Yoshihito Miyazaki, head of development at the Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA), expects China to help further promote table tennis around the globe.

Miyazaki noticed the boom of the sport in China after the Rio Olympic Games and the enthusiasm of Chinese fans around the world.

He felt a bit surprised that in matches held in Japan, "Come on!" in Chinese could be heard from the stands, which is also the case in other countries and regions.

"I'm glad to see that Chinese fans can bring atmosphere to other places and form a larger group globally, which contributes to the development of table tennis," Miyazaki said in a recent interview.

Although Miyazaki is eager to see the sport back to the spotlight, he admitted it's "too early" to bring international table tennis tournaments back in the context of the pandemic, while recommending competitions between China, Japan and South Korea, where the pandemic has been basically brought under control.

"We cannot just organize games, but also need to broadcast the games live. The broadcast revenue can be given back to players. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch high-level matches. It will be a situation where many sides benefit," he said.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the world's biggest sport organization boasting 226 member associations. 

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