London 2012 Table Tennis: 10 interesting facts

New Delhi: On the sixth day of the London 2012 Olympics, Google has put up a new doodle, which is dedicated to table tennis. Here are the top 10 interesting facts about the table tennis Google doodle and London 2012 table tennis events that you should know:

1. The London 2012 table tennis doodle features two players - a right handed player and a left handed player - playing table tennis. The blade of the tennis table bat in the hand of the left-handed player is shown as the second 'O' of the term Google. And the rest of the letters of "Google" are written on the net, which is used to divide the table.

2. Thursday's doodle is the third table tennis doodle posted by Google during the Olympic Games. The first table tennis doodle was posted during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the second during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Here are the top 10 interesting facts about the table tennis Google doodle and London 2012 table tennis events.

3. The table tennis events at London 2012 Olympics are scheduled from 28 July to 8 August.

4. There are four table tennis events that are schedueld to be contested - men's and women's Singles, men's and women's Team.

5. The number of participants in table tennis events are 172 - 86 men and 86 women. Each country is limited to three men and three women across all events, and to two athletes in each Singles event.

6. The court is 18m x 9m; the Table Tennis table itself is 2.74m long and 1.525m wide. It is 76cm above the floor and divided in half by a 15.25cm high net.

7. Since Table Tennis joined the Olympic programme in 1988, China has won 20 of the 24 available gold medals.

8. Table Tennis is based on the same basic principles as Tennis, but it has a very different scoring system, and a ball weighing just 2.7g.

9. Other names for Table Tennis include 'Ping Pong', 'Whiff Waff' and 'Flim Flam', reflecting the sound of the ball being struck and bouncing off the table.

10. Table Tennis balls are hollow, made of celluloid and weigh approximately 2.7g.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)