Hotels near London Olympics: Table Tennis

When Beijing handed the Olympic baton over to London in 2008, Mayor Boris Johnson made an impassioned speech about London being "the sporting capital of the world" and how the Chinese had better watch out, because "ping pong is coming home". Well, now is the time to see who really rules the "whiff whaff" roost with the London 2012 Table Tennis competition, which will be played at the ExCeL Centre from Saturday 28 July to Wednesday 8 August. Team GB will have their work cut out: since Table Tennis's inclusion on the Olympic schedule in 1988, the 2012 host nation have yet to score a medal; meanwhile, the Chinese taunted with Johnson's trademark ribaldry have won 20 from a possible 24 gold medals on offer - including a clean sweep in Beijing. So, while Boris may be correct about table tennis being "invented on the dining tables of England", the flamboyant Mayor is surely misinformed if he believes Team GB can match the superior power, speed, skill and subtlety of the Asian players. That said, in 1988 the Swede Jan-Ove Waldner became the first and last European gold medallist in Table Tennis - and whose to say such a feat cannot be repeated? There will be four medal events on the programme for what is the largest participation sport in the world: singles and doubles for both men and women.