Table Tennis

There is a natural charm around left-handed athletes.
With the world of professional sport being dominated by right-handers, the rarity of southpaws make them crowd pullers.
For Indian table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, that moment occurred when watching legendary German Timo Boll in action.
“Timo Boll was definitely one of

Timo Boll.

G Sathiyan’s Sporting Hero: Of Federer's grace and Timo Boll's skills

Dina Meshref could be a natural-born champion.
The Egyptian was meant to play table tennis, as all her family members played the game.
Her parents were national champions and it was only natural that as soon as she could hold a racket, she found herself in a court practising.
Her

Egypt's Dina Meshref.

Dina Meshref, Africa’s table tennis sensation: “I can still do more”

For a majority of table tennis' 32 years as an Olympic sport, since its introduction at Seoul 1988, Germany's Timo Boll has been playing at the top level.
The 39-year-old boasts a professional career lasting over 23 years, appearing in his first World Championships in 1997 before making his Olympic

Timo BOLL

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Timo Boll explains how table tennis has changed since he started playing

A year ago, Ibrahima Diaw had no plans to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
He had been waiting for his chance with Senegal, and had given up playing for Mali, who did not have a table tennis federation.
The 2008 European Youth champion had not played for France

Dakar 2026 | Youth Olympic Games

Senegal's Ibrahima Diaw.

Ibrahima Diaw: Could this be Africa’s next big table tennis star?

This match took place on 08/08/12 at the ExCeL London. Germany claimed the Bronze with a 3 to 1 win over Hong Kong

London 2012 | Olympic Games

Replay

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Men's Team Bronze Medal Match - Table Tennis | London 2012 Replays

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is helping put Indian table tennis on the world map.
The paddler from Chennai created history a few months back after he became the first Indian men’s singles player to break into the world’s top 25 rankings. Sathiyan, however, believes that this new landmark is just the start

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran gleaned some useful insight on how to play in Japan.

Table tennis star Sathiyan Gnanasekaran bullish about his future

Timo Boll is big in China, and he knows it.
The seven-time European table tennis champion is more well-known in the Far East than his native Germany, to the extent where he cannot walk down the street without being stopped.
Speaking exclusively to Olympic Channel ahead of winning gold at

2019 European Games - Minsk

Timo Boll at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Timo Boll exclusive: How I deal with my fame in China

Timo Boll is a phenomenon.
He is easily the most successful table tennis player in German history, but he's more widely recognised in China than at home.
The oldest man to have been ranked world number one in table tennis is still at the top of his game and hopes

ITTF European Championships - Alicante

Timo Boll at the 2017 ITTF World Championships

German veteran Timo Boll celebrates seventh European title

Rio 2016 | Olympic Games

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Table Tennis: Men's Team Bronze Match | Rio 2016 Replays

Germany's table tennis team wins bronze again in Rio 2016.

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Germany's table tennis team take bronze

Germany's Table Tennis team took bronze in the competition as their trio of Timo Boll, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Bastian Steger beat Hong Kong 3-1.

Highlights

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Men's Team - Bronze Medal - Table Tennis | London 2012 Highlights

United States of America

Simone

Simone Biles - Olympics.com

Sweden

Armand

Armand Duplantis - Olympics.com

Mikaela

Mikaela SHIFFRIN

Ilia

Ilia Malinin - Olympics.com

Timo

The time has come for Timo Boll to call a close to his decorated 30-year table tennis career, officially retiring after being knocked out of Paris 2024.
Boll announced in May that the Olympic Games would be his final international tournament, having now made seven Olympic appearances dating back to

Paris 2024 | Olympic Games

Timo Boll retired from international table tennis with Paris 2024 his last competition.

