Tennis on a nine by five table
Ping pong by its colloquial name
The second most played sport in the world
The Victorians would be amazed by its fame.

It began as an aristocratic English pastime
Now the Chinese totally dominate the game.
It is as physically demanding as tennis
But cerebral like chess all the same.

It started out with just simple sandpaper bats
But graduated to hi tech rubbers and sponges.
But the essence of the game has remained constant
With its spins and its drives and its lunges.

It’s played at the full Olympic level
And it’s played in the local youth clubs
It’s played in all the corporate boardrooms
And it’s played in the parks and the pubs.

It’s played on the decks of cruise liners
And it’s played in the local town squares
It’s played in our gardens and garages
And it’s played in local leagues everywhere.

It’s played by the rich and the famous
The celebrities just can’t get enough
And it’s played by street kids the world over
Even though the conditions and equipment maybe rough.

They say that football is the most popular sport in the world
With its mega buck and big corporate deals
But it’s ping pong the really captures the heart of the populous
If you’ve ever played it you just know how it feels.

It doesn’t seem to be quite as corrupt as many other sports
Though I’m certain there is still cheating here and there
But strange as it may seem, when you play a game of ping
There’s a certain childish innocence just hanging in the air.

There are enthusiasts still playing into their eighties
These veterans forever travelling from place to place
Their love of the sport is undiminished
Still competing with a smile on their face.

And the disabled have taken to ping pong
With a dexterity that never ceases to amaze.
Some use it for exercise and therapy
Others take it to the Para Olympian phase.

Age, nation and gender don’t seem to matter
And neither does the level of play.
The name of the game is participation
Inclusion in the table tennis way.

I’ve loved the game of ping pong since childhood
It’s been my hobby since I was a boy.
I’ve been player and coach and manager
And even in the governing body’s employ.

And despite this new age of technology
Where computers are as common as toys
The tactile pleasures of table tennis combat
Still seem to deliver us infinite joys.

And there is no sign of the pleasures of ping pong waning
Quite the contrary, the game’s on the rise.
There’s a renaissance in many towns and cities
But to me this is of no great surprise.

For in this age of increasing automation
With AI robots beginning their rise
I suspect that the intriguing challenge of ping pong
Will help to keep humanity alive.