THE 4 EVENTSMen (2 events): singles, teamWomen (2 events): singles, teamTHE FORMATSingles: Knock-out tournament. 4 rounds before the quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze medal match and final.Team: Knock-out tournament with 16 teams of 3 players. 1 round before the quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze medal match and final.MILESTONES19th centuryInvention of table tennis.1935Hungarian Viktor Barna wins a record 5th individual world championship title in London.1952Japanese players cause a sensation at the world championships in Bombay by using bats covered with rubber.1952Hiroji Satoh of Japan is the first Asian to be crowned world champion, heralding the future domination of the sport by Asian players.1954Developed by the Yugoslavs, the penhold grip is adopted by Asian players, notably the Chinese and Japanese.13 April, 1971The US team travels to China for a series of exhibition matches. The visit paves the way for a thawing of diplomatic relations between the two countries - so called ping-pong diplomacy.1981The IOC recognises table tennis as an Olympic sport, though it has never even appeared as a demonstration sport.1988Table tennis makes its official Olympic debut at the Games in Seoul.1992Jan-Ove Waldner of Sweden wins the mens singles in Barcelona. He remains the only Olympic table tennis champion from outside China or South Korea.2012Li Xiaoxia takes Olympic gold in the womens singles, continuing Chinas flawless streak in the event. Chinese women have won every singles competition since the sport was introduced in 1988.STARSViktor Barna (Hungary/Great Britain)What a record! 15 world titles, including 5 in singles. Between 1930 and 1935, he lost only one singles match, to his compatriot and doubles partner Miklos Szabados.Deng Yaping (China)The greatest. The diminutive Deng (1.52m) is widely considered the best womens player of all time. Double Olympic champion in 1992 and 1996 (singles and doubles), she also won 3 world singles titles in 1991, 1995 and 1997.Jan-Ove Waldner (Sweden)An incredible talent. Olympic singles champion in 1992 and silver medallist in 2000, the Swede was also crowned singles world champion in 1989 and 1997. Arguably the greatest player of all time, he almost always made the podium at major championships. When he wasnt busy winning in the singles, he also excelled in doubles and team events. cheap adidas nhl jerseys .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. cheap nfl jerseys wholesale . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. http://www.wholesalejerseyscheapchina.net/ . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. jerseys china . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. jerseys nfl wholesale . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Following in the grand tradition of famous sports couples past and present, like Caroline Wozniacki and Rory McIlroy or Sydney Leroux and Dom Dwyer, Shawn Johnson and her new husband Andrew East played the Lets embarrass each other on social media! game on Tuesday.East, a long snapper with the Oakland Raiders, got the party started with a picture of his wife sleeping on the plane.And not to be outdone, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist immediately responded with not one, but THREE ssimilar photos that she clearly had been saving in her phone for just the right occasion.ddddddddddddI dont know about you, but I hope this game goes on all day. May the best embarrassing photo taker win! (My moneys on Shawn, FWIW)See something entertaining on social media that you think deserves to be shared? Let me know on Twitter, @darcymaine_espn. ' ' '