New meaning to ping pong diplomacy
Code spreads its reach around the world but China remains firmly in control at the top level
Table tennis bosses fear China's dominance is potentially ruinous but its broad reach and potential is underlined by the sport's new street cred, a kaleidoscope of participating countries and its capacity for diplomacy.
At the world team championships in Tokyo, which ended on Monday, more than 800 players took part, aged from 12 to 55 and from countries ranging from notorious trouble spots to honeymoon havens.
Amid the constant click-clack of balls, Ukrainians and Russian players maintained friendly relations, North and South Koreans practised together and Palestinians played a few feet away from the Israeli team.
We worry if tomorrow we'll wake up and not be Ukraine anymore - whether we'll be Russia, and we don't want that
Players from the Seychelles, the Indian Ocean holiday paradise, are rising through the international ranks and a 13-year-old Puerto Rican schoolgirl is the game's newest sensation.
Underlining its status as one of the world's most popular sports, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has 220 members - more than soccer body Fifa.
High-profile devotees include US President Barack Obama and his family, Britain's Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and pop's enfant terrible Justin Bieber, while a Susan Sarandon comedy Ping Pong Summer is the latest Hollywood movie to jump on the bandwagon.
It may lack sex appeal with its sensible shorts and haircuts, but table tennis has played an important role in defusing political tension, and Ukraine's players said they hoped it could do so once more as crisis deepens in their country.