MANIFESTATION OF "SPIRIT IN MOTION" BY PARALYMPIC TABLE TENNIS PLAYERS A Study of Paralympic Table Tennis Players in 2006 World Table Tennis Championships in Montreux, Switzerland

Table Tennis is considered as a suitable sport for people of different ages and physical conditions. It has proved to be the pioneer sport in attracting people with physical and intellectual impairments as well as the hearing and vision impaired. Table Tennis was probably played with improvised equipment in England during the last quarter of the 19th century. Since then, it has been developing and spreading all over the world, winning favor as a popular sport in over 195 countries currently as ITTF members. Table Tennis has been part of the Paralympic Program since the first Games in 1960. The purpose of this study is to have a look at Paralympic Table Tennis from a new angle, and to try to draw the attention of ITTF towards the unique nature, conditions, and needs of Paralympic Table Tennis as an important part of World Table Tennis Family. The researcher studied the 348 players with disabilities who participated in 2006 World Table Tennis Championships in Montreux, Switzerland. The data was gathered from IPTTC Medical and Classification Committee about the number of players in each category and the reasons for their disabilities. The gathered data was analyzed through descriptive statistics; the results suggested that there were 13 major categories of disabilities of which 5 were the most prominent due to the number of the players in them. These 5 categories are Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) with % 44.54, Les Autres (LA) with %21.55, Polio with%11.49, Cerebral Palsy (CP) with%9.48 and Amputee with %10.34 of the whole population of 348 players. With an eye to the enthusiasm, motivation, efforts, and suffering that are displayed by Paralympic table Tennis Players who play, holding the racket with a stump of the arm, with the leg, and even with the mouth, we realize that they play Table Tennis with their hearts, indeed. This is the manifestation of "SPIRIT IN MOTION" that is definitely of significant importance to ITTF for considerations in their future planning.