ITTF President Weikert lays out blueprint for the sport (updated)
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E-mail Xinhua, October 23, 2017
By Sportswriter Su Bin
LIEGE, Belgium, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Four months after winning reelection as President of the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation), the biggest single federation in sports with 226 member associations, Thomas Weikert has a clear roadmap in his mind for the future development of the sport.
"We have to change a lot in development, not only to have the number of member associations, but to set new standards where we mandate that our member associations do something for development," he told Xinhua in a recent interview here during the ITTF Men's World Cup.
"It should not be a goal to just give these associations some tables, some equipment, some balls and make a training course, but (rather) to make them believe that table tennis is worth bidding for some things, and they are feeling the worth of (bidding) for anything, so that we can distribute our equipment to really interested associations.
"For example, somebody had a great idea to have a kids event in schools or kindergartens, (but to accomplish this) we have to focus more on details. This is not (the case) maybe for bigger associations like China, Japan and Germany, but would (take effort to accomplish in) those smaller associations," he explained.
Mixed doubles is set to appear as the fifth table tennis event at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, which, for Weikert, shows that the development of table tennis has caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
"We have the most associations now. This is our strength, and the IOC knows that, so we have the new event at the Tokyo Olympics," said Weikert.
"The past has shown that in these events, it's not only one association who dominates. Other associations also have got a chance."
The well-attended three-day World Cup concluded in the eastern Belgian city of Liege on Sunday. The 20 top level players around the world who featured in the competition certainly helped to raise public interest. To further improve the attractiveness of the sport going forward, Weikert and the ITTF have been experimenting with ways to attract younger players.
TTX (Table Tennis X), a new project initiated by the ITTF before the Rio Olympic Games last August, was meant to go in the direction of refreshing the sport, with fewer restraints on space and equipment.
"We not only want to have competitive sport, but also fun sport on the beach, or wherever with simple equipment for attracting more young people," said Weikert.
"We have now seen a rise in market. The first fruit is that we have a new sponsor and a new team. For example, we have already employed a young Chinese woman to sell our products in China, which is necessary to understand the Chinese market, to go and live there, attract companies and convince them that table tennis is one of the most important sports," he added.
Witnessing the emergence of young Japanese paddlers in recent years, who are possibly a great threat to China's dominance in the sport, Weikert says he sees the Tokyo Olympics as a key moment. A more fierce contest in the future will, he says, boost the development of the sport.
"We saw the strength of young Japanese players. The Chinese have seen that, and will take care. They will know that it's hard to win all gold medals there. Also for Germany and France, they are preparing well, so we will see.
"I'm the president of the international federation. Who wins at last doesn't matter to me. I like a strong competition. Tokyo will be the right moment for a big fight for the medals. The Chinese are favorites in the next three years, but the contest will be close," said Weikert.
"Not only in Tokyo, but also the 2024 Games in Paris, traditional table tennis associations will make big efforts to compete there, so China has to fight." Enditem
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