2025Sport - The 100th Anniversary of Table Tennis in Slovakia - First Day Cover

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.