The inaugural WTT Cup Finals is debuting tomorrow in Singapore. Delivered by World Table Tennis (WTT), the new event will give Singaporean fans the rare opportunity to soak in the adrenaline-charged atmosphere and catch the world’s best players battling it out to be crowned season-ending champions.
Hosting WTT events brings extensive benefits to a host city, from tangible financial and economic impacts to destination marketing. But all the ITTF Group also comes into play to ensure it leaves a positive legacy for the local table tennis community.
In cooperation with the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), the ITTF held two sessions with Singaporeans coaches and young players.
First, more than thirty local coaches attended a seminar with Liu Yan Jun, former Head Coach of the Austrian Women’s team for 24 years, who led athletes such as Liu Jia and Polcanova to emerge at the highest level of table tennis. Supported by Massimo Costantini, ITTF High Performance Elite Coach, he shared his experience regarding planning development pathways from beginners to cadets and further transitioning to high performance and elite level.
“It was an attentive audience eager to take advantage of a great opportunity from the first to last minute” said Costantini. “Such opportunities generate a lot of enthusiasm and are extremely valuable. I would like to thank Coach Liu for his brilliant insights and the STTA for their support.”
Ms Ellen Lee, JP, PBM, STTA President, commented, “Through the WTT Cup Finals, we believe that it will help promote our sport table tennis vigorously and help make a vibrant sporting Singapore. It was a great experience for our STTA coaches to learn the insights of the sport from the key speaker.”
These opportunities are a significant added value to hosting major events. And they can also leave lifelong memories. Around 100 participants from Singapore’s Youth Team and Junior development squads were treated to a ‘Meet & Greet’ session with table tennis’s stars, including local-hero Feng Tianwei, World #1 Cheng Meng, Adriana Diaz and Liam Pitchford. The young participants had the chance to ask questions to the top players and could win rackets signed by their favourite players.
Yang Ze Yi, 14 years old, said, “The experiences shared by the athletes are very meaningful and helpful for our future training and competitions, to further enhance our performances.”
Follow the WTT Cup Finals Singapore on WTT website.