Paralympic Table Tennis

 
 
 
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Paralympic Table Tennis

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Paralympic Table Tennis
Paralympic Table Tennis
Paralympic Table Tennis
 

 

Table Tennis used to be an upper-class after-dinner parlour game. Now it is one of the longest running and most popular Paralympic sports, and will be held at the ExCeL Centre.

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What is Paralympic Table Tennis?

 

One of the biggest sports in the Paralympics after Athletics and Swimming, Table Tennis will feature 276 athletes battling it out in 29 medal events across a total of 11 classifications that take into account the athletes' type of impairment. A group qualification stage will be followed by a knockout competition in each event, with separate competitions for standing and wheelchair athletes.Table Tennis has been a much enjoyed part of the Paralympic programme since 1960 but its origin's date back to the late 1880s when it was a parlour game played after dinner in wealthy households. 

 
 
 

Who won Paralympic Table Tennis gold in Beijing in 2008?

 

China topped the medal table back in Beijing collecting a mighty 22 medals in total. No other country really got close to China’s success, France put in an impressive performance collecting 12 medals and the South Korean players reached the podium 7 times.

 
 
 

Do ParalympicGB have a chance of winning any Table Tennis medals?

 

Asian nations normally dominate the sport, and Britain failed to reach the medal’s board at all in Beijing. Since then the British team have been training hard under the guidance of respected Performance Manager Gorazd Vecko, who was drafted in to launch a new regime. 13 players have qualified, the team includes Will Bayley who was recently ranked No.1 in his class. One of the youngest squads in the sport, these young hopefuls look likely to improve on Beijing’s outcome.

 
 
 

Where will the Paralympic Table Tennis take place?

 

Paralympic Table Tennis will take place at the ExCeL on London’s Docklands. ExCeL is the largest competition centre and one of the busiest Paralympic venues, it will also host the Boccia, Powerlifting, Sitting Volleyball, Judo and Wheelchair Fencing tournaments. There are plenty of hotels, culture and entertainment destinations easily reached from the ExCeL, the O2 is less than half an hour away and the historical Billingsgate Market is also well worth a visit. If you need to get your bearings, take a look at our handy Paralympic venues map.
 

 
 
 

When is the Paralympic Table Tennis?

 

The Table Tennis tournament runs from Thursday 30th August to Saturday 8th September. The medal events take place on the 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th of September. See our Paralympics Day-by-Day Guide for the full schedule of events.

 
 
 
 

How do I get to the Paralympic Table Tennis at the ExCeL?

 

The best way to reach the ExCeL is to take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Custom House, and walk for 10 minutes. Or to West Silverton and walk for roughly 15 minutes.

 
 
 

What are the disability divisions for Paralympic Table Tennis?

 

Table Tennis was originally only played by wheelchair users, the Games are more open now and include standing athletes, athletes with learning disabilities and physical impairments. The players are classified and assigned a number according to their disability. 1-5 are wheelchair users, 6-10 are standing athletes and players with intellectual disabilities are numbered 11.  

 
 
 

How do I get tickets for the Paralympic Table Tennis?

 

Tickets can be purchased from www.tickets.london2012.com. More than 2.1 million of the 2.5 million available tickets have already been sold - organisers are claiming this could be the first Paralympics to sell out in the 52 year history of the Games. Twitter users could start following @2012TicketAlert, an unofficial feed set up during the Olympics which runs a check on the official site every three minutes and tweets every time a ticket becomes available.

 
 
 

When did Table Tennis first appear in the Paralympics?

 

Table Tennis has a long Paralympian history and has featured since the 1960 Games in Rome, that was 28 years before the sport made it to the Olympic Games. The rules changed radically in 1976 when standing players were introduced into the competition.

 
 
 

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