The team of three teenagers and three 30-somethings are hoping to emulate or better the sport’s best result of fifth in the doubles at the Sydney Olympic Games.

The team comprises: Melissa Tapper, Michelle Bromley, Min Hyung Jee, Nicholas Lum, Finn Luu and Hwan Bae.
Australia has competed in Table Tennis at every Olympic Games since the sport made its debut at Seoul in 1988.

Overview 

The determination and grit of this Australian team is best illustrated by their individual stories.
Melissa Tapper, 34, created history in 2016 by becoming the first Australian to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

She sealed her third Olympic appearance with an undefeated performance during the Table Tennis Australia qualification trials.

Michelle Bromley, 36, will compete at her second Olympics just 18 months after having her son, Lachie. 

Her selection is a reward for her resilience. She refused to listen to those who suggested she retire after falling short of selection for the Beijing, London and Rio Games

Michelle learned the sport’s intricacies from her parents and grandparents in the NSW country town of Gulgong, 300km north-west of Sydney.

Her 2024 Australian Olympic qualification included five victories from her seven matches, a highlight being her win over six-time Aussie Olympian, Jian Fang Lay. 

Korean-born Min Hyung Jee makes her Olympic debut 21 years after she competed at the 2003 World Junior Championships. 

After having a 10-year break from elite table tennis from 2007-2017, the 37-year-old rediscovered her passion for the sport. 

She won a silver and bronze medal for Australia at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and earned her place at Paris after winning the 2024 Oceania Mixed Doubles with Nicholas Lum.

Nicolas, Finn Luu, 19, and Hwan Bae have climbed through the ranks from the under 13s starting in the u13s together. None of the trio dreamed of making the Olympics before their 20th birthdays.
Finn, ranked 44 in the world, and Nicholas ranked 38, spent part of Olympic campaign at the Liebherr Masters College in Ochsenhausen, near Munich. 

The college takes in the best players, and has drawn comparisons to a world-renowned Tennis Academy that was founded in Florida by Nick Bollettieri in 1978 and produced the likes of Andri Agassi and Maria Sharapova. 

A year after winning a bronze medal in the under 19 singles division of the Australian National Championships, Hwan played in America where he won gold in the mixed doubles at the US Open under-19 division. 

His success earned him a berth in an Australian Qualification Tournament in Ballarat where he secured his Olympic blazer by defeating Finn in the final.

Ones to Watch 

Australia

Many will be watching the emergence of Australia’s teen trio of Nicholas, Finn and Hwan during this tournament.

Nicholas claimed the biggest scalp of his career defeating world number 18 Marcos Freita at the Saudi Smash in April.

The victory not only highlighted Lum’s potential, but it confirmed the world No.38 has the competitiveness that’s required to make his mark in Paris.

While it may be her first Olympic campaign, Min Hyung, who is ranked at No.59, is expected to prove her competitiveness against the world’s best. 

International

China will dominate the tournament in both the men’s and women’s competition.

Five-time Olympic gold medallist and World Singles champion, Ma Long, who won’t be defending his title at these Games.

His left-handed teammate, Chuqin Wang, is his heir apparent having won 93 per cent of his matches this year.
One player expected to enjoy great support in the South Paris Arena Four, is 17-year-old Frenchman, Felix Lebrun. 

At number five, he is the world’s highest-ranked male player from anywhere outside of China. His brother Alexis joins him in the French team.

The Chinese have never lost a women’s singles event at the Olympics.

Defending Olympic champion and world number one pair Chen Meng and Sun Yingsha are favourite to take gold.

Sport Format

The Table Tennis events run from 27 July to 10 August at the South Paris Arena.

Out of a total of 172 athletes, 70 singles players will participate in each Men’s and Women’s Categories. Sixteen pairs will participate in the Mixed Doubles event.

There are five table tennis events at the Olympics:

• Men’s Singles
• Women’s singles
• Men’s team
• Women’s team
• Mixed doubles

Men’s and Women’s Singles commence with qualification rounds, followed by the round of 64, round of 32, round of 16, quarterfinal, semi final and final. 

In Mixed Doubles, each pair must win four consecutive matches – round of 16, quarterfinal, semi final and the final – to win the gold medal.

All matches are played with seven sets except for the Team Events. To win a match a player or pairs (singles or Mixed Doubles) must win four out of seven sets.

The format for the Team event (men’s and women’s) is considered complex. 

A team is made up of three players and the winner of three matches goes into the next round. If a side does not win three consecutive matches, two extra matches are played.

• * A player is not allowed two successive matches
• * Any player can play a maximum of two matches

Each of table tennis’ five events have a preliminary round, quarter finals, semi finals and a final. Top-seeded players get byes into the later rounds, while lower seeds start their campaign at the beginning of the preliminary round.

A coin toss decides who serves, and the winner of the toss can choose whether to serve or receive the ball and which end of the table they want to start the match on.

The server commences the game by throwing the ball into the air and striking it so the ball bounces once on their side and then over their opponent’s half of the table. 

In a singles match, the server can serve the ball to any side of the table, in doubles the serve must travel diagonally across the table.

Both sides alternate serve after every two points until either the end of the game or when the score is tied 10-all, at which point the two sides alternate serve after each point. 

The first player or team to score two more points than their opponent after a game is tied 10-10 wins the match.

If a match reaches the last possible game, the player or teams switch ends of the table once the first player or team has scored five points in the game.

Schedule

The Table Tennis competition at the 2024 Summer Games will run from 27 July until 10 August at South Paris Arena Four, part of the Paris Expo complex.