by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Ideally, the hosting of such events will witness a geographical spread in order to best promote the sport of table tennis in the whole continent, from the Murchison Promontory in Canada to the Magellan Straits off the south coast of Chile.
Presentation and promotion are key factors in events which involve the very elite of the continent; a great deal of progress has been made in the past decade, now the task is make the next better than the one that went before.
Also, let us never forget that in the sport of table tennis we have a highly marketable product. It is a sport that everyone can play and above all, even if you are not an aficionado, very quickly you can understand what is happening.
It is a challenge to host such events but it is also a rewarding experience; in addition to the sheer satisfaction of a job well done, the rewards can be measured in more intrinsic terms. Benefits to the local and national association, as well as to city or town in question accrue; table tennis takes another step up the ladder.
Recently in Buenos Aires, Kanak Jha of the United States and Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi won the respective Boys’ Singles and Girls’ Singles titles at ITTF Pan American Junior Championships; in Costa Rica, the two countries enjoyed further success at the ITTF Pan American Cup. Gustavo Tsuboi flew the flag for Brazil, he won the Men’s titles; Lily Zhang secured the Women’s Singles crown for the United States.
Now we await the names of the winners at the 2017 Pan American Championships and those in all three events in 2018, 2019 and 2020; it could be in your country that the champions are anointed.
Contact:
Mr. Juan Vila, President ITTF-Latin American Table Tennis Union
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Gordon Kaye, President ITTF-North American Table Tennis Union
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Freddy Almendariz: ITTF Pan American Competition Manager
Email: [email protected]
Pan American Tournaments: Bid document in English (Monday 14th August)
Pan American Tournaments: Bid document in Spanish (Monday 14th August)
Pan American Tournaments: Application Form (Closing Date: Thursday 31st August 2017)