ITTF to Set up Working Group to Review Structure of Major Events

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) have decided to set up a working group to study the structure and format of the ITTF’s future major events.

The decision was made at the ITTF Board of Directors (BoD) meeting held during the Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Board of Directors also decided that the ‘Planning and Promotiom’ group will have to come up with a proposal to the Executive Committee by the end of this year on the concept and direction the ITTF wishes to take.

Following the creating of the working group, ITTF’s CEO Judit Farago stated: “During the 2016 World Championships, it became more apparent that the ITTF needs to take a look at it’s major events to ensure they arestructuredin a way to ensure the maximumcommercialand promotional benefits to the ITTF and international table tennis.”

Based on the Swedish 2018 World Team Championships organizers’ latest update report on the conditions in Halmstad, the Board decided that a maximum of 72 Men’s and 72 Women’s teams will participate at the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships.

At the same time, the Board did not exclude further changes if the working group comes to such conclusion within its mandate.

At the meeting, the Board confirmed the allocation of several upcoming major junior events:

*2016 World Cadet Challenge allocated to Shanghai, China

*2017 World Cadet Challenge allocated to Suva, Fiji

*2018 World Junior Championships allocated to Riva del Garda, Italy

The Board of Directors also gave the mandate to the Executive Committee to approve the ITTF Code of Ethics and Code of Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions documents, and to add them to the ITTF Handbook with effect of 1st September 2016.

ITTF Confirms Date For 2016 Lagos Open

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has confirmed the annual Lagos Open among the 20 World Tours listed for 2016.

With the ongoing Hungarian Open kick-starting the 20 anniversary of the ITTF World Tour, the world table tennis ruling body has confirmed Lagos Open to hold on May 18 to 22 at the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos,

As one the challenge series, the Lagos Open is expected to attract players from Europe, Asia and Africa as the tournament serves as one on the point hauling events to qualify for the World Tour Finals.

Meanwhile, the ITTF World Tour celebrates its 20 years’ anniversary with the 2016 ITTF World Tour kicking off in Budapest, Hungary.

The then called ITTF Pro Tour first kicked off in Kettering, England in 1996 and has seen 291 events happen since, growing from strength to strength each year.

On the historic anniversary of the world’s biggest table tennis tour, ITTF’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Judit FARAGO stated: “20 years after introducing the professional tour in table tennis, we are glad that the all-year long competition format has grown to be a core element of the ITTF competition program.

Lagos ITTF World Tour (Lagos Open)

“This year, five continents are included in the series which gives excellent opportunity for the top players to improve their seeding position for the Olympic Games by gaining valuable World Ranking points. Also for those players to succeed at the World Tour who cannot realise their dream at Rio 2016. The great interest is shown already at the very first event, the Hungarian Open where the last year’s participation record will be broken with 378 entries from 56 countries.”

ITTF World Tour Celebrates 20th Birthday

The ITTF World Tour celebrates it’s 20 years’ anniversary with the 2016 ITTF World Tour kicking off today (20 January) in Budapest, Hungary.

The then called ITTF Pro Tour first kicked off in Kettering, England in 1996 and has seen 291 events happen since, growing from strength to strength each year.

On the historic anniversary of the world’s biggest table tennis tour, ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “20 years after introducing the professional tour in table tennis, we are glad that the all-year long competition format has grown to be a core element of the ITTF competition program.

Ma Long celebrates becoming the most successful World Tour Grand Final player in history

“This year, five continents are included in the series which gives excellent opportunity for the top players to improve their seeding position for the Olympic Games by gaining valuable World Ranking points. Also for those players to succeed at the World Tour who cannot realise their dream at Rio 2016. The great interest is shown already at the very first event, the Hungarian Open where the last year’s participation record will be broken with 378 entries from 56 countries.”

20 ITTF World Tour events will take place in 2016 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tour. The notable addition from 2015 is Slovenia, who will be hosting an ITTF World Tour event for the first time since 2012.

