And the Gulf state of Qatar — an obscure patch of sand in 1971 — is emerging as an international sports giant with a relentless appetite for headline-grabbing events, including hosting an updated edition of table tennis-as-political icebreaker.

Forty years after a week of table tennis exhibition matches helped restore relations between the United States and China, Ping Pong Diplomacy is making a comeback at a table tennis tournament in Qatar.

It's not size of your sports diplomacy that matters, it's what you do with it. This is why we can all learn a lesson from Sarandon, who at 64 has lost neither her looks nor her charm, when she informs the audience today that she is "a ping-pong propagandist" - while flashing a beautiful smile.

On Friday at the Nixon Library in California, Braithwaite played against Liang Geliang, a Chinese Ping Pong player who was one of the Chinese team members in Japan for the historical table tennis competition in 1971. The two of them had a rematch 40 years later.

South Korea and North Korea have been invited to field a joint table tennis team at an upcoming international event designed to promote peace through sports, officials said. [The] ...Peace and Sport Table Tennis Tournament will invite 10 countries to "encourage dialogue and good relations" between states.

Forty years after a week of table tennis exhibition matches helped restore relations between the United States and China, pingpong diplomacy is making a comeback.