ITTF chief outlines vision for global table tennis

Seeking her second term as International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) president, Petra Sorling has outlined her vision for the sport's development in the coming years, especially after the inclusion of the mixed team event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Sorling will vie for the ITTF presidency with Mohamed El Hacen Ahmed Salem and Khalil Al-Mohannadi. Her manifesto outlines the future of table tennis built on three key pillars - sharing the benefits of growth with members and where it matters most; securing the ITTF's place as a leading International Federation; and shaping the future with strategic investments in table tennis.

President of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Petra Sorling is seen during the kick-off ceremony of the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board in April approved the inclusion of the mixed team event for the 2028 Olympics, Sorling is seeking to position table tennis among the top eight sports in the Olympic program, along with those including athletics, football and basketball.

In an interview with international news agencies on Thursday, the ITTF chief said she had wanted to increase the number of Olympic table tennis events ever since she was president of the Swedish table tennis association.

"Sweden put forward a proposition in the 2021 [ITTF] AGM to have some kind of mixed [team] world championships, and the congress said this is very interesting and let's start it," she recalled.

"Then I went to my friends in the Chinese Table Tennis Association and discussed it with them, and how this could happen, and it ended up that we created a Mixed Team World Cup."

After gaining success in the past two editions of the tournament in Chengdu, the IOC gave the green light for the mixed team event to be included in the Olympic program.

"We could see in Chengdu how the teams were cooperating much better, not only playing together, but also planning the game together and cooperating in a different way. It was really gender equality in reality, not just on paper," she noted.

"I would actually put my head forward and say that the Mixed Team World Cup makes our member associations put priority and resources on female table tennis."

Sorling admitted that the inclusion of the mixed team event at LA28 "went much faster than I expected," while saying it is "a very good proof of concept from the cooperation that we did with the Mixed Team World Cup in Chengdu and from the proposition from 2021."

"LA28 will be a new milestone when this event is an Olympic event," she said.

Sorling also noted that she and IOC president-elect Kirsty Coventry shared the same athlete-centered view.

"Kirsty has such a good background being a very decorated athlete herself, but not coming from the International Federation (IF) perspective, very much where I'm coming from. She has so much to contribute with the athletes' point of view, and in table tennis, we also put the athletes first in everything that we are trying to do."

"I believe that I can also help her on the IF perspective to take a bigger part in the presentation of our sport, so that we can engage more with the fans. That is where our cooperation can really increase the level of our game," she said.

Asked about her expectations for the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Doha, which will kick off on Saturday, Sorling said she expected a thrilling competition, but was wary of making any predictions.

"Just some weeks ago in Macao, Brazil's Hugo Calderano won the men's singles title. I would say it will be very hard for anyone to beat China's number one and two in the men's singles," she remarked. "Table tennis is a mental game, it's all about the preparation into all the details and the tactics, so it's for the athletes to focus on the game itself."

"I'm very excited about the event. I do believe we will see some surprises, but I'm not the one to predict how it will go," she grinned.

"I only can say there was big energy in the venue earlier today when the practice started, and we will have the opening ceremony on Saturday, and then the game is on," Sorling concluded.