The 20 events on the 2016 ITTF World Tour are split into three tiers: Super (6 events) Major series (6 events) and Challenge (9 events). The higher the tier, the higher the prize money, better playing conditions and tougher competition.

All the players playing ITTF World Tour events are fighting for not only for prize money and world ranking points, but also World Tour ranking points to qualify for the lucrative World Tour Grand Final, taking place on 15-18 December 2016 in a location to be announced.

The Hungarian Open signals 20 years of the ITTF World Tour

The 2016 ITTF World Tour is set to be the most extensively followed tour in history, with more events shown live throughout the world on television, and all the events being shown live on ITTF’s live streaming platform, ITTF.com/itTV.

The qualifications for the ITTF World Tour World Tour Hungarian Open (Major) starts today, 20 January 2016, with the main draw starting on 22 January and the finals matches on 24 January 2016.

The ITTF World Tour Super Series kicks off a week later at the German Open on 27 January 2016.

BBC Celebrates Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri

For being the first Africa to be named the 2014 best table tennis player in world, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has celebrated the feat achieved by Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri.

A focus on the award-winning athlete was featured in the recent Focus on Africa sports programme.

Quadri, who recently signed for a French top division club after five seasons in the Portuguese elite league with a lot of laurels in his kitty was lauded for his giant strides in 2014 and the first non-Asian and European to achieve such in the second edition of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Star Award held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Aruna Quadri during the ITTF Star Awards at the Armani Hotel at Burj Khalifa on January 7, 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Aside being named the Star Player, he also scooped the Star Point of the Year award beating other top players across the world to the title.

The three minutes was filmed at the Portugal base of Quadri with focus on his training schedule and league matches for GD Toledos.

There was also focus on his family and his challenges as a player who defied all odds to become one of the best in the world.

The feature on BBC was also hailed by the President of ITTF, Thomas Weikert, describing Quadri as a pride to Africa.

For Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ITTF, Judit Farago, this is a plus to the sport globally.

“I woke up in Lausanne and switched on BBC World News in my hotel room. The first report I saw was Aruna Quadri’s portrait! Cannot imagine better start of a day,” said Farago.

Aruna Quadri recieving his Nigeria Sports Awards 2014 Award

President, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Oshodi was so excited that he said he is proud of Quadri.

“I felt so proud when I saw it because no table tennis player from Africa has been featured like that on BBC. This is good for promotion of the sport on the continent,” Oshodi said.

2019 World Table Tennis Championships Bidding Opens

The bidding process for the world’s biggest table tennis event, the World Table Tennis Championships is now opened for 2019.

The 2019 edition will be the individual championships, with the men’s & women’s singles, men’s & women’s doubles and mixed doubles world champions being crowned.

The World Championships promises the world’s best table tennis players on show, from over 100 countries in one of the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Funke Oshonaike. QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships,26 Apr 2015 – 03 May 2015, Suzhou, CHN photo credit ITTF Media

On the bid opening, ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “We look forward and expect strong interest from national associations and cities to host our showcase event. After successful world championships in recent years, we believe that stakeholders are aware of the benefits the organisation of the event could bring them. There is always big media attention on who is crowned as world champion, but it is even more attractive in the year before the Olympic Games, the winner in 2019 will be surely considered as favourite in 2020 in Tokyo.”

The World Table Tennis Championships is the ITTF’s most valuable event, with over 450 million people following the 2015 championships. This included 330 million watching the event live on TV in 170 countries.

In addition to the extraordinary media values the event offers, the World Championships also provides substantial economic benefits for the host city. The 2015 event brought Suzhou, China US$156 million of revenue as a result of hosting the event.

Bidding for the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, which will be the 55th edition, dating back to 1926 closes on 31 October 2015 and allocation of the event will take place at the 2016 ITTF Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Download more information here:http://bit.ly/1MhxReb.

