Boris accepts Pippa’s ping-pong match challenge: “I’m game if she is!”

London Mayor Boris Johnson has risen to the challenge of a ping-pong game with Pippa Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Writing on Twitter to Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, Johnson wrote: “I’m game if she is. Happy for Pippa to join me on a visit and see the benefits of our £22m Sports Legacy Fund in action.”

This comes after Middleton threw down the gauntlet to confront the Mayor at “whiff-whaff” in a diary column for the latest issue of the Spectator.

@frasernelsonI’m game if she is. Happy for Pippa to join me on a visit and see the benefits of our £22m Sports Legacy Fund in action

— Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon) April 3, 2013

In her article, she wrote:

“Back home in London after my Alpine challenges, I can now pursue less demanding hobbies in my spare time, such as ping-pong. I’m informed that Boris Johnson, former editor of this magazine, wants to be “whiff-whaff” world king even more than he wants to be Prime Minister. I’m also told the Johnsons are almost as competitive as the Middletons.

“So I’d like to lay down a challenge to the Mayor. My only stipulation is that I can use my favourite Dunlop Blackstorm Nemesis bat, which I used when I played in the Milton Keynes U13 National Championships, don’t you know. Bring it on, Boris.’

As they prepare to spar, Middleton may be in for a tough time if Johnson decides to cheat as “outrageously” at table tennis as former Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson apparently thinks.

Watch out Pippa! Ex Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson says Boris cheats ‘outrageously’ at table tennis

— Sonia Purnell (@soniapurnell) April 3, 2013