27 Apr 2017

A blast from the past, celebrated names of yesteryear picking up their rackets to wind back the clock and resume their rivalry on the world stage; the International Table Tennis Federation has become an official partner of the Legends Tour.

The first tournament of the new partnership will take place in Metz, France on Friday 28th April and will involve such renowned names as Sweden’s Jörgen Persson, Germany’s Jörg Rosskopf, Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive, China’s Jiang Jialiang, Frenchman Christophe Legout and Panagiotis Gionis of Greece.

by ITTF

Proceedings are organised by Philippe Saive Management.

“The ITTF is always looking for great ideas to invest into and the Legends Tour is definitely a great idea. We have a lot of past superstars in our sport, so there is a big demand from spectators to watch them at the table again. We look forward to working with the Legends Tour team to grow these events to new heights.” Thomas Weikert ITTF President

Notably the first Legends Tour tournament was staged in Seraing, Belgium in 2014; since that date there have been two editions; Halmstad, Sweden in 2015 and one year later again in Belgium when Ans was the home.

“When Philippe Saive Management approached the ITTF for financial assistance for the Legends Tour, we were happy to assist. The Marketing and Asia Pacific Headquarters has always thought the Legends Tour was a good promotional tool for table tennis, so we are glad we could ensure that the product went ahead. We also believe that this product has a bright long term future and will be pleased to work with Philippe Saive Management to ensure it reaches its global commercial potential.” Steve Dainton, ITTF Marketing Director

Watch live this Friday from 8.00pm local time (+2 GMT) on Facebook and YouTube pages of the International Table Tennis Federation

General News Thomas Weikert Panagiotis Gionis Steve Dainton Jörgen Persson Jean-Michel Saive jorg rosskopf Jiang Jialiang Christophe Legout