Table tennis players have sounded a “red alert” at the ongoing World Table Tennis Championships. The bright red tables are getting them distracted from taking their shots.
The sport is usually played in blue, dark green or black but the red ones in Doha have sent the players into a tizzy. They are finding it difficult to adapt with the colour.
“It gets very unusual at times. If the light shines on the table, you get a very dazzling effect, where you might lose sight of the ball. Which is… yeah, very unusual, really,” Norwegian player Borgar Haug told media persons.
“There were some funny ones in the training hall who started wearing sunglasses when they played, because it got so bright,” Haug added.
His concerns were echoed by other players at World Table Tennis Championships, who are also struggling to acclimatize to the colour.
“I have never played on red tables – no one has,” Swedish player Truls Moregard told the news agency TT.
Also Read: World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025: Will China Continue Its Dominance?
About the table
The ITTF approves only wooden tables or their derivates. The table or playing surface is uniformly dark colored and matte, divided into two halves by a net at 15.25 cm (6.0 in) in height.
The table is 2.74 m (9.0 ft) long, 1.525 m (5.0 ft) wide, and 76 cm (2.5 ft) high with any continuous material so long as the table yields a uniform bounce of about 23 cm (9.1 in) when a standard ball is dropped onto it from a height of 30 cm (11.8 in), or about 77%
ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2025: Schedule
All times listed are local time in Doha, Qatar (UTC +3 hours).
| Date | Time | Matches |
| Saturday 17 May | 10:00, 16:30 | – Men’s Singles R128
– Women’s Singles R128 – Men’s Doubles R64 – Women’s Doubles R64 – Mixed Doubles R64 |
| Sunday 18 May | 10:00, 16:30 | – Men’s Singles R128
– Women’s Singles R128 – Men’s Doubles R64 – Women’s Doubles R64 – Mixed Doubles R64 |
| Monday 20 May | 11:00, 16:00 | – Men’s Singles R64
– Women’s Singles R64 – Men’s Doubles R32 – Women’s Doubles R32 – Mixed Doubles R32 |
| Tuesday 21 May | 11:00 | – Mixed Doubles R16
– Women’s Singles R64 – Men’s Singles R64 |
| 16:00 | – Men’s Singles R32
– Women’s Singles R32 – Men’s Doubles R16 – Women’s Doubles R16 |
|
| Wednesday 22 May | 11:00 | – Mixed Doubles QF
– Women’s Doubles R16 – Men’s Doubles R16 – Women’s Singles R32 – Men’s Singles R32 |
| 17:30 | – Women’s Singles R32
– Men’s Singles R32 – Men’s Doubles R16 – Women’s Doubles R16 |
|
| Thursday 23 May | 11:00 | – Mixed Doubles QF
– Women’s Singles R16 – Men’s Singles R16 – Men’s Doubles QF – Women’s Doubles QF |
| 17:00 | – Men’s Singles R16
– Women’s Singles R16 – Women’s Doubles QF – Men’s Doubles QF |
|
| Friday 24 May | 11:00 | – Mixed Doubles SF
– Women’s Doubles QF – Men’s Doubles QF – Women’s Singles QF – Men’s Singles QF |
| 16:30 | – Women’s Singles QF
– Men’s Singles QF |
|
| Saturday 25 May | 12:00 | – Women’s Doubles SF
– Men’s Singles SF – Women’s Singles SF – Men’s Doubles SF |
| 16:00 | – Mixed Doubles Final
– Women’s Doubles SF – Men’s Singles SF – Women’s Singles SF – Men’s Doubles SF |
|
| Sunday 26 May | 12:00 | – Men’s Doubles Final
– Women’s Singles Final |
| 15:30 | – Men’s Singles Final
– Women’s Doubles Final |
