US North Korea Ping Pong diplomacy

Ping Pong diplomacy worked in improving relations between USA and China in the 1970s. Can the same thing be done with North Korea?

Adam Bobrow, who became famous due his one point dance celebration after he lost 10 points in a row, approached North Korean players in a tournament in Dubai.

Bobrow did not hesitate to try and strike up a friendly chat through a translator and was rewarded with some transcribed content of speeches by Kim Jong-un. Bobrow went on to invite the North Korean team to the US Open Table Tennis tournament to be held in Las Vegas in June.

Good for the relations between the two countries if this happens, very good for Table Tennis if this does happen!

Photo: theaustralian.com.au

Zhuang Zedong of Ping Pong diplomacy fame, dies

Zhuang Zedong, one of the heroes of the famous "Ping Pong diplomacy" between the United States and China, died on Sunday. He was 72. Zedong was battling against Cancer for almost five years.

Zedong took the first step towards the eventual Ping Pong diplomacy situation one day at the Nagoya World Table Tennis Championships in 1971 by offering a gift to Glenn Cowan of the USA, who had missed the official bus. The gesture was photographed, and eventually led to President Nixon's visit to China. Before this, the American team was invited to China for a Ping Pong match. All this helped thaw relationship between China and US during the cold war period.

Zedong was married to a Japanese woman in the late 1980s.

Table Tennis - Did you know?

A Table Tennis Bat

Table Tennis Trivia

• Table Tennis is played in over 200 countries
• Table Tennis is the second highest sport in terms of participation.
• About 300 million (30 Crore) people play Table Tennis in China. It is the largest recreational sport in that country.
• Since 1959, Chinese men have dominated the World Championships and have won the title 60% of the time.
• In April 1972, the US table tennis team were invited to visit China. This was a landmark event in the history of the world and helped improve US and China relations. The event was dubbed "Ping Pong Diplomacy".
• The best performance by an Indian at a world championship was K Nagaraj, who reached the quarter finals at the 1956 edition. Nagaraj unfortunately lost 20-22 in the deciding game. Nagaraj is considered the all-time greatest player of India.
• Uttam Chandarana beat a world champion in Mumbai in 1952
• Gool Nasikwala won the triple crown in the inaugural Asian table tennis championship in Singapore in 1952. No one can dare dream about in India today.