Three reasons why table tennis is the national sport:

1. China’s table tennis has won great honors for the country

Before the founding of New China, China has never won a world championship. I have participated in three Olympic Games and have not won a single medal. Foreigners ridiculed the Chinese as the "sick men of East Asia".

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong called for “developing sports and enhancing people’s physical fitness.” Table tennis has been well developed throughout the country. In 1959, table tennis player Rong Guotuan won China's first world championship, attracting world attention and inspiring the Chinese people. Since then, table tennis in China has continued to thrive.

2. Table tennis is very popular in China and is loved by Chinese people

The conditions for the development of table tennis are not harsh and the participation is strong. Table tennis is another whole-body exercise, which can strengthen the body, mind and heart. Compared with sports such as football and basketball, there is no direct physical confrontation and you can control the amount of exercise, which is very conducive to popularization.

In short, this sport is particularly suitable for China’s national conditions, is generally loved by Chinese people, and generally has a relatively high level, so it can be called a national sport.

3. Table tennis has contributed to China’s long-term peace and stability

In April 1971, the Chinese table tennis team participated in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships held in Nagoya, Japan. On April 4, American player Cohen accidentally caught a ride with Chinese players. Zhuang Zedong took the initiative to present a Hangzhou brocade embroidered with the Huangshan scenery to Cohen. Cohen later gave Zhuang Zedong a sweatshirt with a peace symbol. This dramatic incident immediately became sensational news.

On April 7, on the eve of the closing of the competition, Mao Zedong decided to invite the American team to visit China, and Nixon immediately agreed to the Chinese invitation. In the spring of 1971, the U.S. table tennis delegation made a historic visit to China. A friendly table tennis match between China and the United States was staged in Beijing. The political impact it left spread to both sides of the Pacific, creating a strong foundation for the exchanges between the Chinese and American people. A diplomatic breakthrough with China and the United States has opened the door.

This is what Premier Zhou Enlai called "ping-pong diplomacy" in which the small ball pushes the big ball. When commemorating the 35th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy, the People's Daily commented that by reviewing "Ping Pong Diplomacy", people realize that friendship between people can change the world and create history.

After "ping pong diplomacy", more than 100 countries established diplomatic relations with my country from 1971 to 1979. Especially in 1971, the United Nations General Assembly passed the restoration of my country's legal seat in the United Nations with 76 votes in favor. Therefore, some people praise China as "the little silver ball that turns the earth."

Extended information:

Table tennis originated in Britain. At the end of the 19th century, tennis was popular in Europe. However, due to restrictions on venues and weather, some college students in the UK moved tennis indoors, using the dining table as a table, books as nets, parchment as rackets, and playing on the dining table. .

In 1890, several British naval officers stationed in India accidentally discovered that playing tennis on a small table was quite exciting. Later, they switched to solid rubber instead of a solid ball with little elasticity, then to a hollow plastic ball, and used a wooden board instead of a tennis racket to play this novel "tennis game" on the table. This is where the name Table Tennis comes from. .

Not long after table tennis appeared, it became a popular sport. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States began to produce complete sets of table tennis equipment. It is the number one racket-holding sport in the United States, with more than 200,000 Americans playing table tennis.

Initially, Table tennis had other names, such as Indoor tennis. Later, an American manufacturer created the new word Ping-pang based on the sound made by the impact of the table tennis ball as the "Ping-pang" he manufactured. "Table Tennis" patent registered trademark.

Ping-pang later became another official name of Table Tennis. When it spread to China, people coined the new word "Table Tennis".

People's Daily Online - Why can table tennis become China's "national sport"?