Ping Pong and China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ping Pong and China - Essay Example The game is of low intensity since little physical activity is needed. The game also have become more of men’s championship since 1959. Ping pong became an Olympic sport in 1988 (Hong, 2008). Ping pong grew rapidly in China and became the main game due to several reasons. The main reason as to the popularity of the game was due to its low cost making it affordable to many. There is no professional training that was required and this made everyone being able to participate (Memphis, 2010). The country also contributed much in the popularity with Chairman Mao’s promotion on the game. He loved and played the game and wanted to make sure that the game was recognized. The country also had gold medal rush that was in favor of the game hence the popularity. The country also had glory on the game making it more popular (Griffin, 2004). The game has been the official one to the Chinese since 1950s and has from then has given china a taste of national glory. In national Olympics, china has won twenty three out of the twenty seven medals making it feel like the game has been china’s. China as a nation has focused less on other games rather than ping pong marking it not become a marginal country (Griffin, 2004). The game in china has symbolized and also played a direct role in the fate of the nation. It did this by absorbing the game from the imperial power and then they made it their own. Mao Zedong declared the game, ping pong the national sport for China. In the championships, China won its first victory in 1959 after defeating japan in the final stage. Popularity of the game in China has grown since 1988 (Hong, 2008). In 2008 the China team won both the medals, gold, silver and bronze in both the men and women category singles and again won gold and silver in both doubles. The winning of the medals then became regular for the players. When they first competed they dominated the dominated the world championship. This success made the