Table tennis player's gesture triggers wide imitation

Chinese table tennis player Zhang Jike's motion of lying on the floor to give way for a teammate's ball return has triggered wide imitation among fans.

In the men's doubles second round at the Worlds Championships here, Jike, twice a singles World Champion, crouched on the floor to give teammate Xu Xin a clear way to return the ball on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

Zhang's picture was later posted on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) website and the governing body launched "Do The Zhang Jike" on Twitter, which obtained active response worldwide among table tennis fans.

Talking about the gesture, Zhang said he had to do it otherwise the ball would have been blocked by his body, jeering himself as a sumotori.