Learn An Olympic Sport: Table Tennis

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:15 p.m. ET

Dieter Kurtenbach

The Olympics are about to start, and admit it, you don’t know the first thing about any of these sports.

You probably know the USA Olympic basketball team, and probably a gymnast or two, but the rest of the sports — it’s fine if you’re drawing a blank.

We’re here to help.

The Olympics is the greatest festival — perhaps Carnival is the better term here — of sport the world has to offer, and there are a lot of sports you’ve never watched that will be beamed directly to your television sets and smartphones this August.

Now’s the time to fall in love with a new sport, and we’re here to help introduce you to a few new games:

Table Tennis

When can I watch?

Women’s singles gold medal match— August 10

Men’s singles gold medal match—August 11

Women’s team gold medal match —August 16

Men’s team gold medal match —August 17

Why should I watch?

Don’t call it ping pong. Seriously, the athletes hate that. No matter what you call it, though, table tennis is a game that everyone has played at least once, more likely that not in a wood-paneled basement with some nasty, chipped wooden paddles. At the core, the game is no different than the rec room staple — except, as you would have to expect, it’s played way faster. It’s nearly superhuman. You can learn few things from the world’s best, though, and you can be the king or queen of the basement with a bit of emulation.

Do you have a video? A video might help:

Can you explain the rules in a minute?

In case you need a refresher: you win a point when your opponent misses the other side of the table on a return hit, plays the ball into the net in the middle of the table, or hits it on their side of the table before bouncing over the net. Service is simple: it needs to bounce on both sides of the table to count. Games are played to 11 — win by two — and opponents alternate serve every two points (and every point when the score is 10-10). Singles games are best-of-seven. The team competition is made up of four singles matches and a doubles match — each is best-of-five.

Are Americans any good at this?

Not really. China is the dominant force in the game, and America doesn’t really have much of a shot at a medal this tournament. The USA women’s team is 500-1 to win gold. America does have a future gold medal hopefuls at the games, though. Kanak Jha is 16 and is the first U.S. Olympian born in the 2000s. He’s the reigning national champion and while he’s an incredible longshot to medal, there’s plenty of upside to get excited about this year.

Who are the favorites?

It’s China. Both the men’s and women’s teams are -1400 money line favorites to win the team events (that’s a 93 percent probability to win gold) and feature the top two individual gold medal competitors in each competition.

Ma Long is the favorite to win gold in the men’s individual tournament and his countryman, Zhang Jike, the reigning gold medalist is the only real threat.

The women’s side is slightly more open, as China's Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia are a close 1-2 to win gold.