Deng Yaping uses spoon as a padle and beats Benedict Cumberbatch

In Cricket, Hayden made news using mongoose bat in IPL – at times, people would say that the batsman is so competent that he could score runs with a stump !

There is another enchanting game – a board game at that – the  table is 2.74 m (9 ft) long, 1.52 m (5 ft) wide, and 76 cm (30 inch) high with a Masonite (a type of hardboard) or similarly manufactured timber, layered with a smooth, low-friction coating.  The  playing surface is divided into two halves by a 15.25 cm (6 inch) high net. An ITTF approved table surface must be in a green or blue color.  It is the  Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets.  Table tennis racket (also called a "bat" or "paddle") is usually made from laminated wood covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the player's grip.  The  regulations allow different surfaces on each side of the racquet for various amounts of spin (including nullifying it) or speed.

It is intriguing to read that a Chinese sportsstar used a wooden spoon to beat a famous English Actor - Benedict Cumberbatch in table tennis game !

Deng Yaping  is a Chinese table tennis player, who won six world championships and four Olympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.   Deng began playing table tennis at age five, and four years later she won her provincial junior championship. She was age 13 when she won her first national championship.  

Despite her success, she was initially denied a spot on the national team because she was so short (she stood only 1.5 metres [4 feet 11 inches] tall).  Her talent, however, could not be denied, and she was finally included on the national team in 1988.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles competitions and repeated the feat at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA. She also earned singles and doubles titles at the 1995 and 1997 world championships. When she retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in the sport; she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years. She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame in 2003.

MailOnline reports that Ping pong legend Deng Yaping challenged actor to game at sports awards; Deng offered the  star a jumbo-sized bat to give him fighting chance during skit – instead she picked up a wooden spoon that ' mother uses for cooking'

In his day job, he is well versed at telling his sidekick Watson just how 'elementary' things can be.  Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, an English actor and film producer who has performed in film, television, theatre and radio, found things to be far different.  On that day, Benedict Cumberbatch found the shoe was very much on the other foot when he tried his hand at table tennis !! – the skit was like this :

The Sherlock star was challenged to a game by Chinese ping pong legend Deng Yaping while hosting the Laureus World Sports Awards in Shanghai, it was reported by People's Daily Online. But despite using a wooden spoon to give the actor a fighting chance, Deng still won the match.

Cumberbatch is a huge celebrity in China because of the popularity of the Sherlock TV series and his skit with Deng went down a storm with the audience. Opening the sketch, the star says: 'I'm getting a little nervous because I can't help noticing that there's a ping pong table behind us.' Turning to Deng, he says: 'You want me to play you?'

She replies: 'How about that?' to which Cumberbatch gasps: 'Oh my God!'

Deng, one of the world's most successful players, at first offers the star a jumbo-sized paddle in an attempt to ease his nerves. But politely declining, he says: 'I'm a bit better than that.'   Deng, one of the world's most successful players, eventually plays with a normal paddle;  She then hands him a normal-sized paddle, but Cumberbatch still fears he will be beaten. As a final option, she picks up a wooden spoon, adding: 'My mum uses this for cooking.'  The actor jokes: 'And you're going to beat me with it? That's what my mother used to say to me!'

The pair have three rallies which end with Cumberbatch hitting it into the net twice and shooting it long the third time.  They then have one final rally with Deng using a normal paddle, which she finishes with a smash, with the TV feed edited to show the ball bouncing out of the building and then back into his mouth.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

17^th Apr 2015.