The city of Busan has been elected host of the 2024 World Table Tennis Championships Finals after the event had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I would like to congratulate Busan and I am already looking forward to the 2024 World Championships Finals ” said Petra Sörling. “Congratulations to all the members of the Korean delegation. I am certain they will host a spectacular World Championships that will inspire millions across the world to play and enjoy table tennis.” Despite having a long tradition of table tennis and iconic athletes this is the first time the Republic of Korea will host the marquee event. It will be a fitting year as 2024 is the 100th anniversary of the introduction of table tennis in Korea.Busan was supposed to host the 2020 World Championships before they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seung-min Ryu IOC Member and President of the Korea Table Tennis Association commented “I wish to thank all associations of the ITTF for their tremendous support for Busan. We will make it a competition centered on players and spectators. We also intend to create a knowledge transfer program during the competition to share our experiences and knowledge with other member associations. By doing so we are intended to raise the bar of our sport.” The ITTF started the bidding process for the 2024 World Table Tennis Championships Finals from March this year and Busan was elected today by the Member Associations during the 2021 ITTF Annual General Meeting taking place in Houston Texas. The Korean bid was facing a bid from Buenos Aires. Originally five countries Argentina India Korea Portugal and Sweden had submitted bids.

The first part of the second day of play at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston was reserved for the Men’s and Women’s Doubles Event. In the Round of 64 Emmanuel LEBESSON and Alexandre CASSIN of France beat Austria’s pairings Alexander CHEN and David SERDAROGLU in four games. By same margin Timo BOLL and Patrick FRANZISKA of Germany overcame Slovakia’s Lubomir PISTEJ and Serbia’s Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC. Sweden’s Truls MOREGARD and Anton KALLBERG joined the winners after victory over Brazil’s Eric JOUTI and Vitor ISHIY 3:1. The list of Europeans goes with Slovenia’s Darko JORGIC and Deni KOZUL who overcame Kanate ALI and Oba Kizito OBA of Nigeria as well as Kristian KARLSSON and Mattias FALCK of Sweden who succeeded against Gustavo TSUBOI and Thiago MONTEIRO of Brazil. Robin DEVOS of Belgium and Benedek OLAH of Finland as well as Austria’s pairings Robert GARDOS and Daniel HABESOHN are safely through the Round of 32. Luxembourg’s Sarah DE NUTTE with NI Xia Lian proved too strong for Canada’s pairings Mo ZHANG and Joyce XU 3:1. Elizabet ABRAAMIAN and Natalia MALININA of Russia was forced to go full distance before they prevailed against Croatia’s pairings Ida JAZBEC and Ivana MALOBABIC. Hungary’s Dora MADARASZ and Georgina POTA halted Serbia’s young combination of Sabina SURJAN and Izabela LUPULESKU. YUAN Jia Nan and Pauline CHASSELIN of France moved to the Round of 32 alongside Nathalie MARCHETTI and Margo DEGRAEF of Belgium.

