For the third year running, our remarkable sport was celebrated in brilliant fashion and in a spirit I can only describe as moving, as table tennis enthusiasts from all around the world came together as one to spread our love for the game.
Forgive me for being sentimental but I cannot help but think back to a few years ago when we first mooted such an idea, which eventually culminated in the inaugural World Table Tennis Day in 2015.
Back then, the biggest motivating factor in introducing such an event was to truly make table tennis a game for all, whereby anyone and everyone having the opportunity to play it.
Two years on, I can only smile when I see how far we’ve come but, rest assured, this is only the beginning.
I would like to thank all our National Associations for organising some of the most intriguing and engaging events all across the globe yesterday, as well as all our players who came out in full force to advocate how important April 6 is to us.
Your efforts truly made the 3rd World Table Tennis Day a resounding success.
But also, to table tennis aficionados all over who took the effort to celebrate World Table Tennis Day in your own special ways.
Some of you might have seen the video by “Table Tennis Friends of Ioannina City”, which we shared on our media platforms.
I can only dream that, one day, I will also get a chance to play a game in the stunning Theatre of Dodoni in Epirus!
I celebrated the special day by going to the 53rd floor of the highest building in Frankfurt to play in a World Table Tennis Day registered event with mentally disabled player Hartmut Freund. In my hectic life, I always enjoy taking a break and just hitting some balls with some mates.
Once again, to everyone who contributed in one way or another to making our 3rd World Table Tennis Day beautiful and memorable and to those who will continue celebrations in the coming weeks, I would like to express my sincere gratitude from the bottom of my heart.
It fills me with great pride to see how far we have come, and may we continue to push on inour quest to make table tennis for everyone, everywhere. To make TABLE TENNIS FOR ALL.
Yours sincerely,
Thomas Weikert
International Table Tennis Federation President