Left field

Ping pong players keep their temperatures in check

You could ordinarily be forgiven for having sweaty palms and a quickening heartbeat before you play a world championship final.

But not if your sport is ping pong and you are playing in the world table tennis finals in Yokohama.

Players were undergoing thermographic imaging checks upon arrival at the venue following a local flu scare.

Japanese organisers brought in the equipment, similar to machines used at the country’s major airports, after a schoolboy was admitted to hospital.