Table tennis explained: what changes at ten-all, in scoring and service

Archive: Quadri Aruna in club kit at the German Open in Magdeburg, 8 November 2017. Peter Porai-Koshits / CC BY-SA 4.0. Image adapted (cropped, with SNA logo), published under the same licence.

At ten-all in table tennis, the next point is not enough to win the game. A player must go two points clear. The service rotation also changes: players now serve one point each, in turn.

Eleven points are not always enough

A game goes to the first player to reach eleven points, unless both players have reached ten. In that case, play continues until one of them opens a two-point gap.

Illustrative examples: eleven-ten does not end the game; twelve-ten does. At twelve-eleven, play must go on. Thirteen-eleven settles it.

Winning a game does not necessarily mean winning the match. A match is played as the best of an odd number of games, depending on the format of the event. In a best-of-five match, a player needs three to win; in a best-of-seven, four.

Service follows the points played

Before ten-all, outside the expedite rule, service changes after every two points played. It does not stay with the player who wins the rally. Illustrative example: A serves at zero-all. Two rallies are played; even if B wins both, B then serves next.

At ten-all, each player serves for just one point. Illustrative example: A serves at ten-all. After that rally, B serves, whoever wins it. If the score goes to eleven-all, A takes the service back. The alternation continues in this way until one player is two points clear.

There is one exception to the usual two-point rhythm: the expedite rule, a special arrangement, can impose a single point per service before ten-all. For an ordinary end to a game, the two checks remain simple: look at the gap on the scoreboard, then at who is serving.