Whether you play in France, the United States, Morocco or China, table tennis is a sport that is played with rackets equipped with a black surface on one side and red on the other.
The rule is the same in any tournament, imposed since the mid-1980s by the bodies governing the competitions.
These were forced to change the rules after the completely unexpected and even confusing success of John Hilton at the European Championships in 1980.
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John Hilton's unexpected victory tipping point
While he had no chance on paper, the Briton disgusted his opponents one by one, and in particular the Frenchman Jacques Secrétin, with a devilish strategy.
The two sides of his racquet were the same color while each rubber offered a very different performance with the ball (one side favored spin and another diminished the opponent's).
Read also: Olympics: why in volleyball a player wears a jersey of a different color from his teammates
With a racket with two sides impossible to identify with the other
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