ITTF opens up the bidding process for the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships

To get a better idea of the benefits of hosting the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships, check out the figures from the Qoros 2015 World Table Tennis Championships:

* Countries that broadcasted the event live on TV: 170
* CCTV viewers: 252 million
* World wide TV viewers: 330 million
* ITTF.com unique visitors over 8 days: 10 million
* itTV unique viewers over 8 days (live and on demand) : 1 million
* 440 matches on itTV
* Countries that watched itTV: 179
* People who saw content on ITTF’s Facebook: 3 million
* YouTube views: 7 million
* Countries that watched content on YouTube: 231
* Minutes watched on YouTube: 25 million
* Accredited media: 1,000
* Media articles: 11,000
* The upcoming World Championships already allocated are:

2016 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2017 – Dusseldorf, Germany
2018 – Halmstad, Sweden

Lisbon Wins Bid to Host GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals

Lisbon, Portugal has won the bid to host the most lucrative table tennis event on earth, the GAC Group 2015 World Tour Grand Finals.

The year-ending finale of the 23 ITTF World Tour events will be held on 10-13 December 2015 in the Portuguese capital.

Together with the World Tour Grand Finals, Lisbon will also host the third edition of the ITTF Star Awards, which will celebrate the world’s best players for their achievements in 2015.

International Table Tennis Federation, ITTF World Tour, Lagos Open, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos,

On the news, ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “ITTF is delighted to allocate the organization of the World Tour Grand Finals to Lisbon. This is the best momentum that the table tennis has had in Portugal, and the team is enjoying it’s most successful period of its history. The ITTF World Tour turns 20 years old this year and it is hard to imagine better place for the anniversary celebration than to have the Grand Finals and the ITTF Star Awards in Lisbon, a popular destination for visitors.”

Lisbon is no stranger to hosting major table tennis events, after successfully holding the TMS 2014 European Team Championships last year, where the Portuguese Men’s Team won their first European Championships title, much to the delight of the packed crowd.

The locals will be hoping for similar success in December, with world number 10 Marcos FREITAS and world number 22 Tiago APOLONIA looking to repeat their European success on home soil.

Ma Long powered his way to his 18th World Tour victory at the Kuwait Open.

An upbeat Portuguese Table Tennis President Pedro MOURA stated: “The Portuguese Table Tennis Federation is very proud and honored to be awarded by ITTF with the organization of 2015 World Tour Grand Finals. After the success of the TMS 2014 European Team Championships, we felt we should go for other important international events in order to retain the interest and attention of the Portuguese general public on our wonderful sport.”

“Being able to host the 2015 ITTF Star Awards in conjunction with the World Tour Grand Finals will turn all eyes on Lisbon as the World Table Tennis Capital in December. It’s a dream come true for us and the Portuguese Table Tennis Federation is finally matching the level of its best players. Just like when hosting the continental championships last September, we’ll do our best to turn these events truly memorable for all!”

16 men and 16 women who secured the most “Race to Lisbon” points over the 23 World Tour events qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals, as well as 8 men’s and 8 women’s doubles pairs, together with 8 men’s and 8 women’s under 21 players.

The GAC Group 2015 World Tour is split into three tiers (highest first): Super (6 events), Major (6 events), Challenge (11 events). The higher the series, the more prize money, world ranking points, “Race to Lisbon” points and higher quality of competition on offer.

The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals were held last time in Europe in 2011 when it served as test event for the London Olympic Games.

GAC Group 2015 World Tour To Offer A Record US $3,000,000 Of Prize Money

The GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour is set to be the most lucrative Tour of all time, with the ITTF announcing that a record US$3,000,000 prize money will be on offer for the world’s best table tennis players.

In 2015, the GAC Group World Tour will be made up of 23 events in 23 countries, making it the biggest ever World Tour in ITTF history.

ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “With the support of our title sponsor GAC Group, the Tour offers more prize money than ever, exactly 3 million US dollars, an increase of US$240,000. A first in 2015, the 3 Most Active Players on the World Tour will share a bonus award of 39,000 US dollars above the prize money they earn.

“We are happy that again five continents are included in the series and we warmly welcome two new organisers. Looking forward with great excitement to the start of the Tour next week in Hungary where the last year’s event participation record will be broken immediately with 360 entries.”

