Could there ever be a good reason to design a dice with no spots, a fork with a floppy handle or a sink with no plug hole? Giuseppe Colarusso thinks there is.

For Olympics spectators interested in watching the fluid dynamics of ping-pong in action, a birds-eye view can reveal the side-to-side curving of a well-spun serve.

The TT Champion Bat, from peripherals purveyor Shinobii, will take you right back to the youth club with its realistic recreation of an actual ping-pong paddle.

Ping-pong’s comeback is a world away from the origins of the game, which started as an after-dinner competition for those born a century too early for the rigours of voting for X Factor contestants.