Throughout the early 20th century table tennis spread through Europe and the USA as a social game. It was brought to Europe by the English in the 1880s, inspired by the old Japanese game of gossima, but the foundations of its modern form mainly come from tennis. The first World Table Tennis Championship was held in London in 1926. Table tennis was recognised as an Olympic sport in 1977 and it was first included in the Olympic programme in 1988 at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul.
Table tennis spread to Slovakia early-on, within the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially in Bratislava and Košice. Further development took place after 1920 with the first clubs founded between 1922 and 1926. These were mainly in Bratislava, Košice, Piešt'any, Nitra, Banská Bystrica, Lučenec, Topoľčany, Žilina, Vysoké Tatry, but also in Nové Zámky, Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Trnava, Levice and Detva.
On 22nd October 1925, in Prague, the Czechoslovak Table Tennis Association (ČsTTA) was founded which also included table tennis in Slovakia. The organizational and technical management of the ČsTTA appointed trustees for Slovak clubs and counties. The first international Slovak table tennis championship took place from 11th to 18th of December 1927 in Bratislava.
Historical milestones in the management and organization of table tennis include the establishment of the Slovak Table Tennis Association – SSTZ (founded on 10th December 1939 in Bratislava) and the SSTZ extraordinary conference that took place on 23rd October 1993 in Považská Bystrica, where the independent Slovak Table Tennis Association was founded. It manages all aspects of table tennis in Slovakia including international representation, management of the national league, coaching and methodological issues, training of coaches and referees, finances, top-level table tennis and the development of talented young players.
Zdenka Letenayová
