Table Tennis Olympics is the most prestigious tournament (Games of the XXXII Olympiad, Tokyo 2021). Therefore, there are some specific rules that you should know. Unlike the normal tournament, there are some different rules than the basic rules in table tennis.
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Qualification Rules

There are limit of participants allowed in Olympic Games table tennis.



Here are the list of LIST OF QUALIFIED TEAMS for both Men and Women Team.
Pos. | Player | Country | YOB |
---|---|---|---|
1 | BOLL Timo | GER | 1981 |
2 | FALCK Mattias | SWE | 1991 |
3 | OVTCHAROV Dimitrij | GER | 1988 |
4 | FRANZISKA Patrick | GER | 1992 |
5 | PITCHFORD Liam | ENG | 1993 |
6 | GROTH Jonathan | DEN | 1992 |
7 | SAMSONOV Vladimir | BLR | 1976 |
8 | KARLSSON Kristian | SWE | 1991 |
9 | FREITAS Marcos | POR | 1988 |
10 | FILUS Ruwen | GER | 1988 |
11 | GAUZY Simon | FRA | 1994 |
12 | WALTHER Ricardo | GER | 1991 |
13 | LEBESSON Emmanuel | FRA | 1988 |
14 | HABESOHN Daniel | AUT | 1986 |
15 | APOLONIA Tiago | POR | 1986 |
16 | KOU Lei | UKR | 1987 |
17 | IONESCU Ovidiu | ROU | 1989 |
18 | DUDA Benedikt | GER | 1994 |
19 | GIONIS Panagiotis | GRE | 1980 |
20 | TOKIC Bojan | SLO | 1981 |
21 | GARDOS Robert | AUT | 1979 |
22 | ROBLES Alvaro | ESP | 1991 |
23 | STEGER Bastian | GER | 1981 |
24 | PERSSON Jon | SWE | 1986 |
25 | SKACHKOV Kirill | RUS | 1987 |
26 | FEGERL Stefan | AUT | 1988 |
27 | JORGIC Darko | SLO | 1998 |
28 | PISTEJ Lubomir | SVK | 1984 |
29 | GACINA Andrej | CRO | 1986 |
30 | DYJAS Jakub | POL | 1995 |
31 | NUYTINCK Cedric | BEL | 1993 |
32 | PUCAR Tomislav | CRO | 1996 |
33 | WANG Yang | SVK | 1994 |
34 | AKKUZU Can | FRA | 1997 |
35 | STOYANOV Niagol | ITA | 1987 |
36 | OLAH Benedek | FIN | 1991 |
37 | BOBOCICA Mihai | ITA | 1986 |
38 | JANCARIK Lubomir | CZE | 1987 |
39 | SZOCS Hunor | ROU | 1992 |
40 | KHANIN Aliaksandr | BLR | 1998 |
41 | LIND Anders | DEN | 1998 |
42 | LAMBIET Florent | BEL | 1995 |
43 | GERALDO Joao | POR | 1995 |
44 | WALKER Samuel | ENG | 1995 |
45 | SHIBAEV Alexander | RUS | 1990 |
46 | ROBINOT Alexandre | FRA | 1995 |
47 | SIRUCEK Pavel | CZE | 1992 |
48 | DEVOS Robin | BEL | 1994 |
49 | LEVENKO Andreas | AUT | 1998 |
50 | LIVENTSOV Alexey | RUS | 1981 |
Pos. | Player | Country | YOB |
---|---|---|---|
1 | SZOCS Bernadette | ROU | 1995 |
2 | POLCANOVA Sofia | AUT | 1994 |
3 | SAMARA Elizabeta | ROU | 1989 |
4 | SOLJA Petrissa | GER | 1994 |
5 | LI Jie | NED | 1984 |
6 | EKHOLM Matilda | SWE | 1982 |
7 | POTA Georgina | HUN | 1985 |
8 | HAN Ying | GER | 1983 |
9 | YU Fu | POR | 1978 |
10 | LI Qian | POL | 1986 |
11 | EERLAND Britt | NED | 1994 |
12 | NI Xia Lian | LUX | 1963 |
13 | MIKHAILOVA Polina | RUS | 1986 |
14 | MITTELHAM Nina | GER | 1996 |
15 | BALAZOVA Barbora | SVK | 1992 |
16 | XIAO Maria | ESP | 1994 |
17 | PESOTSKA Margaryta | UKR | 1991 |
18 | WINTER Sabine | GER | 1992 |
19 | MATELOVA Hana | CZE | 1990 |
20 | NOSKOVA Yana | RUS | 1994 |
21 | PERGEL Szandra | HUN | 1988 |
22 | GAPONOVA Ganna | UKR | 1985 |
23 | SOLJA Amelie | AUT | 1990 |
24 | LIU Jia | AUT | 1982 |
25 | PARTYKA Natalia | POL | 1989 |
26 | MADARASZ Dora | HUN | 1993 |
27 | DE NUTTE Sarah | LUX | 1992 |
28 | GALIC Alex | SLO | 1994 |
29 | CECHOVA Dana | CZE | 1983 |
30 | DVORAK Galia | ESP | 1988 |
31 | BERGSTROM Linda | SWE | 1995 |
32 | BILENKO Tetyana | UKR | 1983 |
33 | YANG Xiaoxin | MON | 1988 |
34 | LOEUILLETTE Stephanie | FRA | 1992 |
35 | GASNIER Laura | FRA | 1993 |
36 | SHAO Jieni | POR | 1994 |
37 | MORET Rachel | SUI | 1989 |
38 | TAILAKOVA Mariia | RUS | 2001 |
39 | LUPULESKU Izabela | SRB | 1999 |
40 | LANG Kristin | GER | 1985 |
41 | JEGER Mateja | CRO | 1995 |
42 | PAVLOVICH Viktoria | BLR | 1978 |
43 | VIVARELLI Debora | ITA | 1993 |
44 | PICCOLIN Giorgia | ITA | 1996 |
45 | ZHANG Sofia-Xuan | ESP | 1999 |
46 | MONTEIRO DODEAN Daniela | ROU | 1988 |
47 | ADAMKOVA Karin | CZE | 1994 |
48 | TRIGOLOS Daria | BLR | 1999 |
49 | BOGDANOVA Nadezhda | BLR | 2000 |
50 | CHASSELIN Pauline | FRA | 1997 |
- There are only 16 teams that is qualified for the Table Tennis Olympics
- Each country with a qualified Men’s or Women’s Team will be entitled to nominate only two (2) athletes to compete in the Singles events.
- Maximum of one (1) team per country can participate. Even if some country is very strong in table tennis, like China.


