Shivering spectators applauded, the police band whanged away for all it was worth. Any kind of action helped cut the chill of Tokyo's clammy, cavernous Metropolitan Gymnasium. Then the contestants, some 150 table-tennis players from 16 different countries, marched in, a radiant blaze of uniforms under the bright lights. Any color except white was allowed at the 23rd World Championship
Table Tennis Tournament. White was barred because a white celluloid ball can be lost against such a background.
Once the tournament got started, the flame-red jerseys of Communist Chinese flared against the green of Australians and Germans, the orange of Portugal, brown of...
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