The table tennis match presented by comedian Abdel Achrian against Dedy Mahendra Desta yesterday was exciting and exciting. Even before the game was held, both parties had high tension with gimmicks. The match, broadcast live on the VINDES Youtube channel and watched by at least 250 thousand people, was won by Cing Abdel with a score of 4-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11.6, 11-5, 11-5).
Not only was the match full of gimmicks, but yesterday’s match was also a statement from Desta and Abdel to raise the prestige of table tennis and incite the management of PTMSI (All Indonesia Table Tennis Association). Table tennis is a sport that is quite popular in Indonesia itself, but unfortunately, recently, table tennis seems to be losing popularity with other sports.
So let’s get to know this sport better.
History of Table Tennis
According to the ITTF ( International Table Tennis Federation ) website, table tennis is an improvised sport from grass tennis, popular in the 1880s. Previously, table tennis was only played by the upper class in England. The process of developing a table tennis game is also exciting. Started by David Foster in 1890, Foster used a table, wooden rackets, and rubber balls. Then it grew into Gossima by John Jaques in 1891, with the same tools but modifications from the noise to the ball. Unfortunately, Gossima had a hard bouncing ball, which reduced their interest in playing.
From gossima changed to ping-pong by Jaques and sold it to Hamley Brothers (United States). The game also developed with the invention of a more bouncing ball by James Gibb, a British ping-pong fan, namely the Celluloid Ball, and a racket that was more comfortable to play. EC Goode set out to make the game more fun by adding rubber to a wooden stew and finding the table still in use today. It was from this progress that the game of table tennis began to be in demand by the public.
ITTF As Table Tennis Parent Organization
The spread of the game of ping-pong was inseparable from the British; at that time, British soldiers often played table tennis. As a result of the popular game, on January 15, 1926, the ITTF ( International Table Tennis Federation ) was formed as the leading table tennis organization initiated by Dr. George Lehmen from Germany.
The first person to become chairman of the ITTF was Hown Ivor Montagu from England. At that time, only eight countries immediately registered as members of the ITTF, namely England, Germany, India, Austria, Hungary, Sweden, Wales, and Czechoslovakia. The ITTF held the first matches of the ping-pong tournament in London on 6-11 December 1926 and was named the First World Table Tennis Championship.
As the leading table tennis organization, ITTF is responsible for various table tennis competencies, such as the World Table Tennis Championship. This championship is held every two years and competes in team or individual matches. Then there is the ITTF Men’s World Cup, the ITTF Women’s World Cup, and the ITTF World Tour. And in 1988, table tennis was included in the sports contested at the Seoul, South Korean Olympics.
Table Tennis in Indonesia
The game of table tennis has been around since 1930 and was played by the Dutch at that time. In 1939, a table tennis management organization was formed, PPPSI (All Indonesian Ping Pong Association). Table tennis was also one of the sports contested in the first PON (National Sports Week) in 1948, which was held in Solo, Central Java. The first new PPPSI congress was born in 1958 in Surakarta and changed its name to PTMSI (All Indonesia Table Tennis Association). Two years later, PTMSI joined as a member of the TTFA ( Table Tennis Federation of Asia ). And in 1961, PTMSI also became an official member of the ITTF.
The achievements of Indonesian table tennis are pretty brilliant. Many outstanding athletes have made Indonesia proud in this sport. Legendary names such as Sugeng Utomo who have been ranked in the top 10 in singles in the world (1969), ranked in the top 5 in singles at the Asian Table Tennis Champions (1970) and ranked 8th in men’s doubles (1975) World Table Tennis Champions. Then there was Rossy Pratiwi Dipoyati representing Indonesia in two Olympics in Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996).
Anton Suseno, who was the commentator at the Desta-Abdel match, won a gold medal for the 1991 and 1993 Sea Games and represented Indonesia in three Olympics in Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), and Australia (2000). And at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, David Jacobs donated a bronze medal for Indonesia in the men’s singles event.
So that’s the history of table tennis in the world and Indonesia. Hopefully, table tennis in Indonesia can rise and develop even more. It’s a shame if this sport which is quite popular in Indonesia is stuck like this or even has decreased its achievements.