Petra SÖRLING of Sweden was elected today as the eighth President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). As the first-ever woman in this position and one of only four women currently presiding an Olympic International Federation she will bring the governing body into a new era. Her main goal is to create value through membership centred governance while strengthening the commercial growth of table tennis relies on four pillars: ITTF family governance growth and sustainability.  “I am deeply honoured to have been chosen for this position ” said Sörling following her election. “I would like to thank all my dear friends and colleagues from the entire table tennis family. I want to be a President for all of you. I will work for and with you in the coming years. And I will keep my promise to you – to listen – as achieving my mission of leading the ITTF will not be possible without your valuable thoughts and commitments. ETTU President Igor LEVITIN congratulates new ITTF President Petra SÖRLING. “On behalf of the European Table Tennis Union it is my great pleasure to congratulate you on your election as President of the International Table Tennis Federation. As you know very well we have strongly supported you from the beginning and have no doubt you will do a fantastic job in leading our global sport. The fact that no other candidates came forward to run against you is also a reflection of how highly you are regarded throughout our table tennis family”. In the letter addressed to Petra SORLING President LEVITIN also stated: “We are proud that a European will continue to lead the ITTF and you can count on our full cooperation throughout your Presidency.”   The strategic pillars United ITTF family: Unite the membership by bringing back peace improve inclusion and engage in discussions with the continental bodies and its leadership. Strengthen governance: Clarify organisation promote equity and further strengthen the ties to the Olympic and Paralympic movement. Commercial growth: Innovate event structure drive a strategic digital transformation and initiate new revenue streams. A sustainable future: Make ITTF a role model with the aim to inspire in the future IOC/IPC. In-line with UN development goals focus on increasing diversity and inclusion decrease inequities improve health and aim for a more responsible manufacturing value process. “I want to secure table tennis’ position as one of the world’s leading sports and aim even higher among the leading sports and reach for the top at the forefront of the sport community as a modern diverse and unified world-class sport federation ” she added. “We are in a fast-transforming era when it comes to business and sport. It’s not only table tennis. We have to move on but without losing our tradition or our core values.” Sörling also wants to reinforce the focus on sustainability within the table tennis community and will launch programmes to increase diversity and inclusion to raise awareness of the positive health effects of the sport and to explore new opportunities for responsible consumption and production. “At the heart of the ITTF group´s vision is to make table tennis accessible to all for life and for future generations. To achieve this the sport must make it its mission to focus its efforts towards three key areas: people planet and prosperity.” The ITTF President is elected by the assembled representatives of the member associations for a term of four years with the possibility to stand for re-election not more than twice in the same role. The new President replaces Thomas WEIKERT. Sörling has been active in the governance of table tennis for 20 years. She was elected to the ITTF Executive Committee in 2009 and quickly advanced to take charge of several key areas for the 226-member strong federation such as the Para division sustainability and most importantly accepting the role as the ITTF Executive Vice President of Finance in 2013. Sörling has also led a successful career in real estate in the vibrant city of Malmö Sweden. “I am now looking forward to starting to work with the Executive Committee and to serving our 226 Member Associations. Let’s all work towards our common goal ‘Table Tennis. For All. For Life. Forever”.

