PING-PONG—THE NATIONAL INDOOR GAME OF THE FUTURE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVII, Issue III, 20 July 1901, Page 112

PING-PONG—THE NATIONAL INDOOR GAME OF THE FUTURE.

Are we in for a Ping-Pong epidemic’? This is the question which is agitating the minds of many at the present moment, and it would seem that there are good grounds for the query. Ping Pong—which is another name for' table tennis—is the latest in parlour games, and its keenest votaries are cricketers and tennis players, who, from a mere parlour amusement, have developed the game into a science. At present its rapidly increasing popularity threatens to overshadow many time-honoured evening entertainments—billiards not excepted. The game can be played on an ordinary dining-table, though the “correct” thing is a smooth board surface painted black, with a narrow white boundary line all round the edge. The balls are made of white celluloid, and the rackets of vellum or gut with six-inch handles. It costs about 20s. for the entire outfit. Since the pioneer club —the Cavendish—started in London some few months ago, many others have sprung into existence in the country, and Ping-pong matches are in full swing.