Every four years the professional sport of table tennis enters the global psyche under the bright lights of the Summer Olympics. Outside of China (where it’s a national sport and they have won gold and silver in both mens and womens singles this year), table tennis or ‘ping pong’ is tremendously popular as a casual game but is markedly different from the professional sport on display in London. There’s actually an interesting article on the Daily Beast about the social sport’s rise that is worth a perusal if you’re interested to learn more about the differences between the casual and professional game.
Okay onto the Olympics and funny faces. Table tennis like all sports being showcased requires incredible concentration and skill. The inclusion of an innocent little ball and smallish paddle can make for some humorous captures during matches. Keep in mind these athletes are being photographed thousands of times a game and anyone who has ever had a photo of themselves taken during a sporting event knows there’s good opportunity for a funny face or two. Nobody’s posing for the camera, the goal is to win and defeat your opponent.
So with that, here’s a gallery of the funny faces of table tennis from the 2012 Olympics in London. Enjoy!
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