MUSCAT, MARCH 23 - International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) President Thomas Weikert was all praise for hosts Sultanate for its excellent organisation of the Seamaster ITTF Challenger Plus Oman Open.
In an exclusive interview with the Oman Daily Observer, the German official shared his thoughts on the various developments on the TT scene.
“The feedback I got from the players were excellent about the Oman Open. They are happy. If the players are happy, the ITTF is happy,” Weikert said.
More than 150 players from 40 countries are competing in the biggest ever table tennis event to be hosted by Oman.
“This is a really good start for Oman. In upcoming years Oman could host bigger events. Now it is Challenge Plus, next it could be some world championship event. Oman has the ability to successfully stage the top-class events,” he said.
Oman has submitted its bid to host a bigger tournament, the Veterans’ World Cup.
“There are three bidders for the Veterans World Cup. Oman, South Korea and Malaysia are the three countries that have made the bid. The winner of the bid will be decided in four weeks’ time in Budapest,” the ITTF top official said.
From 2024, the ITTF will have full rights to decide on confirming the hosting venues, he said.
The previous success stories of Arab TT and ITTF Junior and Cadet Open hosted by the Sultanate have proved the expertise of the Sultanate organisers.
“Oman have shaped up well and improved a lot in their organising capabilities when it came to the big events like Challenge Plus. Oman’s exposure to other big tournaments has helped them significantly too,” the ITTF chief said.
Talking about the important plans of ITTF, Weikert said from 2021 the TT body will be free from many contracts and would be able to make some changes in its tournament schedule.
“Right now it looks little packed. We will work on it in 2021 when we are free from most of our contracts.”
BEACH TABLE TENNIS
Among its ambitious plan, the ITTF president said the TT body is mulling to develop a beach TT game, TTX.
“This version of the game is in its developmental stage. This will be a sport for the general public and fun-loving sports enthusiasts. This will be designed similarly like beach volleyball or beach soccer.”
When it is launched it will surely capture the imagination of the sports world, the German official said about the beach TT format.
FOCUS ON MIDDLE EAST
Weikert said Oman is leading the interest for table tennis in the GCC adding that the Challenge Plus event is all set to become an annual schedule in Oman.
He said the overall participation for the Oman Open was good enough.
“Many of the top players are here. Only the top 10 ranking players are missing. This may be due to the World Platinum tournament in Doha, Qatar, next week.”
The ITTF has identified the potential of the Middle East in the game and we are focusing on the region for the further growth of table tennis, Weikert concluded.
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