Do You Know? The World Championship of Ping Pong 2016

On the outskirts of London is a beautiful palace that sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. Nicknamed "Ally Pally" it opened in 1873 and is used today as an entertainment and cultural venue. I've been wanting to visit Alexandra Palace for a while now, but just didn't know what the right event would be... until last week when I saw that the World Championship of Ping Pong was being hosted there for three days.

Now while most people might not get excited about this, Aaron and I immediately knew we had to go. What ensued was the most intense three hours of ping pong that we've ever seen. It was countries battling it out for the title: World Champion.

Each game consisted of three matches. First player to reach 15 points won (regardless of their lead), and there was the heart-pounding double ball: once during the game, each player could trade in the usual orange ball for a white ball and if they won the point, then it was worth double.

After the games, the TV camera and interviewer would crowd over the player to get their reaction (it was broadcast live on Sky sports) and then a group of adoring kids would line up against the court to get the player's autograph. Yes, these athletes have some fans : ) Other spectators were dressed in their country colors - mainly France and Ireland - cheering wildly anytime their player scored.

There were five smaller courts on the side and one main court. We sat on the main court for a while and saw the reigning champion play, England's Andrew Baggaley. Then we headed over to the side courts and watched Team 'Merica beat Russia (take that Putin!) In the end Baggaley retained the title. All in all, it was a unique experience with some table-top fun!

Fans dressed in support of their country

USA vs Russia

The main court

Baggaley interview. Fans wait for autographs