How to watch Table Tennis at Olympics 2020: key dates, live stream and more

In an Olympics fortnight when speed is often paramount, not many events look faster than the lightning-quick table tennis action. Whether you call it ping-pong, whiff-whaff or any other weird and wonderful names, you've landed on the right page to discover how to watch an Olympics table tennis live stream at Tokyo in 2021 - with free options explained, alongside the key dates to pop in your diary.

There aren't many Summer Olympics events that are dominated more resoundingly by one nation than table tennis. You have to go back all the way to 2004 to find an event that China didn't win gold at, with them taking the clean sweep across all categories in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

And, frankly, you can probably expect more of the same this time around, too, with China dominating the world rankings. And this year there's one extra gold they can go for, with mixed doubles joining the singles and team disciplines. Ma Long is the reigning male champ, but will do well to beat world number one Fan Zhendong, while we'll have a brand new women's gold medallist following Ding Ning's retirement.

Hosts Japan are probably best placed to break up the Chinese whitewash. Look out for Tomokazu Harimoto and Mima Ito vying to become national heroes in Tokyo.

Keep reading to find out the key dates schedule of this year's gold medal matches, as well as all the information you need to get a table tennis live stream at the Olympics in 2021.

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Olympics 2020 table tennis: key dates and times

- Mixed doubles final: Monday, July 26 from 8pm JST / 12pm BST / 7am ET

- Women's singles final: Thursday, July 29 from 8pm JST / 12pm BST / 7am ET

- Men's singles final: Friday, July 30 from 8pm JST / 12pm BST / 7am ET

- Women's team final: Thursday, August 5 from 7.30pm JST / 11.30am BST / 6.30am ET

- Men's team final: Monday, July 26 from 7.30pm JST / 11.30am BST / 6.30am ET

Free Olympics table tennis live stream

The free, online Olympics Channel looks set to have highlights and other programming. But if you want more in-depth coverage, you'll need to look at domestic broadcasters. Those living in the UK have the benefit of the BBC's free-to-air coverage for example, with plenty of key events being shown on BBC iPlayer.

It's a similar story in the likes of Ireland (RTE), France (TF1) and, Germany (ARD and ZDF). And from what we've seen, Australia appears to have the most bases covered with Channel 7 and its 7plus platform online. We have further information about worldwide Olympics streams below.

How to watch your Olympics live stream when abroad

You should be able to find an Olympic Games stream (whether paid or free) in whatever country you happen to be in. But you may find that: a) your usual domestic coverage is geo-blocked when overseas; or b) that your place of work or college has blocked the ability to watch online where you are.

There's a really easy way to solve those issues, thankfully. By downloading and installing a VPN, you can effectively trick your computer, phone or tablet into thinking that it's somewhere completely different. That way you can enjoy your usual coverage without having to find an illegal stream.

Use a VPN to watch Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games from anywhere

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Using a VPN is as easy as one-two-three...

1. Download and install a VPN - as we say, our top choice is ExpressVPN

2. Connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, hit 'choose location' and select the appropriate location

3. Go to the broadcaster's live stream - so if you're from the UK, just head to BBC iPlayer

FREE Olympics table tennis live stream in the UK

The BBC is going to be the first port of call for most sports fans to get their Olympics action in the UK, with the broadcaster showing hundreds of hours of coverage across BBC One, BBC Two and on its online BBC iPlayer site and app.

And, if you didn't know, it's all completely free to watch!

But it's not the be-all and end-all this year, with Discovery buying the majority of the rights and hosting it on its Discovery+ and Eurosport Player platforms. The latter costs £6.99 a month or £29.99 for the year, although you can also take advantage of its 3-day free trial to get a taster of the coverage.

Not in the UK for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games? No worries - residents of the country can just download and install a VPN to port themselves back home to a UK location, then watch live as explained above.

How to watch Olympics table tennis in the US with and without cable

NBC has the rights stateside to show 2020 Olympics action, so you can watch on your TV or online if you already have it as part of your cable set-up. You can see the entire NBC schedule on its dedicated calendar of events.

Live stream Olympics table tennis without cable

Not got cable? No problems, but you'll need to sign up for another service. Great value over-the-top streaming service Sling TV could be the answer. NBCSN comes as part of its $35 a month Sling Blue package. But it usually has a good deal on, like your first month for only $10 at the time of writing.

Alternatively, you could look at something like FuboTV. It carries loads more channels and is available to try with a free 7-day trial, but the normal monthly cost is much pricier starting at $64.99.

How to watch Olympics table tennis in Canada

With Canada's Tokyo 2020 coverage split between a range of different broadcasters in Canada, we'd heartily recommend checking your local listings to see who's showing the table tennis.

The fantastic news for those north of the border is that broadcaster CBC has a whole host of live action absolutely free to watch on its website and across its apps for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Android TV, select Smart TVs and Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Outside that you're looking at paid-for Olympic action from a combination of Sportsnet, TSN and TLN, the first two of which also have standalone streaming service packages you can take advantage of.

Want to watch your coverage from abroad? Then don't forget that using a VPN is a great way to watch coverage overseas.

How to live stream table tennis at the Olympics for FREE in Australia

Channel 7 and its online 7Plus streaming service is the place to be for free Olympics coverage Down Under. That means you can watch via laptop, iOS, Android, Fetch TV, Apple TV, PS4, Chromecast and more. It is streaming an enormous amount of live coverage online.

Not in Australia? Use a VPN if you're away from home, in order to tap into your local Olympics coverage.

How to watch Olympic table tennis in New Zealand

New Zealand also has free Olympics coverage in 2021 thanks to broadcaster TVNZ and its TVNZ OnDemand streaming service. Olympic action will run all day everyday on TVNZ 1 and online.

If that isn't quite enough, then Sky Sport is also carrying the action, with a weekly pass costing from $19.99.

Other 2020 Olympics broadcasters around the world

It won't come as a surprise that the Olympics is being shown in most corners of the globe - although with varying levels of coverage and without free broadcasters in some countries.

If you're not in any of the countries mentioned above, then we'd suggest taking a look at the dedicated Wikipedia page of all of the world's Olympic Games channels.