websites like
parisstreetpingpong.fr
,
which reveal all the
outdoor locations of tables in the city (137 and counting),
while Ping Out
(
pingout.net
)
in Copenhagen gets local
artists to decorate public neighbourhood tables.
In the UK, Ping! (
pingengland.co.uk
)
has been putting
tables in public places for month-long residencies across
the country since 2010. In just three years, the organisers
have installed nearly 600 tables and encouraged over half
a million people to play. Elsewhere in London, Pongathon
(
pongathon.com
)
provides “wall-to-wall ping pong tables
set against a backdrop of live visual art, music, creative
themes, social tournament play and ping-pong robots”, or
step into the future with Ping Tron (
pingtron.com
),
where
games are played in the dark with UV-lit equipment.
The game was even heralded by London’s mayor, Boris
Johnson, at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing
Olympics: “Ping pong was invented on the dining tables
of England in the 19th century and it was called wiff-waff.
And I say to the Chinese, and to the world, that ping pong
is coming home!”
So you could say it’s been a perfect case of right place
and right time. “The revival happened as we were building
Bounce,” says Penzik. “It’s amazing. It’s a gateway sport
as it crosses all genders and barriers. It’s the number-one
participation sport in the world. As it’s such a democratic
game, we’re going to be opening Bounce in the mornings,
free, for community groups, local schools and charities.”
With plans to expand the brand globally in the coming
year and develop a digital presence to trump its rivals, it
sounds like this could be game, set and match.
London
need to know
(
49
)
number of table-tennis clubs listed in the
Greater London area
(
1926
)
year the first World Table Tennis
Championships were held in London
(
$100,000
)
prize fund of the World Championship of
Ping Pong held earlier this year in London
easyJet
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It’s a gateway sport as it crosses
all genders and barriers.
It’s
the number-one participation
sport in the world
A BIT OF WIFF–WAFF
09
It’s a sociable game
10
Red and black are the
official colours of a
ping-pong paddle
11
Bounce’s bar is
over 12m long
11
09
10
As many Berliners had grown up playing
Tischtennis
(
table tennis) at school and public tables in parks across
the city, it was no surprise when it moved into the
nightlife scene. A popular German variation,
Rundlauf
(
running around), often played in bars, sees two queues of
people either side of the net taking a shot each.
In other cities, municipal ping pong has always been a
part of their social life. Parisian fans of the game consult
*
FOR T&CS SEE P157
0 9 5
B U S I N E S S
L O N D O N
