Table-tennis doubles: who serves, receives and hits next?

In table-tennis doubles, knowing whose turn it is means keeping two sequences separate: the hits within a rally and the changes of server between scored points. A partner cannot simply take the next shot because they are nearer the ball. The examples below follow ordinary play with four standing players under the 2026 laws; the wheelchair exception is explained separately.

Start with the server and receiver

Imagine Maya and Leo playing Noor and Owen. These are fictional players. Maya serves first to Noor. As Table Tennis England’s beginner guide explains, a doubles serve must bounce first in the server’s right half-court, then in the receiver’s right half-court. Each player judges right from their own end.

This describes the required bounces, not every requirement for a legal serve. Once the rally is underway, returns are not restricted to that service diagonal. Keep the intended receiver clear before starting; standing closer to the ball does not change who should return the serve.

Alternate hits within the rally

In our example, the striking order is Maya’s serve, Noor’s return, Leo’s return, Owen’s return, then Maya again. Repeat that sequence while the ball remains in play. Maya does not serve again during the rally: her next stroke is a return.

Rule 2.8.2 in the 2026–27 laws published by Table Tennis England sets this order. Rule 2.8.3 makes an exception where at least one player in a pair uses a wheelchair because of a physical disability. After the designated service and first return, either member of that pair may make subsequent returns. Do not apply the ordinary compulsory alternation to that pair.

Change the serving pair after its turn

For ordinary play before 10–10, a serving turn covers two scored points. At the change, the previous receiver becomes the server; the previous server’s partner becomes the receiver. Starting from Maya serving to Noor gives this sequence:

Fictional service turns: normally two scored points per row

Turn	Server	Receiver
1	Maya	Noor
2	Noor	Leo
3	Leo	Owen
4	Owen	Maya

Then Maya serves to Noor again. These rows describe successive service turns, not four strokes in one rally. Winning a point does not award an extra serving turn. A genuine service let adds no point and does not advance the sequence.

At 10–10, each serving turn becomes one scored point, keeping the same order. The expedite system also uses one-point turns; it is outside this ordinary-play example. Our scoring guide explains the two-point winning margin.

Choose the next game’s first receiver correctly

The pair serving first in one game receives first in the next. The new serving pair chooses its first server, but the receiving pair does not freely choose again. Under rules 2.13.4–2.13.6 of the ITTF Statutes 2026, the first receiver must be the person who served to the chosen server in the preceding game.

For game two, Noor and Owen serve first. If they choose Noor, Maya receives because Maya served to Noor in game one. If they choose Owen, Leo receives. Only in the first game may the receiving pair choose its initial receiver freely.

Remember the deciding-game change

In the last possible game, both pairs change ends when either pair first reaches five points. The pair due to receive next also reverses its receiving order. This means game five in a best-of-five match, not every game that might finish the match.

Changing ends does not restart the score or give the current server a fresh two-point turn. Check the next receiver as well as where everyone stands.

Practical takeaway

Note the first server and receiver before play, then distinguish a completed point from a replayed let. If a player serves or receives out of turn, the umpire corrects the order at the current score under Rule 2.14; points already scored still count. That differs from a player striking out of sequence during a rally, which loses the point under Rule 2.10.1.12.