The last time we played Market Pong we had a handful of people, and I wondered wistfully how great it would be if we could fill the whole market. Our chance is upon us, as Nikki has announced another game of Market Pong for the August Bank Holiday Monday.

There are at least 32 tables: let’s try and fill them all! Tell your friends, and turn up with bat and balls.

Market Pong: table-tennis in Birmingham's outdoor market

Tip: ping-pong balls from places like the Pound Shop are worse than hopeless, so it’s worth spending three or four quid in a sports shop. Balls come in packs so club together with another player if you need to bring the cost down.

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Nikki and Charlie, who facilitate the BARG events, organised a bunch of us to meet at the vegetable market yesterday afternoon (it’s empty – and relatively clean – on Sundays).

Table-tennis on Birmingham's market stalls (Photo by Nikki Pugh)

We bought sets of bats and balls from a pound shop, but quickly discovered that the balls were useless. No matter how hard you hit them they seemed to give up after the first bounce. As Antonio pointed out, “when the ball starts going backwards you know something’s not right”. So we splashed out on some better quality balls, which worked a treat.

There were about nine of us altogether, but we were joined by at least three passers-by who wanted to play.

There are at least 32 tables though: imagine filling them all with games of table-tennis on a Sunday afternoon?

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