New World Tour stops in 2015 include North Korea and Bulgaria, and the GAC Group 2015 World Tour will touch all corners of the globe in 2015, making it a truly international tour.

The GAC Group 2015 World Tour is set the be the most lucrative table tennis tour of all time

In addition to offering the highest prize money in history, the 2015 World Tour will also be the most viewed in history, with more events shown live throughout the world on television and all the events being shown live on ITTF’s live streaming platform, itTV.

As was the case in 2014, the GAC Group 2015 ITTF World Tour will be split up into three tiers (highest first): Super (6 events), Major (6 events), Challenge (11 events). The higher the series, the more prize money, World ranking points, World Tour ranking points and higher quality of competition on offer.

The top 16 singles and top 8 doubles pairs of the World Tour point standing will then be invited to the prestigious World Tour Grand Finals at the end of the year, a location to be announced later.

ITTF’s 970,000 social media followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, as well as Sina and Tencent Weibo will be in a prime position to receive exclusive content from what will be the most social #ITTFWorldTour in history.

The GAC Group 2015 World Tour kicks off in Hungary on 28 January 2015. Check out the full World Tour calendar here: http://bit.ly/157yHKz and a breakdown of the prize money here: http://bit.ly/1sXiItE.

Table Tennis included in 2020 Paralympic Games

Table Tennis has been confirmed as one of the first 16 sports that will make up the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board made the decision that Table Tennis will again be in the Paralympic Games during their meeting in Berlin, Germany on 7 October 2014.

On the decision, ITTF CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “The ITTF is extremely happy and proud to be among the 16 sports selected in the first round to be on the programme of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. It proves the firm position of Table Tennis since the first Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome.

Natalia PARTYKA will now have the chance to play in her 6th Paralympics at Tokyo 2020.

“The decision of the IPC Governing Board means that we successfully met the criteria of worldwide participation, athlete classification, anti-doping programme and others. Our integrated para Table Tennis competition programme involves over 3,500 classified players and yearly 20 international tournaments which surely will further increase in the period leading up to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.”

Table Tennis was included in the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960, and has been included in every edition since, which means that Tokyo 2020 will be the 16th time Table Tennis will be in the Paralympic Games.

Table Tennis was one of the most popular sports at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, with 99% day tickets sold for the event and immense media interest.

Table Tennis also produced one of the moments of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, with this amazing shot by David Wetherill: http://youtu.be/riR_SyhvB6s being seen by over 6 million people on YouTube alone.

The decision to include Table Tennis in the 2020 Paralympic Games comes right after the extremely successful ITTF Para World Table Tennis Championships, which was held last month in Beijing, China.

The event had 3 hours live broadcast on CCTV, which was seen by over 18 million people across China. The event also attracted 1.2 million impressions on Facebook, 153,000 on Twitter and TV news reports on several national TV stations, including BBC in the UK.

Joining Table Tennis in the 16 confirmed sports for the 2020 Paralympic Games are: athletics, archery, badminton, boccia, equestrian, goalball, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be held from 25 August – 6 September 2020.

ITTF Women’s World Cup Heads To Europe For The First Time

ITTF

Linz, Austria has won the right to host the 2014 ITTF Women’s World Cup, which is one of the most prestigious events on the ITTF calendar.

The 2014 edition of the Women’s World Cup will take place at the Sportpark Lissfeld on 17-19 October 2014.

Linz will have the honour of hosting the first ever Women’s World Cup outside Asia, where it has been traditionally held every year since it’s inception in 1996.

On the historic announcement, ITTF’s CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “The ITTF is very pleased to allocate the 2014 Women’s World Cup to the Austrian Table Tennis Association, who are very experienced organisers and have a rich tradition in table tennis. ”

“The ITTF will make history with the Women’s World Cup this year, as it is hosted first time outside Asia. Hopefully it will give further motivation to the top European players to challenge their Asian and global rivals.”

The ITTF Women’s World Cup involves the world’s best 20 players that have qualified for the event through their Continental Cup’s held over the past six months.

Linz is no stranger to hosting big events, as they hosted the 2009 ITTF World Team Cup, which was a huge success.