Timo Boll bows out of international table tennis at Paris 2024

After a 25-year career, Timo Boll is calling it quits from international table tennis.
The German legend's final international commitment will be the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which will be his seventh Olympic Games, allowing him to join an exclusive club.
Boll, who made his first Olympic Games appearance at

Timo Boll at the 2024 WTT Saudi Smash

Timo Boll announces international retirement after Paris 2024

The revolution in table tennis is here.
After a delay due to the pandemic, which limited the extent of the new World Table Tennis (WTT) structure during 2021, the inaugural WTT Grand Smash has landed and is ready to shake up the sport.
From 11–20 March, the world's top players

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - DECEMBER 07: Fan Zhendong of China serves against Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan during their Men's Singles final match on day four of the WTT Cup Finals Singapore at OCBC Arena on December 07, 2021 in Singapore. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)

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World Table Tennis Singapore Smash 2022: Preview, schedule, and how to watch

Table tennis took centre stage from 24 July to 6 August at the Tokyo 2020 Games as the most practised sport in the world entranced and enthralled.
172 of the world's elite players went head-to-head for 15 sets of medals in five main events.
China's dragon was breathing fire once

Tokyo 2020 | Olympic Games

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 06: Xu Xin (C) and Ma Long (R) of Team China in action during their Men's Team Gold Medal table tennis match on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on August 06, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Xu Xin (C) and Ma Long (R) of Team China in action during their Men's Team Gold Medal table tennis match on day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on August 06, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

What we learned: Table tennis wrap-up from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

People's Republic of China have been crowned men's team table tennis champions after a 3-0 victory over Germany. The winning team, made up of table tennis legend MA Long, FAN Zhendong and XU Xin, beat the German team of Patrick Franziska, Dimitrij Ovtcharov and Timo Boll to gold with a

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 06: (L-R) Fan Zhengdong of Team China, his coach Qiu Zhijian, teammates Xu Xin and Ma Long hold up their national flag after winning their Men's Team Gold Medal table tennis matchon day fourteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on August 06, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

China Mens Team Table Tennis Tokyo 2020

MA Long wins historic fifth Olympic gold in team table tennis final

In the Tokyo 2020 Athletes' Village, Timo Boll sat in front of the TV and recorded a video after finishing his men's singles match. The TV behind him was showing the quarterfinals. ”It is still running, but I'm not in it”, Boll said, apparently disappointed. "This is my sixth attempt

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 27: Timo Boll of Team Germany in action during his Men's Singles Round of 16 match on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

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Timo Boll: Legend, "superstar" and still chasing gold

Germany's Timo Boll and Petrissa Solja have been crowned European singles champions after each winning all-German finals at the 2020 European Table Tennis Championships in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday (27 June 2021).
For Boll, it was his eighth career European gold medal in singles, five more than any other man

DORTMUND, GERMANY - JUNE 06: Timo Boll of Borussia Duesseldorf in action against Shang Kun of 1. FC Saarbruecken during the Final of the Table Tennis Bundesliga Team Championships between Borussia Duesseldorf and 1. FC Saarbruecken at 'Die Finals 2021' on June 06, 2021 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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Timo Boll and Petrissa Solja claim European table tennis titles in all-German finals

Hana Goda is one of Egypt’s youngest stars, a fast-rising talent with many tipping her as the next big thing in African table tennis.
The 12-year-old has got game. She is currently ranked first in the ITTF Cadets category, a position she has held since December 2019.
She is Egypt's

Hana Goda at the 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge Photo ITTF 2

12-year-old Hana Goda: The rising star of African table tennis 

India’s table tennis hope Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s journey in the ITTF Men’s World Cup in Chengdu has come to an end, after he went down fighting against Germany’s Timo Boll in the first knockout phase match.
The Indian started strongly, winning the first game, but failed to build on that momentum

Sathiyan lost 1-4 against German veteran Timo Boll in the Round of 16

G Sathiyan lost has signed a contract with Japanese T-League’s Okayama Rivets.

Sathiyan bows out of ITTF Men’s World Cup

Germany's three-time table tennis Olympic medallist, who will be 39 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, tells the Olympic Channel he isn't looking forward to ending his career - whenever that might be. Boll also talks about the level of European players and what he thinks about China's continuing domination of table tennis.

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Timo BOLL

Featured

G Sathiyan’s Sporting Hero: Of Federer's grace and Timo Boll's skills

Dina Meshref, Africa’s table tennis sensation: “I can still do more”

Timo Boll explains how table tennis has changed since he started playing

Timo BOLL
Replays

Olympic Results

Timo BOLL

Featured

G Sathiyan’s Sporting Hero: Of Federer's grace and Timo Boll's skills

Dina Meshref, Africa’s table tennis sensation: “I can still do more”

Timo Boll explains how table tennis has changed since he started playing

Timo BOLL Replays

Olympic Results

Timo BOLL
Replays