At the International system, like it or not, it is very well accepted-- by the players, the press and the TV. Perhaps in your association it is not, and that is totally legitimate and the ITTF is not imposing this rule on any group. It's up to each national Association to decide its application and implementation of ITTF rules within its own territory. However, the rule has been adopted for all international events.
The Chinese proposal to revert to 21 points will be presented at the ITTF's AGM in Paris. If it is passed, then of course it will come into effect. If it is defeated then it will not. The decision will be made by the delegates at the AGM on 21 May 2003. This is the democratic way.
Many players had expressed similar views as yours, but after trying the 11-point system for a year, many of them (especially in Germany) have now declared that they like it very much. For each negative e-mail we received in the first 3 months of implementation, we now receive ten fold praising the new system. However, we must follow our democratic system and whatever the ITTF's AGM will decide, we will implement.
Adham Sharara
ITTF President
Dear Mr Sharara,
I read your comments reported on the English Table Tennis Association website regarding 11-up being accepted all around the world:
http://www.etta.co.uk/News/News0203/Apr6a01.htm
I feel you may have misjudged the depth of feeling at grass roots levels, which make up all but a miniscule proportion of participants in the sport of table tennis.
I can understand the need to make the sport more attractive, but at what cost. For grass roots players table tennis is a participation sport, and not necessarily a spectator sport. With very little TV coverage of the sport my Association can boast to be the largest single Association in England. We can also boast that we are one of the few Associations in England who's membership is increasing in a time of continuing decline.
The overpowering message we get from our members, including players who compete in national competitions, is that the change to 11-up has ruined the sport.
Individual members, when discussing the possible move to 11-up by our league, are quite open in stating that they would give up the sport before moving to 11-up. At our last pole 70% of our membership were against 11-up with a significant proportion of those saying they would give up if it was imposed on them.
One also has to consider what proportion of players put up with the rule change because of their love of the sport, who would perhaps prefer the 21-up format. There are many national bodies that have imposed 11-up, claiming it to be successful when they have no real evidence to determine what their grass roots players prefer. It would be unsafe to accept any evidence that doesn't come directly from the players themselves, as with any large organisation some individuals in positions of power and influence may have their own agendas.
This begs the question, for whom are the ITTF actually running the sport?
If it is for grass roots players, then the Chinese Table Tennis Association proposal to revert back to 21-up should be carried and the sport can return to a format that the massive majority of players prefer.
I would be interested in your views so that I may pass them back to our members at our forthcoming AGM.
Kind regards,
B&DTTA Executive
Committee Member
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