Table tennis factbox for Athens 2004

ATHENS, July 12 (Reuters) -- Factbox on table tennis at the August 13-29 Athens Olympics:

HISTORY

Table tennis, originally called ping pong, gossima or whiff-whaff, began as a social diversion in England in the late 1800s and became popular as a sport during the 1920s. The first world championships were held in 1926.

It was added to the Olympics in Seoul in 1988 and has become one of the most popular sports in the world with 187 national federations affiliated to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

EVENTS

Men's and women's singles and doubles

2000 CHAMPIONS

Men

Singles: Kong Linghui (China)

Doubles: Wang Liqin/Yan Sen (China)

Women

Singles: Wang Nan (China)

Doubles: Li Ju/Wang Nan (China)

OLYMPIC PROGRAMME

August 14: First round, all events

August 15: Second round, all events

August 16: Third round, men's and women's doubles

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Second round, men's singles

Fourth round, women's doubles

August 17: Third round, men's and women's singles

August 18: Quarter-finals, women's doubles

Fourth round, men's doubles

Fourth round, men's and women's singles

August 19: Semi-finals, women's doubles

Quarter-finals, men's doubles

Quarter-finals, women's singles

August 20: Semi-finals, men's doubles

Bronze-medal match, women's doubles

Final, women's doubles

Quarter-finals, men's singles

August 21: Semi-finals, women's singles

Bronze-medal match, men's doubles

Final, men's doubles

August 22: Semi-finals, men's singles

Bronze-medal match, women's singles

Final, women's singles

August 23: Bronze-medal match, men's singles

Final, men's singles

VENUE

Galatsi Olympic Hall, in northern Athens, which will seat

6,400 spectators.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.ittf.com

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