The ITTF has launched the bidding process for the Finals of the bigger, better and expanded World Table Tennis Championships Finals (WTTC Finals) for 2024.
This will mark the fourth edition of the enlarged version of the greatest table tennis event on earth, which first comes into effect in 2021 in Houston, United States.
A series of continental stages taking place prior will be leading to the WTTC Finals, which will showcase the very best players from the previous stages.
The WTTC Finals offer the incredible global reach of over 500 million fans on fast-growing TV and digital platforms, but are now more viable for a higher number of potential cities and countries across the world to organise and continue the tradition of the most prestigious event in table tennis, which first started in 1926 and keeps going from strength to strength.
2024 WTTC Finals will be held between 20 May to 9 June (10 to 14 days), consisting of the following categories:
- 40 Men’s Teams [Round Robin]
- 40 Women’s Teams [Round Robin]
The new WTTC Finals will be a table tennis festival that will promote all facets of the sport and the city that it is held in, around the world. The new format allows for all matches to be televised globally, and flexible scheduling to ensure that the key matches are being held at prime times to assist with ticket sales and television viewership.
“‘Despite the ongoing pandemic, we are pleased to be able to help bring some excitement back by starting the bidding procedure for the 2024 World Championships Finals. After two successful bubble events – the #RESTART and the Middle East HUB – we are looking forward to seeing a high number of competitive bids from potential host cities interested in organising our most prestigious table tennis event of the year.
“Together with our future partner, we will be ready to continue reshaping the WTTC into an even bigger, bolder, and innovative event that showcases world-class table tennis action and activities to the world. We are also confident the 2024 World Championships Finals will give fans the highest level of experience through local entertainment and worldwide broadcast,” said ITTF Competition Director (Interim), Gabor Felegyi.
The bidding process is as follows:
- Interest phase: 31 March to 15 May 2021, 23:59 GMT Time
*Bids not submitted in this phase shall not be eligible for the next phase - Final Bid phase: 16 May to 30 June 2021, 23:59 GMT Time
- Evaluation phase (including inspections): 1 July to 20 August 2021
- Selection of the winning bid: 18 September 2021 where successful bidders are invited to present their final bid book to the ITTF and all National Associations for voting at the 2021 AGM, Location TBC.
For more information and to register your interest, please visit www.ITTFbids.com