Champions of the Keelung Middle School Table Tennis Competition

The earliest record of a table tennis competition in Taiwan is from 1917. The following year, the number of competing teams jumped to six. In 1925 a nationwide tournament was started, with 17 competing teams. At the time, the Taiwan Table Tennis Association was led by Mr. Du Cong-ming.
In 1927, the Keelung Middle School was established (then part of the Taihoku Prefecture). It had 458 students. In 1928 the school formed a table tennis department and later added the tennis department. The coach at the time was Zeng Ben-sheng. One year later, it joined the All Taiwan Table Tennis Association, which was formed for the purpose of molding mind and body, improving table tennis skills, and promoting table tennis as a sport.
The three students to the left in the picture are holding paddles in their hands. The paddles are made only of Chinese juniper wood, unlike modern paddles which have a layer of rubber on the outside.