What do David Cameron, Nigella Lawson, George Clooney and Wayne Rooney have in common? Apart from healthy bank balances and the odd column inch? They're all devotees of table tennis, the humble game that's capturing the zeitgeist, taking to the streets and likely to be a persistent theme of the summer.
Cameron's recent electoral campaign saw him stop at Bolton Lads' and Girls' Club, where he took on teenager Daryl Hosker. "I won 11 points to 7," Daryl smiles. "I'm proud of beating our prime minister-to-be. His service was a bit hard, but he had good stance and balance. He mentioned that he'd learnt the game from Norman Lamont."
Now the hard-serving Cameron has an election win to compensate for that table tennis defeat, media attention has moved onto the Fifa World Cup in South Africa. Yet even England's training camp in Rustenberg is echoing to the pitter-patter of wooden bat on celluloid ball. The players are wiling away their WAG-free hours under the watchful eye of coach Fabio Capello with competitive tournaments on outdoor table tennis table.
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