30 April: Table Tennis

On this date in 1901, a new game, called ping pong, was launched. 10 things you didn't know about ping pong, aka table tennis.

1. The game originated as a parlour game in Victorian England, where people improvised by using a row of books stood up on a table as a net and would hit a golf ball across the "net" with books. It may be that the true origin of the game was from British military officers in India larking about in their offices, and who continued playing when they came home.
2. Ping pong was only one of numerous names the game went by in those times. Toy manufacturers were in stiff competition to market an indoor version of tennis and used names such as whiff-whaff, flim-flam, punch ball and pim-pam.
3. J. Jaques & Son Ltd trademarked the name ping pong in 1901, and sold the rights to Parker Brothers in the USA. Parker Brothers were extremely litigation happy and would sue anyone else trying to use the name, but somewhat like the term "Hoover" for a Vacuum cleaner, it became commonly used by the general public to describe the game.
4. Early ping pong balls were made of celluloid. Today they are made of a polymer. There are rules about the properties of the ball. A ping pong ball must be 40 millimetres (1.57 in) in diameter and weigh 2.7 grams (0.095 oz). There's even a rule about how bouncy it has to be. It must bounce up 24–26 cm (9.4–10.2 in) when dropped from a height of 30.5 cm (12.0 in) onto a standard steel block. For physics geeks, that's a coefficient of restitution of 0.89 to 0.92. The ball is either White or Orange in colour. The colour used in a match depends on the colour of the table and its surroundings.
5. In international competitions and the Olympic Games, the sport is dominated by the Chinese. Some sources say that China has made ping pong its national sport, while others say China doesn't have an official national sport. They're certainly very good at it, having won 82.3% of the world championships since 1981.
6. That said, the top player ever, who won 16 world championships and is known as “The Mozart of Table Tennis” is actually Swedish. His name is Jan-Ove Waldner. He's very popular in China where they've nicknamed him Lao Wa which means Old Waldner. He announced his retirement from the sport in 2016.
7. It's a game anyone can play. In the 2016 Olympics, table tennis players ranged in age from 15 to 54.
8. A study by researchers from The American Museum of Natural History found that ping pong is the best sport to play to exercise your brain, because it enhances activity in the primary motor cortex and cerebellum which are responsible for arm and hand movement. Doctors recommend playing table tennis for elderly people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. It's good for the body, as well. A game of table tennis can burn 200 and 350 calories per hour depending on how fast the game is. In professional competitions, players often hit the ball at speeds exceeding 100 mph.
9. At time of writing, the longest table tennis rally lasted 8 hr 40 min 5 seconds, played by Daniel Ives and Peter Ives at the Plumstead Radical Working Men's Club in London, UK, on 23 March 2014.
10. In the 1970s, ping pong helped break down barriers between countries. Back in 1971, the US and China's relations were somewhat tense. China, however, decided to host a friendly table tennis tournament and invited various other nations to China to take part. They invited players from the UK, Canada, Colombia and the US. The event got global coverage under the name of “ping pong diplomacy”. The following year, President Nixon visited China in order to develop collaboration between the two countries.

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Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

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