Changes from Previous Olympics (Rio 2016/PyeongChang 2018)
There are also some modifications compared to the previous Olympics.
Clothing
One identification of the manufacturer will be permitted on Zippers and Buttons, and should appear in the same colour as the concerned item (i.e. tone on tone), as long as such identifications are deemed not conspicuous by the IOC.
Size and frequency of Authorised Identifications is modified.

Eyewear
Eyewear may carry the identification of the manufacturer as generally used on products sold through the retail trade during the period of 6 months or more prior to the Games, with the Identifications permitted on the lenses so long as such identifications are tone-on-tone, engraved into the lens, and is not deemed as conspicuous by the IOC.

Headgear
Additional option – Two Identifications of the Manufacturer per accessory item will be permitted, to a maximum size of 5 cm2 each, placed above each ear. One identification of the manufacturer per item, with a maximum size of 10 cm2.

Footwear
In principle, athletes’ names are not allowed on the footwear unless listed as a technical requirement in the sport specific implementation section or are found on shoes sold on the retail consumer market six (6) months prior to the Games.

Items That Must Remain Unbranded
Certain items, due in particular to their potential for abuse in the context of product placement or advertising on the Field of Play (FOP), should at all times remain unbranded and/or not feature any Identification (by covering any existing Identification) if brought by the participant on the FOP or in camera view.

Consequently, the following Items may not feature any Identification of the Manufacturer: headphones, water bottles, coolers, umbrellas, towels, bandages (i.e. kinesio tape), contact lenses, earplugs, mouth guards and nose clips. This list is an exemplary and non-exhaustive list and may be amended and completed when necessary by the IOC.
Paddle/Racket
Up to 3 Identifications of the Manufacturer will be permitted on the blade (one on each side and on the bottom of the grip), one Identification of the Manufacturer will be permitted on each rubber (embossed on the rubber as authorised by the ITTF), and one Identification of the Manufacturer, with a maximum length of 4cm, will be permitted
on racket side tape.

The total combined size of these Identifications of the Manufacturer shall not be greater than 10% of the surface area of the item, to a maximum total size of 60 cm2.

