of play before a pair score 5 points in the final game is A → X → B → Y, the order after change shall be A → Y → B → X if A still has the second serve. Otherwise, X is the next server and the order becomes X → A → Y → B.

Singles and doubles are both played in international competition, including the Olympic Games since 1988 and the Commonwealth Games since 2002. In 2005, the ITTF announced that doubles table tennis only was featured as a part of team events in the 2008 Olympics.
Expedite system

If a game is unfinished after 10 minutes' play and fewer than 18 points have been scored, the expedite system is initiated.[26] The umpire interrupts the game, and the game resumes with players serving for 1 point in turn. If the expedite system is introduced while the ball is not in play, the previous receiver shall serve first. Under the expedite system, the server must win the point before the opponent makes 13 consecutive returns or the point goes to the opponent. The system can also be initiated at any time at the request of both players or pairs. Once introduced, the expedite system remains in force until the end of the match. A rule to shorten the time of a match, it is mainly seen in defensive players' games.

Table Tennis.

Grips

Though table tennis players grip their rackets in various ways, their grips can be classified into two major families of styles, penhold and shakehand. The Laws of Table Tennis do not prescribe the manner in which one must grip the racket, and numerous grips are employed.
Penhold

The penhold grip is so-named because one grips the racket similarly to the way one holds a writing instrument.The style of play among penhold players can vary greatly from player to player. The most popular style, usually referred to as the Chinese penhold style, involves curling the middle, ring, and fourth finger on the back of the blade with the three fingers always remain touching one another. Chinese penholders favour a round racket head, for a more over-the-table style of play. In contrast, another style, sometimes referred to as the Korean penhold grip, involves splaying those three fingers out across the back of the racket, usually with all three fingers touching the back of the racket, rather than stacked upon one another.Sometimes a combination of the two styles occurs, wherein the middle, ring and fourth fingers are straight, but still stacked, or where all fingers may be touching the back of the racket, but are also in contact with one another. Korean penholders will often use a square-headed racket for an away-from-the-table style of play. Traditionally these square-headed rackets feature a block of cork on top of the handle, as well as a thin layer of cork on the back of the racket, for increased grip and comfort. Penhold styles are popular among players originating from East Asian regions such as China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.
Traditionally, penhold players use only one side of the racket to hit the ball during normal play, and the side which is in contact with the last three fingers is generally not used. This configuration is sometimes referred to as "traditional penhold" and is more commonly found in square-headed racket styles. However, the Chinese developed a technique in the 1990s in which a penholder uses both sides of the racket to hit the ball, where the player produces a backhand stroke (most often topspin) by turning the traditional side of the racket to face one's self, and striking the ball with the opposite side of the racket. This stroke has greatly improved and strengthened the penhold style both physically and psychologically, as it eliminates the strategic weakness of the traditional penhold backhand.

Shakehand

Shake hand.

Shake hand.

The shakehand (or shakehands) grip is so-named because the racket is grasped as if one is performing a handshake. Though it is sometimes referred to as the "tennis" or "Western" grip, it bears no relation to the Western tennis grip, popularized on the West Coast of the United States in which the racket is rotated 90°, and played with the wrist turned so that on impact the knuckles face the target. In table tennis, “Western” refers to Western nations, for this is the grip that players native to Europe and the Americas have almost exclusively employed.

The shakehand grip’s simplicity and versatility, coupled with the acceptance among top-level Chinese trainers that the European style of play should be emulated and trained against, has established it as a common grip even in China. Many world-class Asian players currently use the shakehand grip, and it is generally accepted that shakehands is easier to learn than penholder, allowing a broader range of playing styles both offensive and defensive.

Types of strokes

Table tennis strokes generally break down into offensive and defensive categories.
Offensive strokes
Speed drive

A direct hit on the ball propelling it forward back to the opponent. This stroke differs from speed drives in other racket sports like tennis because the racket is primarily perpendicular to the direction of the stroke and most of the energy applied to the ball results in speed rather than spin, creating a shot that does not arc much, but is fast enough that it can be difficult to return. A speed drive is used mostly for keeping the ball in play, applying pressure on the opponent, and potentially opening up an opportunity for a more powerful attack.
Loop

Perfected during the 1960s,[4] the loop is essentially the reverse of the speed drive. The racket is much more parallel to the direction of the stroke ("closed") and the racket thus grazes the ball, resulting in a large amount of topspin. A good loop drive will arc quite a bit, and once striking the opponent's side of the table will jump forward, much like a kick serve in tennis. A loop drive might not be as difficult to return as a speed drive; however, because of its topspin, it is more likely to rebound off the opponent's racket at a very high angle, setting up an easy smash on the follow-up. As the loop drive requires a lot of topspin, players generally use their entire body to generate the movement required. Variations in spin and speed add to the effectiveness of this shot.
Counter-drive

