04 Apr 2021

The time has finally come: Only a few days are left until 6 April, the day we all share the love for our sport and contribute to make table tennis more universal, popular and inclusive.

This year already constitutes the second World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) under Covid-19 restrictions. Unfortunately, the pandemic still does not allow for a physical WTTD main event celebration. But this does not dampen our WTTD-spirits and instead, we are bringing the event to you in case you could not organise an event yourself or you just can’t get enough! Join the whole ITTF Group for a 24-hour stream with live meet-and-greets, workout and coaching sessions, seminars and presentations, table tennis matches and much more!

Something for everybody, and around the clock, around the world

With our 24-hour online stream, we offer you all-round entertainment. Whether you live in Fiji Islands, Rwanda or Ecuador– on World Table Tennis Day, you get the chance to join our celebration stream without having to set an alarm for the middle of the night. You can interact directly on BlueJeans, or you just watch the stream on the ITTF Foundation’s Facebook or YouTube channel.

Meet your idols

Get as close as physically distanced meetings allow you to. In our meet-and greet-sessions, you get the chance to ask some of your favourite players any questions you’d like. Interact with your table tennis idols and find the answer to the question that has always been burning on your mind! Join a meet-and-great session with one or more of our invited guests.

1x Olympian and World Team Bronze medallist Liam Pitchford (England)

Stay tuned and keep an eye on our social media to find out if there will be more surprises!

Bust a move

Get moving with our workout sessions! We will offer table tennis specific workout sessions, as well as broader workouts. The training and workout sessions include:

Fitness coach Rachael Milligan (Scotland): Pilates & Table Tennis

5x Olympian and 4x European Champion Elke Schall (Germany): Get fit with TT!

Perfect your skills

In cooperation with PingProfy, there will be live coaching sessions with world-class players available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic. Each session will be 45 min, which includes your chance to interact with the trainers in a Q&A-session. This is a unique chance to improve your technique, work on your weak spots and acquire new skills. Join a coaching session in your language or time of choice:

English:           7x Olympian Segun Toriola (Nigeria)

European Championships Bronze medallist in Double Sara de Nutte (Luxembourg)

Spanish:         1x Olympian and South American Champion Paulina Vega (Chile) & 2x Olympian and Latin American Champion Andy Pereira (Cuba)

French:          4x Paralympic medallist in teams and 2 times European Champion in singles class 4 (Wheelchair) Emeric Martin (France)

Arabic:           Arab Champion in Double Rashid Omar (UAE) & UAETTA Board Member and Chairperson of Women’s Sport Development Committee Majd Alblooshi

Get ready to be stunned!

Trickshots, challenges and entertainment – this is what Adrian Leigh from Ping Pong Fight Club stands for. Join in on his challenges to compete from home or simply watch and be amazed by his skills!

Match day, all day long

Re-live iconic moments of the history of table tennis or get access to unseen materials for matches from the best the sport has to offer. Watch some of the greatest athletes play again in captivating matches.

Webinars and presentations

Educate yourself or take a deep dive into topics that have always interested you. Over the course of the past year, the ITTF Foundation collaborated in and held its own webinars, online seminars and other virtual sessions. Our stream will include:

  • International Women’s Day conference on Gender Equality and FEMpowerment, organised by the ITTF Foundation and ITTF High Performance & Development
  • various episodes from ITTF High Performance and Development webinar series
  • joint webinar of ITTF High Performance & Development and the ITTF Foundation: “FEMpowering the TT family”
  • and much more!

What can you do on 6 April?

We ask you to obey local and national restrictions and health guidelines in order to ensure everybody’s safety when they participate in your event. Depending on the situation in your country or territory, here are some ideas:

  • organise tournaments, challenges, come’n’tries, playing outside to make it Covid-19-friendly
  • organise your own coaching or workout sessions
  • plan a girls-only training camp or competition
  • educational lessons: invite speakers to hold a webinar or talk about female athletes, gender equality and how to promote it in table tennis
  • challenge your community
  • virtual games and competitions
  • and join our 6 April stream, of course!

We look forward to seeing what you come up with to celebrate WTTD 2021. If you haven’t done so, please register your event to raise your flag, for increased visibility and giving others the opportunity to join your event.

Don’t forget to literally show us how you celebrated by uploading your WTTD photos and videos to this link, renaming them accordingly (COUNTRY_City_Name of Organisation and/or Individual) to get a chance to be featured in our celebrations video and further social media promotion.

 

ITTF Foundation