Here are some of the General Guidelines Regarding Authorised Identifications Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2021.
Qualification Rules system of table tennis in Olympics

Number of events
There are 5 events of table tennis in Olympics:
- Men’s Events (2): Singles, and Team
- Women’s Events (2): Singles, and Team
- Mixed Event (1): Mixed Doubles
ATHLETES QUOTA
- Men: 82 (Qualification Places) + 3 (Host Country Places) + 1 (Tripartite Commission Invitation Places)
- Women: 82 (Qualification Places) + 3 (Host Country Places) + 1 (Tripartite Commission Invitation Places)
- Total: 172
Maximum Number of Athletes per country:
- Men: 3
– Maximum 1 Team of 3 athletes
– Maximum 2 athletes in singles
– Maximum 1 athlete in mixed doubles - Women 3
– Maximum 1 Team of 3 athletes
– Maximum 2 athletes in singles
– Maximum 1 athlete in mixed doubles - Total: 6/ country
Team qualification:
- 6 Continental Team qualification with one team (3 athletes) per country
- 9 World Team qualification with one team (3 athletes) per country
- 1 Host Country (if not already qualified)
- Total = 16
Singles qualification:
- 32 With two (2) athletes nominated from each country with one qualified team.
- 22 Continental Singles qualification with a maximum of two (2) athletes from the same country
- 1 Tripartite Commission Invitation place
- 2-8 Not less than 2 and not more than 8 from the Final World Singles Qualifying Tournament
- 1-13 Minimum 1 from ITTF World Ranking
- Total = 64-70 With a maximum of two (2) athletes from the same country to participate in singles events
Olympic Table Tennis Scoring Rules
How many games in a match?
A match is the best of 7 games in the men’s and women’s individual events and the best of 5 games in the men’s and women’s team events. In team events, the first team to win 3 games is the overall winner.

Towel off and time out

You are allowed to wipe yourself off (towering) every 6 points during a match, such as 3-3, 6-6, 4-2, etc.
Each player (or double team) is authorized to claim 1 time-out of one minute maximum during a match.
You are allowed to a maximum rest period of 1 minute between matches. During this rest period, you must leave your racket on the table.
International Officials and Referee for Olympics Table Tennis

References:
- IOC Guidelines Table Tennis
- https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/
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Salut Coach,
I have an idea for your next article. How about an article to highlight the differentiate between Chinese vs Euro style TT. Ever since I come into this sport, I have been reading and hearing about these two mainstream style. I live in Asia and I only know one style; the so called Chinese or Asian style. Even that I was not aware of the existence of Chinese or Euro style until I read the internet forum.
Thank you SpinnerZ. You are right. When you ask many pro coach in France, and EU, they can answer correctly the difference of 2 styles. For example, GARDOS Robert loves playing with Asian style. He said that he won more when he played versus an asian players.
It is true for Gardos Robert, this player during world championships team events in 2018 he played a match against Ma Long in 7 games !!
Look at this match against the best player of all time.
Gardos is able to brings him at 7 games.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nQKHm3TZwPA
Coach,
Can you do an article to differentiate between Chinese versus European style?
These two mainstream style has given me much confusion. thanks.
Hi Coach.( plz read the whole discussion and help me) I just wanted to ask you that i am looking forward for building a new racket. I want a really flexy and soft blade by which i can get excellent kick effect and spin. The rubbers that i am going to use and that i think are going to be good are DHS Neo hurricane 3($22) on FH and on BH Tibhar evolution mxp. I was thinking to buy the DHS Hurricane H-TP blade that has good flex and is soft but it is 7ply. Then i thought of TSP Gaia or TSP award offensive. Plz help me with this. Tell me which of the following blades that i have mentioned will be good for my racket. If you have any other suggestion of blade do tell me but make sure that it doesnt exceed $60. Thanks.
Your rubber choice is OK (H3 on FH, and MXP on BH). Good setup.
For the blade, it depends on your distance.
If you play close to the table, choose TSP Award.
If you play far from the table, and power topspin, choose DHS Hurricane H.
Thanks coach. You said that my rubbers are OK. which rubbers do you recommend that are better.Make sure that each rubber is not more then $40. I want a really chinese style racket with a soft/flexy blade with a really tacky and hard rubber on fh and euro style rubber on backhand. Thanks a lot.
Another great rubber for Fh is Yasaka Rakza X.
At first i wanted tu put it for Bh but so good for Fh also !!
Low Throw Angle, great control even in Max, not to much sensitive and th best excellent spin !!
I use Stiga Offensive CR blade. FH rubber is Xiom Asia iV, BH is Xiom Europe Vega.
Very controllable set up and powerful when full stroke is engaged.