Table Tennis Scoreboard

A point is played on every rally, whoever served. A game goes to 11 points, but it must be won by two: at 10-10 the game continues until one player is two points clear, so 12-10, 15-13 and longer scores are normal. A let — a serve that touches the net and still lands correctly — is replayed and scores nothing.

A match is a best of any odd number of games. Five is the usual format in leagues and most tournaments, seven at the top of world and Olympic singles events, and three at club nights and in team competitions. The first player to win the majority takes the match, and the remaining games are not played.

Service alternates every two points: two serves for one player, then two for the other, all the way through the game. From 10-10 — and under the expedite system — service changes after every single point. This board applies both rules for you, so the arrow beside a name is the answer to “whose serve is it?”

Players change ends after every game, and the player who received first in a game serves first in the next one. In the deciding game they change ends again as soon as one player reaches 5 points; the board shows a reminder at that score, and “Swap sides” mirrors the whole panel.

Doubles adds an order. The serve must travel diagonally from the server's right half of the table to the receiver's right half, and the pairs rotate: after every two points the receiver becomes the server and the partner of the previous server becomes the receiver. In the deciding game the receiving pair also swaps its receiving order when one pair reaches 5 points. The board keeps the score and the serving side; keep the player order in your head or on the match sheet.

Each player or pair may take one timeout of up to one minute in a match — not one per game, which is why the board's timeout counter does not refill between games.

The expedite system exists so a match of two defenders cannot last all evening. It starts if a game is still unfinished after ten minutes of play, unless both players have already scored at least nine points, and it can be started earlier if both sides agree. From then on the receiver wins the point if the return of serve and the next twelve strokes all come back, and service changes after every point. Once introduced, expedite stays for the rest of the match.

• Points in the current game and games won by each player, in digits big enough to read across the room.
• The serve, moved automatically after every second point and after every point from 10-10, with a manual override when a call is corrected.
• Finished games as a line of results (11-7, 9-11, 11-8), so you can see the shape of the match.
• The change of ends in the deciding game at 5 points, and a swap button that mirrors names, scores and serve together.
• One timeout per player for the whole match, as the ITTF rules give it, and undo for the last actions.
• Match length as a setting: best of 3, 5 or 7, plus the classic game to 21 with five serves each for people who grew up on it.