Mondial Ping - Mixed Doubles - Final - 43

Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

and

racket sports Racket sports (or racquet sports) are games in which players use a racket or paddle to hit a ball or other object. A racket has a handled frame with an open hoop that supports a network of tightly stretched strings. A paddle, sometimes called a ...

, such as

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

(where it is known as doubles), as well as

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

, and

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

s such as

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...

(where it is known as pairs).

Mixed doubles

Tennis

Mixed doubles has a long history in tennis. The social benefits of mixed tennis were recognised in England in the late 19th century, with it serving as a social outing for married couples and a way for single men and women to build a relationship. This variant appeared at the United States National Championships in 1892, followed by the

French Championships The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam tennis events eve ...

in 1902,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1913, and the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

in 1922. It made an early appearance at the second Summer Olympics in 1900 though it was dropped from the programme in the 1920s and did not reappear until the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The

Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international tennis tournament that plays mixed teams (one male and one female) on a country-by-country basis. It was first held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, played on indoor hardcourt, before b ...

, held from 1989 to 2019, featured a mixed doubles match as the third rubber of each tie. The

United Cup The United Cup is an international hard court tennis competition featuring mixed-gender teams from 18 countries. The first event was held in December 2022 into January 2023. The event is played across multiple Australian cities over 11 days in ...

, founded in 2022, became the first mixed-gender team event to offer both ATP and WTA rankings points to its players, with a maximum 500 points for the winners.

Table tennis

Mixed doubles has featured at the

World Table Tennis Championships The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

since its first edition in 1926, although this did not gain Olympic status until 2020.

Badminton

The 1899

All England Open Badminton Championships The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

saw the first major mixed doubles badminton event. A mixed doubles tournament was included at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

since the sport was introduced in 1966. The

European Mixed Team Badminton Championships The European Mixed Team Badminton Championships is a tournament organized by the Badminton Europe (BE), held once every two years to crown the best badminton mixed national team in Europe. It was played just before the European Badminton Champions ...

, first held in 1972, includes mixed doubles matches. The

World Badminton Championships The BWF World Championships is a badminton tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation. It's the most prestigious badminton competition, offering the most ranking points, along with the Summer Olympics badminton events introduced in ...

has a mixed doubles tournament since its inception in 1977. The

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...

, held since 1989, is a team tournament that features men's, women's and mixed doubles matches in every tie.

Badminton at the Summer Olympics Badminton had its debut as an official event on the 1992 Summer Olympics and has been contested in eight Olympiads. 74 different nations have appeared in the Olympic badminton competitions, with 17 appearing all nine times. It is governed by the ...

features a mixed doubles badminton event since 1996.

Curling

The concept was a late addition to the sport of curling, with the

World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships are annual curling tournaments featuring the world's best teams of mixed doubles curlers. History The tournament began in 2008 with the 2008 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. Switzerland's ...

being first held in 2008 and the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

being the first time it was given Olympic status.

Gaelic handball

Although

Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two (singles) or four player ...

is usually played as single-sex (singles or doubles), mixed doubles competitions take place at juvenile and schools level.

Mixed pairs

Pair figure skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

shares a history with paired dancing. The form of skating made its debut at both the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

and

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

in 1908. The

World Bridge Championships The World Bridge Championships consists of several sets of championships organized under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation. World Bridge Series Championships ''World Bridge Series Championships'' is the new 2010 name for a quadrennial me ...

debuted a mixed pairs competition at its second edition in 1966.The Mixed Pairs
World Bridge Federation. Retrieved 2019-10-07.

Pair Go There are many variations of the simple rules of Go (board game), Go. Some are ancient digressions, while other are modern deviations. They are often side events at tournaments, for example, the U.S. Go Congress holds a "Crazy Go" event every yea ...

is played by two pairs, with each team consisting of a male and a female. It was popularized by the Japan Pair Go Association as a means of increasing female participation in the game.

References

{{reflist Mixed-sex sports Racket sports Team sports competitions