Ding Ning, who once won the grand slam in table tennis, recently played against a professional table tennis training robot. This human-machine interaction has also sparked people's interest in smart table tennis training.
Ding Ning, who has won singles titles at all the top tournaments—including the World Table Tennis Championships, the Olympics, and the World Cup—has faced countless top table tennis players from home and abroad throughout her career. But on this day, as she picked up her racket and stood across the table, she found herself facing a silver-gray industrial robot.She had just delivered a powerful backhand drive; before the crisp sound of the ball hitting the opposite table had even faded, the robot had already glided across the table and returned the ball to the far corner.
Next, Ding Ning played several short shots in a row. The robot’s joints moved smoothly without the slightest hesitation, and its racket swung so fast it left afterimages as it steadily returned the balls to the net area. The professional table tennis coach standing at the sidelines was so stunned by the sight that he blurted out, “Unbelievable!”
Ding Ning immediately twisted her wrist slightly to change the rhythm of her serve, carefully targeting open spots on the table. Her feints threw the robot off balance, and she followed up with a powerful backhand smash that slammed squarely into the opponent’s corner of the table, prompting a burst of enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
After more than a dozen rallies, sweat beaded on Ding Ning’s temple and trickled down her chin. She shook her head and laughed, saying that it was really hard to figure out the pattern of the robot’s shots.
No one in the audience was concerned with who won or lost; this match was, at its core, a head-to-head clash between professional table tennis skills and cutting-edge technology.The robot’s advantage lies in the extremely high precision of every movement, while the human athlete’s core strength is the creativity to adapt on the fly. The two have distinct strengths; there is no so-called human-machine conflict—rather, it is a complementary and mutually beneficial arrangement.
This training robot stands 1.73 meters tall and is equipped with 117 movable joints throughout its body. It uses a visual recognition system to track the trajectory of incoming balls and can calculate a return strategy in just 0.3 seconds—placing it on an entirely different technological level from the recreational table tennis toys currently available on the market.
Currently, this robot is already capable of adapting to the standard playing styles of professional athletes and possesses basic tactical judgment capabilities. Although there is still room for improvement, Ding Ning has spoken highly of its future development.The industry is generally optimistic about its integration into everyday table tennis training scenarios. Once the technology has been refined through further iterations, even casual enthusiasts may be able to use professional-level training partners, further promoting the popularity of table tennis.
In the next three to five years, professional-grade smart training partners may well make their way into public sports facilities. Next time you pass by a facility, keep an eye out—you might soon see these new technologies being put to use right there.