The opening day of the fights at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston continued with the great performance of the Germany’s players. After Nina MITTELHAM suffered by the hands of host nation’s pride Amy WANG (11:8 11:9 11:5 11:9) remaining eight players recorded impressive wins and they will join Timo BOLL in today’s Round of 64. HAN Ying moved to the next round after win over Swiss Rachel MORET who was overwhelmed by the defensive and attacking qualities of her opponent. Germany’s number one European singles champion Petrissa SOLJA also reached the round of the best 64 with an equally sparkling clean performance. She defeated the Serbian Izabela LUPULESKU (11:6 11:4 11:6 11:8). Sabine WINTER proved too strong for Welsh Charlotte CAREY (5 2 -4 2 13): “In the next match I have to improve if I want to leave the table as the winner.” The Bavarian meets Hong Kong’s world number 13. Doo Hoi Kem on her next step. To the next Round also progressed Barbora BALAZOVA of Slovakia who overcame Italy’s Debora VIVARELLI (7 7 9 8) Pauline CHASSELIN of France who beat Margo DEGRAEF of Belgium (10 5 2 8) Daria TRIGOLOS of Belarus who beat Galia DVORAK of Spain (8 -8 10 -8 8 4) Tatiana KUKULKOVA of Slovakia beat Katia KESSACI (9 3 4 9) Andrea TODOROVIC of Serbia overcame Ana CODINA of Argentina (9 4 10 9) Swede Linda BERGSTROM beat another Argentina’s player Camila ARGUELLES (5 3 7 1). In all European duel Sarah DE NUTTE of Luxembourg prevailed against Dora MADARASZ of Hungary (7 1 5 -4 3) Turkey’s Sibel ALTINKAYA needed only four games to overcame Mabelyn ENRIQUEZ in Houston. “I want to say that I am happy with my participation in the World Championship in USA. Physically i am feeling okay my goal was to have a good receive and to attack throughout the whole match. I am happy that I finished with a victory and I am ready for tomorrow’s match.” Bernadette SZOCS beat Pauline VEGA: “I played very well. I am so happy that i was in good shape and that i won my match. Always the first match is hard. But I prepared well and I concentrate 100% from the first point. I know that she is a good player so i had to prepare very well.” Another Romania’s player joined her. Adina DIACONU of Romania overcame Sofia POLCANOVA of Austria 4:3. “Today’s match was a really hard and taught one as I expected Sofia is a top and very experienced player . We played this year in European Championships and I lost 4-3 so i knew what i have to expect. I’m looking forward tomorrow and match against Jia Nan YUAN. We never played against each other at International level but we played in French League 2 weeks ago and I won 3-0 but was not as easy as it looks However I am confident for tomorrow I enjoy so much here and i m in a good shape ” said Adina. Also to round of 64 progressed Andreea DRAGOMAN who beat Anastassiya LAVROVA of Kazakhstan in seven thrilling games as well as experienced NI Xia Lian of Luxembourg after victory over Jamila LAURENTI of Italy. Amon the winners are Ivana MALOBABIC of Croatia and Tin Tin HO of England. In Men’s singles three players from Germany concluded their encounters in straight games. Top 16 Europe Cup winner Patrick FRANZISKA overcame Lubomir PISTEJ of Slovakia (7 5 6 6) Benedikt DUDA beat Harmeet DESAI of India (9 7 7 4) whilst Ruwen FILUS prevailed against Hunor SZOCS of Romania (12 4 6 2). Only DANG Qiu needed five games to overcame Yukiya UDA of Japan (6 9 1 -5 9) Benedikt DUDA defeated the Indian Harmeet Desai with whom he had mostly played close games in the past and now meets the current number 24 in the World rankings Portuguese Marcos FREITAS. In the past Duda has always conceded narrow defeats against the Europe Top 16 finalists. That should be different this time: “I’m in a good mood and it is finally time that I win against FREITAS for the first time.” For FRANZISKA the Olympic bronze medalist it was “a perfect start to the tournament”. In his first encounter with Lubomir PISTEJ he kept the Slovak’s game under control. In order to really only think from round to round and concentrate only on the next game Patrick has not even looked at his individual draw. “I didn’t even know who I was going to play against in the next round ” he said after his first individual with a view to Wednesday’s match against Canadian Jeremy HAZIN. “So far nobody has tweeted what my half looks like. I hope it stays that way.” Timo Boll seeded eighth at the World Championships was the only German with a bye in the singles. The record European champion will meet Chinese ZHOU Qihao whom he defeated 4-2 at the German Open in 2019. “He’s obviously a very strong opponent for the second round ” said BOLL. Russia’s Kirill SKACHKOV was stretched to full distance in the match against JANG Woojin of Korea (-8 7 -15 8 5 -9 10). He moved to next round together with Vladimir SIDORENKO who received walk over. Sweden will be represented also by Jon PERSSON who beat Ibrahima DIAW of Senegal in six games and Kristian KARLSSON who overcame HO Kwan Kit of Hong Kong in seven games. WANG Yang of Slovakia prevailed against Ovidiu IONESCU of Romania in straight games but his teammate Cristian PLETEA is still in game after victory over Thai Padasak TANVIRIYAVECHAKUL by same margin. Darko JORGIC of Slovenia overcame Aleksandar KARAKASEVIC of Serbia whilst Andrej GACINA of Croatia prevailed against FENG Yi-Hsin of Chinese Taipei. Adam SZUDI of Hungary overcame Khalid ASSAR. “I started very well in the beginning of the game I could be aggressive and i was more active in the game.

