Top of the Table - What Makes A Country Dominant at Table Tennis?

What makes a nation like China a success at table tennis? Where does the USA rate among table tennis countries? Which table tennis countries are likely to be able to challenge the Chinese in the near future? When is the USA going to become a ping-pong powerhouse again?

These are all questions that crop up now and again on the About.com table tennis / ping-pong forum. In this article I'm going to list some of the factors that I think need to be successfully in place in a country before it can become a ping-pong power for an extended time.