Peter and Daniel Ives are a father and son combination you may not have heard of. Yet the pair have dedicated themselves to a Guinness world record. The pair recently played the longest rally ever recorded in table tennis when they lasted eight hours and 40 minutes.
The lengthy rally took place as an attempt to break the record not a competitive match, so the players were certainly going easy on each other. Together they played over 32,000 shots across the rally. The achievement is an incredible example of their focus and dedication. While the rally did not require a high level of skill it did require stamina, concentration, energy and a large bladder to last such a long period of time.
They beat the previous record by only 10 minutes before Peter (dad) missed his shot as the ball bounced off his finger. The pair were aiming for a record of over 10 hours but fell short. Still, they will be relieved that the finger incident came after the previous record and not before. Imagine if they had made the attempt and mishit the ball ten minutes before the record was broke. Those in attendance said everything got incredibly tense in the moments before the record fell.
Both players survived on energy drinks and jaffa cakes throughout the game as well as taking painkillers to overcome any aches that were setting in during the rally. The feat was broadcast live with around 7,000 fans tuning in to watch.
China is the most dominating country in the world when it comes to table tennis and we think if word reaches the mainland that this record has been set it won’t take long for someone to step up and defeat it there. Only time will tell. Either way, it is an incredible record and an incredible way to spend some quality time with your son. Although if Peter had missed ten minutes earlier we are not sure the pair would still be on speaking terms.
