Ping-ponging across the divide

FROM afar it was already the most visually interesting table tennis table I had ever seen, oddly shaped and colourful, and upon closer inspection, it was also the most politically charged. Tracing an outline of the Korean Penin­sula, players were ping-ponging across the armistice line.

The asymmetry enables some interesting tactics: it’s easier for the south player, because the north has more land area and a curvy bit that’s impossible to access if a drop shot is played at the eastern side of the border.