by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Manager

Organised locally by Lars Kristen and Urban Johnson; three themes were featured: high performance, health and innovation plus sports science.

In addition to the International Table Tennis Federation, the partners for the Conference were: the Swedish Table Tennis Association, the International Badminton Association, Ping Pong Power, the Hallands Sports Association and SISU Idrottsutbildarna (an association of sports coaches).

Proceedings were opened by Stephen Hwang, Halmstad University Vice-Chancellor Stephen Hwang.

“There are so many people all over the world who are either active in a sport or following different athletes and teams. It is becoming more and more evident that being active in sports is beneficial for your health. It keeps the brain running!” Stephen Hwang

Meanwhile, a major feature was the series of four keynote speeches

Maria Ahlsén, a biochemist holding a PhD in physiology, spoke on the subject of knowledge transfer needed to become healthier; Mads Brink Hansen, addressed those present on the subject of performance optimization in badminton. Meanwhile Tsung Min Hund, gave a lecture on the subject of the relationship between participation in table tennis and cognitive function. The feature for Irene Faber was identifying and developing high potential in youth racket sport players.

“The ambition was to discuss sports, health and racket sports from a multidisciplinary perspective and we think we succeeded. It was a rewarding few days, we have received positive feedback from both conference participants and our partners.” Lars Kristen

In addition, some 40 scientific presentations and seven workshops were held.