The counter-drive is usually a counterattack against drives, normally high loop drives. The racket is held closed and near to the ball, which is hit with a short movement "off the bounce" (immediately after hitting the table) so that the ball travels faster to the other side. A well-timed, accurate counter-drive can be as effective as a smash.
Flick

When a player tries to attack a ball that has not bounced beyond the edge of the table, the player does not have the room to wind up in a backswing. The ball may still be attacked, however, and the resulting shot is called a flick because the backswing is compressed into a quick wrist action. A flick is not a single stroke and can resemble either a drive or a loop in its characteristics. What identifies the stroke is the backswing is compressed into a short wrist flick.
Smash

The offensive trump card in table tennis is the smash. A player will typically execute a smash when his or her opponent has returned a ball that bounces too high or too close to the net. Smashing is essentially self-explanatory—large backswing and rapid acceleration imparting as much speed on the ball as possible. The goal of a smash is to get the ball to move so quickly that the opponent simply cannot return it. Because the ball speed is the main aim of this shot, often the spin on the ball is something other than topspin. Sidespin can be used effectively with a smash to alter the ball's trajectory significantly, although most intermediate players will smash the ball with little or no spin. An offensive table tennis player will think of a rally as a build-up to a winning smash; only a calculated series of smashes can guarantee a point against a good opponent. However, most players will be able to return at most one or two smashes consistently. Provided that the opponent is not too close to the table or too far away from the ball, a smash can be lobbed, chopped, blocked or even counter-looped, albeit with some difficulty. A player who smashes generally works out a series of smashes (and possibly drop-shots) to rush the opponent out of position, put him off balance, or both. Smashers who fail to do this find it difficult to win a point against an excellent defense.
Defensive strokes
Push

The push (or "slice" in Asia) is usually used for keeping the point alive and creating offensive opportunities. A push resembles a tennis slice: the racket cuts underneath the ball, imparting backspin and causing the ball to float slowly to the other side of the table. While not obvious, a push can be difficult to attack because the backspin on the ball causes it to drop toward the table upon striking the opponent's racket. In order to attack a push, a player must usually loop the ball back over the net. Often, the best option for beginners is to simply push the ball back again, resulting in pushing rallies. Against good players, it may be the worst option because the opponent will counter with a loop, putting the first player in a defensive position. Another response to pushing is flipping the ball when it is close to the net. Pushing can have advantages in some circumstances, such as when the opponent makes easy mistakes.
Chop

A chop is the defensive, backspin counterpart to the offensive loop drive.A chop is essentially a bigger, heavier push, taken well back from the table. The racket face points primarily horizontally, perhaps a little bit upward, and the direction of the stroke is straight down. The object of a defensive chop is to match the topspin of the opponent's shot with backspin. A good chop will float nearly horizontally back to the table, in some cases having so much backspin that the ball actually rises. Such a chop can be extremely difficult to return due to its enormous amount of backspin. Some defensive players can also impart no-spin or sidespin variations of the chop.
Block

The block is a simple shot, but nonetheless can be devastating against an attacking opponent. A block is executed by simply placing the racket in front of the ball right after the ball bounces; thus, the ball rebounds back toward the opponent with nearly as much energy as it came in with. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the ball's spin, speed, and location all influence the correct angle of a block. It is very possible for an opponent to execute a perfect loop, drive, or smash, only to have the blocked shot come back at him just as fast. Due to the power involved in offensive strokes, often an opponent simply cannot recover quickly enough, and will be unable to return the blocked shot. Blocks almost always produce the same spin as was received, usually topspin.
Lob

The defensive lob is possibly the most impressive shot in the sport of table tennis, since it propels the ball about fifteen feet in the air only to land on the opponent's side of the table with great amounts of spin. To execute a lob, a defensive player first backs off the table 4–6 meters; then, the stroke itself consists of simply lifting the ball to an enormous height before it falls back to the opponent's side of the table. A lob is inherently a creative shot, and can have nearly any kind of spin. Top quality players use this to their advantage in order to control the spin of the ball. For instance, though the opponent may smash the ball hard and fast, a good defensive lob could be more difficult to return due to the unpredictability and heavy amounts of the spin on the ball. Thus, though backed off the table by tens of feet and running to reach the ball, a good defensive player can still win the point using good lobs. However, at the professional level, lobbers will lose the point most of the time, so the lob is not used unless it is really necessary.
Effects of spin

Adding spin onto the ball causes major changes in table tennis gameplay. Although nearly every stroke or serve creates some kind of spin, understanding the individual types of spin allows players to defend against and use different spins effectively.

Backspin

Table Tennis.

