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Table Tennis: ITTF president wants India to host World Championships
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) President Thomas Weikert is eager for India to host the World Championships, adding that it is the right time for the nation to host the mega event. The Table Tennis Federation of India is likely to submit a bid for hosting the 2024 World Championships (team) by the end of the year.
Speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of the ITTF in New Delhi, the first one in India since 1987, Weikert added that India has great potential, which is evident in the world rankings.
"We like the fact India is bidding for a big event like the World Championships. 2024 the right time. It is a 32-team event and India is strong in teams.
"It is easier for them to make the quarterfinals than the individual event," Weikert stated. "We choose India because we think there is a huge potential in India. You can see that in the world rankings. You can see that when it organises events, you see that in their performance at events like the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
"India has improved a lot. There are many young Indian players who play on the ITTF world tour. It is important that we have ambitious associations and India is one of them," said Weikert.
The last time that the country hosted an ITTF event was way back in 2012 when the World Junior Table Tennis Championships was held in Hyderabad. The last time that they played host to the senior World Championships was in 1987.
The Indian table tennis team have made rapid progress in the last few months, with the unprecedented medal haul at the Commonwealth and the Asian Games in 2018 increasing the morale of the players. Manika Batra had won as many as four medals at the CWG that was staged at Gold Coast, including two gold medals, while the men's team clinched bronze in the Asian Games after a long wait of 60 years.
The men's team is currently ranked eighth in the world and will be eyeing a qualification spot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as a team when they play in Portugal later this month.
