BUDAPEST: Breaking new ground, new territories and adopting a whole new playing system is what’s in store for the 2021 and 2022 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals, which will be hosted in Houston, USA and Chengdu, China respectively.
The news follows Monday’s historic vote at the ITTF’s annual general meeting here where national associations voted in favour of what will be two of the most eye-catching events that the sport of table tennis has ever known.
The 2021 World Championships Finals not only marks the first time that table tennis’ biggest annual event will be staged in the US, but also the first time in 82 years that it is being hosted outside Asia and Europe since Cairo hosted the 1939 competition.
The choice of USA opens up doors for the sport to enter a new market and confirms the very real globalisation of the game – one of the key goals behind the changes to the World Championships format approved last year in Halmstad, Sweden.
The 2021 World Championships Finals will be the first edition under the expanded format to ensure maximum participation of ITTF member national associations.
The 2022 World Table Tennis Championships Finals are also set to be memorable, as China emerged the successful candidate to stage the event, overcoming competition provided by Japan and Portugal.
The fact that USA and China will be staging the World Championships Finals in consecutive years is a fitting way to celebrate half a century of arguably the sport’s greatest success story.
ITTF CEO Steve Dainton said: “I would like to thank all nations who bid to host our biggest annual event. It was fantastic to see so many high-level bids from a great range of countries.
“We noticed raised interest in hosting the World Championships Finals, due to the expansion of the competition from 2021, which adds even more value and prestige.
“The quality of the bids we received is fantastic news for table tennis globally and we now have two extraordinary World Championships Finals events lined up, which will capture the imagination of players and spectators, opening up the sport to an ever-expanding market.
“I can’t wait for the build-up to both events now, albeit for the next week we are fully focused on making the best possible sports spectacle in Budapest!”
Janis Burke, CEO, Harris County – Houston Sports Authority noted:“We’re thrilled not only to be hosting the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships, but also to have the chance to help commemorate that historic moment when ping pong diplomacy was born. In 1971, China and the United States came together and helped change the world.”
Liu Yi, vice president, CTTA, added: “This is the first time that I have been involved in such a fierce bid with three very strong countries bidding to win this prestigious event. We are so happy to win and look forward to showing Chengdu to the entire world in 2022.”
Changes to TT’s visual outlook on anvil
The visual outlook of table tennis may undergo great changes after the Tokyo Olympic Games with introduction of new colours for paddlers’ racket rubbers, ITTF president Thomas Weikert announced here.
The proposal has been in discussion during Monday’s ITTF AGM. Instead of current colours of black and red for rubbers, different colours from red may be used in one side, while the other should remain in black, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The proposition passed can be a lot of colours as long as it’s not a problem with the colour compared with the ball and reflection. There are still some restrictions on the colour, and those colours have to be approved by the equipment department of ITTF,” said Dainton.
“There will still be some tight rules on that regarding reflection and brightness. In principle, it will be mainly black plus many other different types of colours. The proposition passed was to do it after the Tokyo Olympics, so there will be no difference for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” he added.
Weikert added that the ITTF also had propositions to use yellow balls after the Tokyo Olympics.
“This is now only a resolution, because AGM decides first of all to test the outcome with the yellow ball for TV and players, so it’s not a decision,” Weikert clarified to Xinhua.