Backspin is where the bottom half of the ball is rotating away from the player, and is imparted by striking the base of the ball with a downward movement. At the professional level, backspin is usually used defensively in order to keep the ball low. Backspin is commonly employed in service because it is harder to produce an offensive return, especially on a short serve. Due to the initial lift of the ball, there is a limit on how much speed with which one can hit the ball without missing the opponent's side of the table. However, backspin also makes it harder for the opponent to return the ball with great speed because of the required angular precision of the return. Alterations are frequently made to regulations regarding equipment in an effort to maintain a balance between defensive and offensive spin choices.[citation needed] It is actually possible to smash with backspin offensively, but only on high balls that are close to the net.

Topspin

Table Tennis.

The harder-to-learn topspin stroke has a smaller influence on the first part of the ball-curve. Like the backspin stroke, however, the axis of spin remains roughly perpendicular to the trajectory of the ball thus allowing for the Magnus effect to dictate the subsequent curvature. After the apex of the curve, the ball clearly dips downwards as it approaches the opposing side, before bouncing. On the bounce, the topspin will accelerate the ball, much in the same way that a wheel which is already spinning would accelerate upon making contact with the ground. Again, the most significant change appears when the opponent attempts to return the ball (with a smooth, pimples inwards rubber). Due to the topspin, the ball jumps upwards and the opponent is forced to compensate for the topspin by adjusting the angle of his or her racket. This is commonly known as "closing the racket". The speed limitation of the topspin stroke is minor compared to the backspin stroke. This stroke is the predominant technique used in professional competition because it gives the opponent less time to respond. In table tennis topspin is regarded as an offensive technique due to increased ball speed, lower bio-mechanical efficiency and the pressure that it puts on the opponent by reducing reaction time. (It is possible to play defensive topspin-lobs from far behind the table, but only highly skilled players use this stroke with any tactical efficiency.) Topspin is the least common type of spin to be found in service at the professional level, simply because it is much easier to attack a top-spun ball that is not moving at high speed.
Sidespin

This type of spin is predominantly employed during service, wherein the contact angle of the racket can be more easily varied. Unlike the two aforementioned techniques, sidespin causes the ball to spin on an axis which is vertical, rather than horizontal. The axis of rotation is still roughly perpendicular, to the trajectory of the ball. In this circumstance, the Magnus effect will still dictate the curvature of the ball to some degree. Another difference is that unlike backspin and topspin, sidespin will have relatively very little effect on the bounce of the ball, much in the same way that a spinning top would not travel left or right if its axis of rotation were exactly vertical. This makes sidespin a useful weapon in service, because it is less easily recognized when bouncing, and the ball "loses" less spin on the bounce. Sidespin can also be employed in offensive rally strokes, often from a greater distance, as an adjunct to topspin or backspin. This stroke is sometimes referred to as a "hook". The hook can even be used in some extreme cases to circumvent the net when away from the table.
Corkspin

This type of spin is almost exclusively employed in service, but it is also used from time to time in the lob at the professional level. Unlike any of the aforementioned techniques, corkspin (sometimes referred to as "drill-spin") features a unique situation in which the axis of spin is more or less parallel to the trajectory of the ball. This means that the Magnus effect will have little to no effect on the trajectory of a cork-spun ball. Upon bouncing, the ball will dart right or left, depending on the direction of the spin, making it very difficult to return. Although in theory this type of spin produces the most obnoxious effects, it is not as strategically practical as sidespin or backspin in terms of the limitations that it imposes upon the opponent during their return. Aside from the initial direction change when bouncing, provided that it does not exceed the reach of the opponent, a cork-spun ball is easily countered with topspin or backspin. Similar to a backspin stroke, the corkspin stroke has a lower maximum velocity, simply due to the contact angle of the racket when producing the stroke. In order to impart a spin on the ball which is parallel to its trajectory, the racket must be swung more or less perpendicular to the trajectory of the ball. This greatly limits the amount of forward momentum that can be transferred to the ball by the racket. Corkspin is almost always mixed with another variety of spin, as it is less effective and harder to produce on its own.
Competition

Competitive table tennis is popular in Asia and Europe and has been gaining attention in the United States. The most important international competitions are the World Table Tennis Championships, the Table Tennis World Cup, the Olympics and the ITTF Pro Tour. Continental competitions include the European Championships, Europe Top-12, the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. Chinese players have won the men's World Championships 60% of the time since 1959;in the women's competition, Chinese players have won all but three of the World Championships since 1971. Other strong teams come from East Asia and European countries, including Austria, Belarus, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan.

There are also professional competitions at the clubs level. The national league of countries like China (the China Table Tennis Super League), Germany, France, Belgium and Austria are some highest level examples. There are also some important international club teams competitions such as the European Champions League and its former competition, the European Club Cup, where the top club teams from European countries compete.

The images of the guys while playing table tennis:-

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

Table Tennis.

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