| Professor Guenter Arndt showing his plans for table tennis triples. Professor Guenter Arndt showing his plans for table tennis triples. |
Triple play table tennis a smash hit
24 Jun 2008 | Kate McIlwain
UOW’s Professor Guenter Arndt has revolutionised the way table tennis can be played by inventing a new game that allows triple play.
Professor Arndt, from the Faculty of Engineering, designed the game so that three-player teams can play simultaneously.
“Most table tennis team competitions, such as those at the Beijing Olympics, have three players who, alas, can only play singles and doubles,” he said.
“The whole teams could never play each other – now they can!”
Professor Arndt’s book Table Tennis Triples – a New TEAM Sport (www.trafford.com/07-0540) was officially launched at the 10th International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Sports Science Congress in Zagreb, Croatia.
He presented his paper on ‘Triples in Table Tennis: a Promising Team Competition Sport – Introduction and First Findings’ during that Congress. His visit to Croatia was assisted by a Challenge Grant from Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton.
Apart from the ‘competitive’ Triples arrangement and the new rules for playing on the circular table, the modular construction of the latter also allows a multitude of new ‘recreational’ game configurations for one to 12 players, which they themselves can choose: the ‘Modular Table Tennis System’.
The ‘Triples and Modular Table Tennis System’ innovation was a finalist in the ‘Australia’s Next Big Thing’ awards, and is on display at the Melbourne Museum until June 22.
Officially retired in 2003, Professor Arndt continues to work as an Honorary Professor at UOW supervising various projects in Engineering. Having been a table tennis all his life, he still plays competitively. In 2007 he (with B. Kuiper) won the O/70 men’s doubles title in the NSW Veterans Open Championships.
The world’s first Table Tennis Triples Team Exhibition will be held in the university’s URAC Sports Hall on 1 July as part of the ‘Illawarra Innovation Showcase 2008’ week.
Professor Arndt’s book is currently available from the University Bookshop.
[Story by Sharlyn Teo]
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