History of women's table tennis

Table tennis has been a sport for both women and men from the very start. Women have played the World Championships since the first edition and have been on the Olympic program since the sport joined the Games in 1988. Even so, the history of women's table tennis gets less attention than the men's.

This article collects the key milestones: the first champions, each country's era, the Olympics and the players whose stories go beyond medals.

The first champions (1926 to 1939)

The first World Championships, in London in 1926, already had a women's singles event. The winner was Hungary's Mária Mednyánszky, who won five times in a row through 1931. Other Europeans followed, such as Anna Sipos (Hungary) and Marie Kettnerová (Czechoslovakia).

A notable case for American readers is Ruth Aarons, world champion in 1936. She is still the only player from the United States, man or woman, to win a world singles title. Today's leading American player is profiled in our Lily Zhang article.

The 1930s also brought the Corbillon Cup, a trophy donated by Marcel Corbillon, then president of the French federation. It became the women's world team championship and is still played for today.

Angelica Rozeanu and the record holders

After World War II, Hungary's Gizella Farkas won three titles in a row (1947 to 1949). Then came Romania's Angelica Rozeanu, world singles champion six straight times, from 1950 to 1955. That is the most world singles titles in history, men included. Romania also won five Corbillon Cups in that period.

See more historic numbers in table tennis records.

Japan's era

In 1956, Tomi Okawa became the first Asian woman to win the world singles title. Japan then dominated: Fujie Eguchi, Kimiyo Matsuzaki, Naoko Fukatsu, Sachiko Morisawa and Toshiko Kowada all won world titles, and the country collected eight Corbillon Cups between 1952 and 1971. The full story is in Japan table tennis history.

China takes over

In 1961, Qiu Zhonghui became the first Chinese woman to win the world singles title. From the 1970s on, China dominated women's table tennis even more clearly than the men's game. There were still upsets:

The reasons behind China's dominance are covered in why China dominates table tennis.

The great Olympic champions

Women's singles joined the Olympics at Seoul 1988, with gold for China's Chen Jing. Since then, a few names stand out:

• Deng Yaping: singles and doubles gold in 1992 and 1996, four Olympic golds in all. At around 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in), she became proof that height does not decide table tennis. Read our Deng Yaping profile.
• Wang Nan and Zhang Yining: four Olympic golds each, in the 2000s.
• Ding Ning: Olympic singles champion at Rio 2016 and three-time world champion.
• Chen Meng: singles gold at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, plus two team golds.
• Sun Yingsha: world singles champion in 2023 and 2025 and mixed doubles gold at Paris 2024. See our Sun Yingsha profile.

The women's Olympic events changed over time: singles and doubles from 1988 to 2004, team from 2008 and mixed doubles from Tokyo 2020.

Stories beyond the medals

• Natalia Partyka (Poland): born without a right forearm, she has competed at both the Olympics and the Paralympics, winning several Paralympic medals.
• Ni Xia Lian (Luxembourg): a world team and mixed doubles champion for China in 1983, she later represented Luxembourg and played her sixth Olympics at Paris 2024, aged 61.
• Bruna Alexandre (Brazil): a Paralympic medalist who, at Paris 2024, became the first Brazilian to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics of the same year.
• Mima Ito (Japan): Olympic mixed doubles champion at Tokyo 2020 and a symbol of Japan's new generation.

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