A training session at the India Community Center in California, one of the most active in the U.S. |
11/26/2009
For China Daily, Rin-rin Yu wrote about the state of table tennis in the USA. Even though the country does not (yet) belong to the very best on the international table tennis map, several positive signs seem to herald a different future.
From Club Joola in Maryland, founded in a community with a large Chinese population, to increased participation and purchases of tables; from the boost of table tennis appearing in movies to the SpiNYC bar in New York; no doubt there is action in the land of opportunity.
Economical Upturn
According to a survey released by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers' Association, participation in the sport in the US went up 35 percent from 2000 to 2008, to approximately 17.2 million people. Nearly 5 million are considered serious players who play 13 or more times a year.
China Daily also reports in the article “A more serious spin on table tennis” that in recent years, the number of established table tennis clubs and organized ping-pong competitions in the US has increased, as have purchases of ping-pong tables for both personal and commercial use.
"There's a lot more activity in the US," said Robert Blackwell, CEO of table tennis equipment manufacturer Killerspin LLC. "I think it's always been popular. But I have seen a lot more tables sold this year and it's gone up in participation quite a bit in the last five years."
Movies, Economy, Television
In the article there are mentioned possible reasons for the upturn. Some experts say the struggling economy is drawing people to an inexpensive sport that almost everybody can play.
Televised table tennis competition also likely gets more people into the sport. Each Summer Olympics brings an increase in table sales, said Gheorghe.
Movies also create interest, such as 1994 Oscar winner Forrest Gump, in which Tom Hanks' character mastered the sport and was sent to China as part of the ping-pong diplomacy effort, and the 2007 comedy Balls of Fury, in which a table tennis prodigy is recruited by the FBI to take revenge on his father's killer by beating him in a symbolic tournament.
Please find the whole article on the website of China Daily.
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