Zhang Yining

Beijing: In their quest to make table tennis more spectator-friendly, officials have done everything from speeding up the scoring system to switching to bigger ping-pong balls.

But one element still seems stuck inside a 1970s rec room — the players’ uniforms. With few exceptions, table tennis champions compete in baggy shirts tucked into elastic waistbands. The shorts are so loose that players sometimes hike them up during matches, creating the effect of a saggy diaper. Now the International Table Tennis Federation is looking to change that, inspired by the increasingly stylish and sexy uniforms worn by female athletes in sports as diverse as badminton and beach volleyball.

“It’s just a question of being well-dressed,” said Claude Bergeret, a Frenchwoman who is the executive vice-president of the federation. “That is a very good idea, actually a must. Look at those tennis players — miniskirts, tight shirt,” said Lau Sui Fei, a player from Hong Kong, in an interview after defeating the French player Xian Yi Fang, 4-1, in the second round of women’s singles Wednesday.

Judging from the attire on display in early rounds of men’s and women’s singles matches, women’s table tennis style has a long way to go if the players hope to catch up with the likes of Venus and Serena Williams, or the beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor. Viktoria Pavlovich of Belarus looked smart in a black miniskirt with hot-pink piping and a matching black T-shirt. Gao Jun of the US was stuck with a navy zip-up shirt and a pair of baggy shorts with an elastic waistband. “I would like to see the girls wear a skirt,” Gao said. “When I practice, I do wear a skirt. We just receive this, you know,” she said, motioning to her outfit, “so I will wear what it is we received.”

The idea pleased Zhang Yining, a player who is a household name in China. Zhang’s cropped hair gives her a tomboy look, but she recently posed for a glamorous photo shoot on a Chinese Web site. In an interview she said she would appreciate clothes that maximised speed and spinning the ball. “I’d love to see tighter and shorter sleeves,” she said.