The 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals commenced today with the matches in the Men’s and Women’s Singles Event. For the coming week Houston Texas will be the world capital of table tennis. The city will become the first-ever host of the event in the Americas. The opening stage Round of 128 already brought fierce dules for the Europeans.Netherlands’ Britt EERLAND seeded at the position no. 28 recovered from 3:1 in reverse to overcame no. 135 seed Serbia’s Sabina SURJAN (11:9 7:11 11:8 11:8 4:11 7:11 6:11). “I needed time to use to the venue the tournament and the match whilst Sabina adapted much easier. I was 3:1 down by pushing it too much. I got frustrated and I had to change the whole approach. I pushed myself ‘just one more point’ and then everything got smoother. I restored my confidence and I fought for my game. I am proud of myself that I fought my way out of being in such big reverse and it gave me extra confidence for the next round ” said EERLAND. Giorgia PICCOLIN of Italy overcame Yadira SILVA of Mexico (11:8 3:11 11:5 6:11 9:11 5:11). The seed no. 33 Elizabeta SAMARA of Romania managed to play well after the injury. SAMARA overcame Anna WEGRZYN of Poland (6:11 9:11 4:11 8:11). “I am coming after back injury which requires time to recover and it takes time to reach my top shape but I am happy that after a month I can already play without pain. First match is always difficult but I was well prepared. I played against WEGRZYN in Polish League and I knew it what I have to do ” explained SAMARA. No 42 seed Hana MATELOVA of Czech Republic justified her rankings and overcame Georgina POTA of Hungary no. 52 seed in four games but much closer than the result predicts (13:11 11:9 11:7 8:11 11:4). “I would say it was a great match from my side. It was very important that I won first and second game. They were very close. Here I just want to focus on game and to do my best ” said MATELOVA. In straight games YUAN Jia Nan of France overcame Cuba’s Daniela ORTEGA (8:11 5:11 4:11 8:11) whilst Natalia BAJOR of Poland prevailed against Belgium’s Nathalie MARCHETTI (5:11 11:7 7:11 8:11 11:9 8:11). The list of winner from Europe are extended with the name of Turkey’s Sibel ALTINKAYA who needed only four games to overcame Mabelyn ENRIQUEZ (5:11 2:11 7:11 5:11). Portugal’s Joao GERALDO overcame Bence MAJAROS of Hungary (7:11 13:11 12:14 11:5 11:7 11:8) whilst Swede Anton KALLBERG beat Lubomir JANCARIK of Czech Republic (11:6 11:4 11:2 11:5). Another Portugal’s representative no. 24 seed Marcos FREITAS overcame England’s Paul DRINKHALL (12:10 5:11 10:12 3:11 9:11). “ It was a very tough match. The opening encounter is always hard… It was very interesting to play at the main court; at the table number one. I am very happy with my victory and with my overall performance. DRINKHALL is a very good player he played very well in past few months. Now I just need to rest and to see who will come against me in the next round ” explained FREITAS. Paul is out but his teammate Samuel WALKER recorded opening round victory against Daniel GONZALES of Puerto Rico (11:8 11:4 11:8 8:11 11:4). “I feel happy to get through my first match. I thought I played a good enough match to do what I needed to but I need to improve on some things for the next one. The next match against Lebesson will be a hard match so I’m looking forward to a big fight and I’ll be ready for that!” promised WALKER. Adam SZUDI of Hungary overcame Khalid ASSAR of Egypt ins straight games (2:11 4:11 8:11 9:11). or Robert GARDOS of Austria had much closer encounter against Anders LIND of Denmark he was stretched to full distance (13:11 11:8 8:11 6:11 11:5 8:11 13:11). “I started very well I was calm and I was 2:0 up despite that he had 5:0 advantage in the opening game and he also had a better start of the second game. I was just calm and managed to produce better game in the finish. At 2:0 and 7:6 for me I lost my focus in some arguing and on the other side he started to play much better. LIND leveled at two all and forced me to change my game. I started to play much more aggressive faster and simple to win the fifth game before he raised his game once again. It was very good performance from both of us especially in the decisive game. LIND had a better start 4:2 but in very fast exchanges and few contra spins from my side I earned 8:4 lead then 9:7 before we reached 10:10 and in really close finish I won. It was very hard match and I am very tired ” said GARDOS. Adopting a revamped and expanded format for the first time the flagship event feature 128 players in singles (Men and Women) and 64 pairs in each of the doubles competitions (Men Doubles Women Doubles Mixed Doubles) competing in a straight knockout format.  

