Why Do Table Tennis Players Cho Le?

Last Updated on April 24, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

We’ve all heard it. How could you not? Players screaming “cho” and “cho-le” after winning a point. It’s simply become one of those accepted things in table tennis, but what purpose does it serve, and word do these phrases actually mean?

Today I’m here to scratch that curious itch and answer why table tennis players cho-le.

Cho-Le Meaning

Before we get into the why let’s first address the meaning.

Sorry to disappoint, but there isn’t one. There is no cho-le meaning.

Despite there being many proposed definitions online, they are all wrong. The most common one I hear is that “cho-le” means “good ball”. However, this isn’t correct.

Professional players themselves have confirmed that “cho” and “cho-le” have no meaning.

In fact, several years ago I wanted to get to the bottom of this for once and for all so I asked my Cantonese table tennis friends if there was any meaning to the phrases. They confirmed that it was essentially gibberish.

So Where Did “Cho” and “Cho-Le” Come From?

Although we will likely never know for sure, my personal opinion is that the phrase came from Cantonese words which became modified. According to Cantonese speakers, the phrase sounds Cantonese even though it has no meaning.

The closest and most plausible Cantonese word I could find for “cho” is “球” which means ball. However, it does not make

sense to scream ball after winning a point, and it is pronounced “cow” rather than “cho”.

Why Do Players Cho Le?

Now onto the why. And the answer is pretty simple. It’s for players to hype themselves up. It’s not really the words themselves that get a player gassed up, but rather the emotional release, and frustration on the part of the player who lost the point.

Of course, saying words that actually have meaning does the same job. And we see a plethora of other words and phrases besides cho and cho-le shouted in table tennis. For example, with French players, I often hear the word “allez”. This means “come on”, which makes a lot of sense to say after winning a point.

I also hear the word “sa” every now and again. I am unsure what this means though.

Personally, I’m partial to saying “come on” and “let’s go” after winning a point. They get me proper hyped up!

Why Are Cho and Cho-Lei Specifically So Common in Table Tennis?

I think it’s just the fact that these words rose to center stage and players all over the world heard the top professional using them so they followed suit.

A lot of players have no idea that the terms have no meaning at all and believe that they are Cantonese encouragement phrases like “good shot” or “come on”.

Cho Le Controversy

The sentiment regarding shouting “cho-le” is mixed among players, however, overall I would say it’s largely negative.

As mentioned earlier, the purpose of speaking or shouting any phrase after winning a point is to hype yourself up. It also gets under your opponent’s skin and irritates them.

We see shouting after big points in a lot of sports, but table tennis takes it to a new level. Of course, some players don’t really shout at all. But on the other hand, there are tonnes of players who shout VERY frequently.

To me and others, this is too far and a little insulting. Most players don’t mind players shouting after a big point, but after nearly every point is a bit much. It doesn’t reflect very well on the sport.

What’s more, shouting a word that means nothing is just kind of silly. If you’re going to shout something to get in the right headspace at least make it mean something! My friends and I use the term “cho-le” comically every so often to take the mick. And I suspect a lot of other players do too.

My Experience Being on the Receiving End of a “Cho” Table Tennis Screamer

Having played table tennis for over a decade I’ve played every kind of player out there, good, bad, old, and young. And in that time I’m pleased to report I’ve come across very few cho-le-ers — probably because I live in the UK.

However, there was one particular match that I’ll never forget against such a player.

This fella rattled me to the core. It didn’t help that I’d never faced someone who shouted cho all the time before. Poor ~16-year-old me needed a little preparation!

Anyways, this guy literally screamed “cho” after every. Single. Point. Even unforced errors where I pushed the ball into the net. The sound of his incessant cho-ing reverberated around the large sports hall. Everyone was looking. Needless to say, I kinda hated this guy’s guts. What made things worse was that this player had a very tricky bat setup. He used long pimples on one side and inverted on the other.

As a result, I was really struggling to break my muscle memory and just read the spin on the ball, so I was making a lot of unforced errors. The last thing I wanted was someone screaming in my ear. To make things worse I didn’t rate the player’s ability at all. I knew I could have polished him off with no trouble if he had inverted rubbers on both sides.

Fortunately for me, I was able to pull myself together and get my offensive game going. I got the win. Goodbye and good riddance. May we never meet again!

Tomokazu Harimoto — The Serial Offender

I’m sure a lot of you think of particular players when it comes to serial cho-le-ers, but for me, none are quite as bad as Mr. Harimoto.

This kid loves a cho-le. He just can’t help himself. He says it louder and more often than any other player I’ve seen, and I can only imagine how much it p*sses his opponents off.

What makes Harimoto’s chos comical is what I like to call the “back-breaker”.

Every now and again after winning a big point he will pair a “cho-le” while bending his back backward like he is being possessed.

To see what I mean fast forward this vid to 2:32. Hairmoto might have a future in limbo.