Table tennis is a fun sport that people of all skill levels can play in various settings. Of course, while most play the sport for fun, some do it for sports. Those people are good, and with them come records worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records, such as the longest ping pong game or the strangest ones, like the most spits and catches of table tennis balls with the mouth.
However, not all ping pong records are directly related to the game: Others, who are the most inventive, only used the ball and bats or are related to table tennis statistics.
Here are the ping pong records established by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Most Table Tennis Counter Hits in One Minute
The world record was set on 13 November 2011 at the Kojimachi NTV Studio in Tokyo, Japan, by Youtuber Tacshow Arai and Japan’s Mima Ito (twice vice-World Cadet) champion. They made 180 counter hits in one minute and broke Ai Fukuhara’s record of 173 counter hits set in 2011 at the Japan Guinness World Records show.
Most Participants in a Table Tennis Rally
The English Ping Pong Association (UK) set a record of 106 people participating in a ping pong rally on 20 November 2011 in London, UK.
Largest Table Tennis Tournament
The largest table tennis tournament, with 2,048 participants, was held on 31 March 2013 in Guangzhou, China, at an event held by the Baiyun Sports Bureau (China).
Longest Table Tennis Rally
Although we thought Luke Logan and Max Fergus of Stoughton, Wisconsin had broken the record, the official longest table tennis rally was served by Steve and Brian Seibel (USA) on 14 August 2004 at the Christown YMCA in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, for 8 hours, 15 minutes, and 1 second.
Most Consecutive Opponents in a Ping Pong Rally
The Ipswich & District Table Tennis League (all UK) and Stephen Gertsen set the record for the most consecutive opponents in a ping pong rally on 18 March 2012 in Ipswich, UK. Stephen Gertsen is the former Welsh International and current ETTA Eastern Region coach.
Longest Marathon Playing Table Tennis – Singles
Randy Nunes and Danny Price (both USA) played the longest table tennis marathon singles match of 132 hours and 31 minutes on 20-26 August 1978 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA.
Longest Marathon Playing Table Tennis – Doubles
Bill Weir and Phil, Lance, and Mark Warren (all from the United States) completed the longest table tennis doubles marathon in Sacramento, California, 9-13 April 1979.
Running With Table Tennis Bat and Ball
Eshwar N, a Tumakuru-based engineering student at Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT), set a new Guinness World Record by running the fastest mile since handling a table tennis ball with a racquet. With 6 minutes and 16.53 seconds, he broke Christian Roberto López Rodrguez’s previous record of 6 minutes, 24.69 seconds.
Table Tennis Bat and Ball Control – Duration
Deepak Sharma Bajagain (Nepal) achieved the longest control of a table tennis ball with a table tennis bat at the National Sports Council’s Covered Hall on 1 December 2009 in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr. Bajagain set the record during one of his three record attempts as part of his “World Record Hat Trick” in honor of World AIDS Day 2009.
Oldest Table Tennis Player
Dorothy de Low (Australia, born 5 October 1910) was 97 years 232 days old when she represented the land down under at the XIV World Veterans Table Tennis Championships on 25 May 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, becoming the oldest ping pong player in the world. Dorothy (or Dot, as her peers affectionately call her) has previously represented her country in many World Veterans Championships. She won gold in the Over 80s Women’s Singles category at the 1992 World Championships in Dublin.
Largest Table Tennis Racket
The largest Table tennis paddle has a diameter of (5.83 ft), a height of (8.83 ft), and a handle height of (3.46 ft). Todd Thomas (USA) created it, and it was measured and presented on 3 May 2010 in Irving, Texas, USA, at the DFW Table Tennis Club.
The handle is (21 in) thick, and the blade is (2.75 in) thick. Both sides have a total of 4,682 pips. It’s made of rubber and wood, just like a regular racket.
Longest Egg Table Tennis Rally
Bipin Larkin and Ashrita Furman (both USA) set the record for the longest egg table tennis rally on 12 January 2010 in New York City, USA, at the Sri Chinmoy Centre. The rally lasted 36.5 minutes and 57 seconds.
Most Wii Play Table Tennis Volleys
Kevin Connor (USA) holds the record for the most lobs in a Wii Play Table Tennis game, having fired 285 consecutive return shots on 16 July 2009.
Greatest Distance to Spit a Table Tennis Ball
Ashrita Furman (USA) set a new world record for table tennis ball spitting with a distance of 12.83 meters (42.1 feet) on 29 January 2010 at Anakena Beach on Easter Island, Chile.
Most Spits and Catches of Two Table Tennis Balls With the Mouth
Mark Angelo set the record of 212 times spit and catch two table tennis balls with his mouth in September 2012 at the Rubber City Jugglers weekly gathering in Akron, Ohio. Angelo broke China’s Jiang Guoying’s 2009 record of 180 spit and catch table tennis balls.
Most Spits and Catches of Three Table Tennis Balls With the Mouth
Francisco Tebar Honrubia (Spain), aka Picaso Jr., set the record for the most consecutive spits and catches of three ping pong balls on 2 March 2011 on the set of TV Asahi Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. Picaso Jr. also set a record by flashing four table tennis balls with his mouth 33 times during the same performance session.
Most Spits and Catches of Four Table Tennis Balls With the Mouth
Francisco Tebar Honrubia (Spain), aka Picasso Jr, achieved the most consecutive spits and catches of four ping pong balls with the mouth on 2 March 2011 on the set of TV Asahi Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan. Picaso Jr. also set a record by flashing three table tennis balls with his mouth 76 times during the same performance session.