Latest news with #GrandSmash
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
LA 2028 Olympics Games venue for table tennis too small, says ITTF president Soerling
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics table tennis venue is too small for the needs of the sport amid growing global popularity, said the head of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Petra Soerling, on Thursday. The table tennis competition at the 2028 Games will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, a venue for several other sports during the Games, including wrestling and judo. LA Games organisers announced the venues back in April. For table tennis the capacity is around 7,000, Soerling said. That is a similar size to the Paris 2024 Olympics venue for the sport last year. 'In Los Angeles we think our venue is too small,' Soerling told a group of international news agencies. 'The location is excellent but I am sad to say we can only be maximum seven thousand. 'We are selling out bigger venues than that. Let's see what we can do. There is still time,' she added. Soerling, who is running for another term as ITTF president on May 28, said the sport had witnessed growth in recent years and got a massive boost by the success of the Paris Olympics in 2024. ALSO READ: Olympic silver medallist Truls Moregard injured in drone accident during training 'We want to grow more, and the momentum we saw after Paris is just the beginning,' Soerling said. 'It is not only in China. It is also in other places. 'We have never seen what we are facing now. Seeing venues sold out in less than 20 minutes. We have a number one for the under-11 from Uganda. The Paris Olympics and Paralympics were sold out.' The ITTF will also host its first Grand Smash event -- the top tier tournament of the ITTF's commercial arm World Table Tennis -- in Las Vegas in July this year, the first time it has been held outside Asia. This will then be followed by a Grand Smash event in Sweden's Malmoe in August. 'We can see there is this big appetite,' Soerling said.
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
LA 2028 Games venue for table tennis is too small-ITTF President
BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) - The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics table tennis venue is too small for the needs of the sport amid a growing global popularity, said the head of the International Table Tennis Federation Petra Soerling on Thursday. The table tennis competition at the 2028 Games will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, a venue for several other sports during the Games, including wrestling and judo. LA Games organisers announced the venues back in April. For table tennis the capacity is around 7,000, Soerling said. That is a similar size to the Paris 2024 Olympics venue for the sport last year. "In Los Angeles we think our venue is too small," Soerling told a group of international news agencies. "The location is excellent but I am sad to say we can only be maximum seven thousand. "We are selling out bigger venues than that. Let's see what we can do. There is still time," she added. Soerling, who is running for another term as ITTF president on May 28, said the sport had witnessed growth in recent years and got a massive boost by the success of the Paris Olympics in 2024. "We want to grow more and the momentum we saw after Paris is just the beginning," Soerling said. "It is not only in China. It is also in other places. "We have never seen what we are facing now. Seeing venues sold out in less than 20 minutes. We have a number one for the under-11 from Uganda. The Paris Olympics and Paralympics were sold out." The ITTF will also host its first Grand Smash event -- the top tier tournament of the ITTF's commercial arm World Table Tennis -- in Las Vegas in July this year, the first time it has been held outside Asia. This will then be followed by a Grand Smash event in Sweden's Malmoe in August. "We can see there is this big appetite," Soerling said.
South China Morning Post
16-03-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Table tennis row sign of imbalance in sport power structure
The sudden withdrawal of three of China's top table tennis players from the global rankings shocked the sport. Advertisement Fan Zhendong, Chen Meng and Ma Long, who have 14 Olympic gold medals between them, pulled out late last year, ending their participation in tournaments run by the sport's governing body. The drastic move was sparked by new rules on fines for players skipping competitions run by World Table Tennis (WTT), the commercial arm of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). There was widespread support for the players, especially from their fans. Fan and Chen took to social media to highlight the negative impact on player welfare of requirements that they meet a packed schedule. Facing a backlash, WTT sensibly supported the ITTF's setting up of a task force to reconsider the changes. Advertisement Players, coaches and administrators from around the world provided feedback at meetings in Singapore last month. There was, importantly, a dedicated session with Chinese players and officials. This led to a WTT announcement that the rules would be further changed. The mandatory participation requirement for the four WTT Grand Smash tournaments was removed. Two annual exemptions will also be granted to players from competing in six Champions events.
South China Morning Post
14-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Chinese table tennis stars welcome WTT rule changes after rankings row
China's Olympic champions have expressed their approval after global table tennis chiefs' decision to change several of the rules that prompted three of the country's top names to withdraw from the world rankings. On Tuesday, World Table Tennis (WTT) removed the mandatory participation requirement at all Grand Smash events and introduced direct entry for Olympic champions. Sun Yingsha, Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu, who won gold in the table tennis team events at the Paris Games, welcomed the changes. '[I'm] very happy, [after] competing at the Olympics, players require a long time to think and plan, so this is a privilege to Olympic champions,' Sun said late on Thursday. In December, Olympic champions Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Chen Meng shocked the sport when they announced that they had withdrawn from the world rankings. China's table tennis star Fan Zhendong has yet to comment on the WTT's rule changes. Photo: AFP The trio cited the physical toll and an inability to pull out of WTT events without facing fines as key reasons behind their decision.
