Para Table Tennis
Para table tennis debuted at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games.
About Para Table Tennis
Para table tennis is a derivative of table tennis, in which the size of the table is the same, and slight rule adjustments are made for those in wheelchairs.
Para table tennis is the third most played sport in the Paralympics, with over 100 countries competing in the sport.
Sorted into different classes, athletes with either physical impairments (classes1-10) or intellectual impairments (class 11) are able to compete in Para table tennis. Those with physical disabilities are sorted into sitting (class one through five) and standing groups (class 6-10).
The sport can be played in doubles or singles. The first athlete that scores 11 points with two consecutive final points wins a set. Matches are played in five sets.
The International Table Tennis Federation is the governing body for the sport of Para table tennis.
Para Table Tennis history
Although the exact origins of Para table tennis are difficult to trace, some baseline information is known.
Table tennis was first played in the 1880s, and the governing body of Para table tennis, the International Table Tennis Federation, was founded in 1926.
Para table tennis was included in the precursor Games of the Paralympics, the Stoke Mandeville Games as a demonstration sport in 1950.
Para table tennis was on the sport programme of the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960.
Only athletes in wheelchairs competed in the first Para table tennis events at the Games. As the sport developed, events for those with many physical impairments and intellectual impairments were added.
The Para Table Tennis World Championship first took place in the Netherlands in 1990, 30 years after its Paralympic debut.
The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games marked the first in which a Para table tennis player, Bruna Alexandre from Brasil competed in both the Olympics and Paralympics.
China leads with medals in the sport by a wide margin, possessing 86 gold, and 149 medals with the second best being West Germany with 43 gold and 97 overall.
Did you know ?
Smashes from Para table tennis players can reach speeds over 100 kilometres per hour.
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Para Table Tennis News
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World Para Table Tennis Championships to feature gender parity
The Para table tennis World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, in November 2026 is set to feature 165 male and 165 female athletes, reaching gender parity for the first time
Best Para table tennis moments of Paris 2024
Australia's Qian Yang battled to the women's singles WS10 gold, facing two Para table tennis players with Olympic experience
ITTF announces new circuit structure to transform Para table tennis
Building on the momentum of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the International Table Tennis Foundation (ITTF) has unveiled a reimagined circuit structure that promises to elevate Para table tennis worldwide
Partyka eyes fifth Para table tennis singles title
Para table tennis icon Natalia Partyka is one win away from her seventh Paralympic gold medal
Can China’s Para table tennis dominance be broken?
Australia and France aiming to break long-standing Asian Para table tennis stranglehold
From Olympics to Paralympics, Alexandre is on a mission
A month after making her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, Brazilian Para table tennis player Bruna Alexandre shares her expectations and challenges of playing at both Games
Federation Contact
Para Table Tennis
Raul Calin
PARALYMPIC AND PARA SPORT RESULTS
Search for all results from Paralympic Games events and selected other international Para sport events.
Para Table Tennis FAQ
There are no differences for standing players, but a few rule adaptations for seated players. For example, the legs of the table are further apart to adapt to the size of the wheelchair. Additionally, players may be allowed to hold their racket and serve the ball in different ways than table tennis.
Para table tennis is played with the same rules as table tennis. Opponents hit the ball over the net, and score points when the ball bounces twice on their opponent's side of the table. The game is played in a best-of-five-set format. Each set requires players to score 11 points.
Athletes with physical impairment and intellectual impairments can play the sport.
In some cases, players are allowed to lean on the table, as long as the table does not move. Generally speaking, players may not touch the table during a Para table tennis match.
There are five sets in a match of Para table tennis.
Games are usually no longer than 30 minutes.
No, Para table tennis tables are the same as table tennis tables. The table is 2.74 metres long and 1.52 metres wide.
The game of Para table tennis was used by Sir Ludwig Guttman in England.