How many officials in table tennies?

Answer 1

Only 1 official at a table:

Generally, if either of the two players in Table Tennis request a referee,

then the non-requesting player must accept a referee -- AND, only 1 "official" (a referee) is needed. When the two players of a game ARE able to agree on their disputes, then no "official" (i.e. a referee) is needed. A referee, IF needed by any player, is appointed by the Tournament Director; and, in many cases, the Tournament Director/organizer is also the self-appointed referee -- at least in the case of smaller community tournaments. Large tournaments almost always have 1 or more referees available; AND, highly-rated(i.e. high level) tournament players almost always have a referee at their table -- I suspect the reason high-rated players usually have a referee is:

Higher-rated players apparently concentrate much more heavily on the fine points of the game AND CAN THEREFORE be easily distracted from their game by trying to concentrate/remember game scores (even though it's only to 11 points);

ALSO, I think the players like the re-assurance that a second pair of eyes (i.e. referee) is trying to help determine a correct outcome of any minor mis-hits, table-edge/net hits, etc. For example, if a ball comes very-close to the table edge, it's not always easy to determine if it grazed the edge; so it's good to have a referee help decide.

2006Nov13--Joe Gervais (id = JoeG314) -- TT player in Saint Paul, Minnesota

[Google: Joe G TT info]

Answer 2

Only 1 official at a table:

Generally, if either of the two players in Table Tennis request a referee,

then the non-requesting player must accept a referee -- AND, only 1 "official" (a referee) is needed. When the two players of a game ARE able to agree on their disputes, then no "official" (i.e. a referee) is needed. A referee, IF needed by any player, is appointed by the Tournament Director; and, in many cases, the Tournament Director/organizer is also the self-appointed referee -- at least in the case of smaller community tournaments. Large tournaments almost always have 1 or more referees available; AND, highly-rated(i.e. high level) tournament players almost always have a referee at their table -- I suspect the reason high-rated players usually have a referee is:

Higher-rated players apparently concentrate much more heavily on the fine points of the game AND CAN THEREFORE be easily distracted from their game by trying to concentrate/remember game scores (even though it's only to 11 points);

ALSO, I think the players like the re-assurance that a second pair of eyes (i.e. referee) is trying to help determine a correct outcome of any minor mis-hits, table-edge/net hits, etc. For example, if a ball comes very-close to the table edge, it's not always easy to determine if it grazed the edge; so it's good to have a referee help decide.

2006Nov13--Joe Gervais (id = JoeG314) -- TT player in Saint Paul, Minnesota

[Google: Joe G TT info]