The 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals commences tomorrow in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston USA. The draw for the competition was held last night. Only two European players will be free in the opening Round of 128 players In Men’s Singles – Mattias FALCK of Sweden ranked at the position 10 at the World Rankings and one place below Worlds no. 11 Timo BOLL of Germany. In Women’s Singles for Europeans the fights commneces already tomorrow with the matches in in the first round. For all players there is a long and hard way. Finalist from the World Championships in 2019 FALCK has Chinese Taipei’s LIN Yun-Ju the no.4 seed in his part of the draw. They could meet in the quarters if previously FALCK potentionaly beat Nigeria’s Quadri ARUNA the no.13 seed. In the same part is Germany’s Patrick FRANZISKA the no.10 seed who could play against LIN in the same round. Four players from China are in the top half of the draw it means just one in the lower section ZHOU Qihao. He presents a most intriguing situation in the second round Germany’s Timo BOLL the no.8 seed awaits. Timo BOLL and ZHOU Qihao are listed in the same quarter of the draw as Korea Republic’s LEE Sangsu the no.16 seed and Japan’s Tomokazu HARIMOTO the no.2 seed. Nothing easier will be in the Doubles. Outstanding in Budapest in the Men’s doubles seeking to repeat their silver medal success the combination of Romania’s Ovidiu IONESCU and Spain’s Alvaro ROBLES the no.4 seeds appear in the same half of the draw as two Chinese partnerships. LIN Gaoyuan and LIANG Jingkun the top seeds who could well meet Portugal’s Tiago APOLONIA and João MONTEIRO in round two bronze medallists in Budapest appear in the same half of the draw as does the combination of FAN Zhendong and WANG Chuqin the no.9 seeds. They are potential third round adversaries for Ovidiu Ionescu and Alvaro Robles. The background for the classifications which do not always correctly reflect the balance of power in world of table tennis is the world ranking list which is not particularly meaningful due to the pandemic and which – together with current results in doubles – forms the basis for the rankings. Many nations only visited the few tournaments sporadically or not at all shifts in the World rankings were a consequence the consequences are obvious in the draw. DTTB sports director Richard PRAUSE explains: “The world rankings have been shaken up a bit by Corona. Players who have toured many tournaments are ranked a bit higher. Other players who are normally expected further up in the seeding are behind due to a lack of tournament participation. In doubles the current results were used as a basis. That’s okay too but it sometimes led to some surprising classifications. In singles and doubles this means that there are or may be early encounters between stronger athletes than would otherwise have been the case at a World Championships. As a result we are faced with some very challenging tasks very early on. But that doesn’t just affect us as the example of China in the men’s singles shows. In a non-Corona time with significantly more competitions the World rankings and thus the settings that make such constellations possible would probably have looked different.” All the European players in the Women’s Singles Event will start from Round one. Best seeded is Sofia POCANOVA of Austria at the position no. 13 followed by Petrisa SOLJA of Germany three positions below. In the fourth Round POLCANOVA could meet WANG Manyu no. 4 seed whilst European champion SOLJA will head to cleash against Mima ITO of Japan at the same stage. In Women’s Doubles CHEN Chien-An and CHUANG Chih-Yuan aiming to regain their title whilst SUN Yingsha and WANG Manyu the no.11 seeds aim to retain the title won in Budapest. On their way to the top they could meet Germany’s SHAN Xiaona and Petrissa SOLJA the no.6 seeds and reigning European champions in round three.