One person that will be more excited than most about the world title event heading to Linz is world number 10 LIU Jia (AUT).

The Austrian was among the first one to qualify for the Women’s World Cup back in February by winning the DHS Europe Cup, the qualification tournament in Europe.

This will be the 9th time that 32 year old has played in the Women’s World Cup and her home crowd will be cheering her towards her first ever World Cup medal.

LIU Jia will get a chance to play a Women’s World Cup in from of her home fans in Linz, Austria. Photo credit: Remy Gros/ITTF.

The players that have qualified through their Continental Cups, and will compete for Women’s World Cup glory are:

DHS 2014 Europe Cup: LI Jiao (NED), LIU Jia (AUT), Viktoria PAVLOVICH (BLR)

GAC 2014 Honda Asian Cup: DING Ning (CHN), LI Xiaoxia (CHN) & YU Mengyu (SIN)

K-Sport 2014 ITTF-Oceania Cup: LAY Jianfang (AUS)

2014 ITTF-Latin America Cup: Caroline KUMAHARA (BRA)

2014 ITTF-Africa Cup: Dina MESHREF (EGY)

2014 ITTF-North America Cup: ZHANG Mo (CAN)

Invitations for the additional places to make up the 20, will be based on the September 2014 world ranking on those who participated in the Continental Cups but did not gain an automatic qualification position.

The LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup will be held the following week in Düsseldorf, Germany on 24-26 October 2014.

ITTF Announces Winning Bids for Top Events

The recent International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) ZEN-NOH World Championships, did not just see the world’s best players play, Tokyo was also the place to allocate future top ITTF events.

Bangkok, Thailand, won their bid to host the most lucrative table tennis event on earth, the GAC Group 2014 World Tour Grand Finals. The year-ending finale of the 21 GAC Group 2014 World Tour events will be held on 11-14 December 2014, with a prize money pool of one million US dollars.

World-class table tennis will make a swift return to Dubai with the city winning their bid to host the 2015 World Team Cup on 8-11 January 2015.

ITTF’s top events will be spread across the world over the next 12 months. Photo credit: Remy Gros/ITTF.

Dubai was the successful host of the GAC Group 2013 World Tour Grand Finals, and the eager public will again get a chance to see their table tennis heroes in the flash, this time at the bi-annual world title tournament involving the top teams beside all the Continental Team Champions.

The 2014 World Cadet Challenge will be the first step into international competition organization for Barbados later this year. Bridgetown will run the world’s premier under-15 table tennis event from 23 October to 1 November 2014.

Reflecting on the news the ITTF CEO Judit FARAGO stated: “It will be our pleasure to return to Dubai in January 2015 for the World Team Cup, the UAE Table Tennis Association organizes the second major ITTF event in one year time attracting the world’s best players again after the last World Tour Grand Finals.

At the same time the year-ending World Tour Grand Finals moves to Bangkok thanks to the Thailand TTA, one of the most active Asian association holding several ITTF and continental events recently on very high level, enough to mention the running SET Thailand Junior Circuit where young players between 12 and 18 compete in 16 different events right now.

Good to see a new host city, Bangkok on the World Tour, while a small Caribbean country, Barbados put itself on the map of event organizers, offering spectacular and exotic place for the most important event of the youngest age category. It is very good to see their motivation to promote their country and to develop their young team at the same time. The girls already made the first step by competing at the World Championships in Tokyo and finishing on the 85th place.”

ITTF Now has the Equal Most National Associations of any Sport

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) now has 220 National Associations, which is the equal most of any sport in the world.

The ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Tokyo, Japan earlier this month accepted Mali and US Virgin Islands to join the ITTF family, which brings the ITTF equal with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) as the world’s leading sport in terms of member countries.

Reflecting on this historic achievement, ITTF’s CEO Judit Farago stated: “The ITTF membership has been increased from 180 to 220 in 15 years which is an obvious result of the successful ITTF Development Program started in 1999.”

ITTF’s world class development program pushes ITTF National Associations to 220

“It makes us proud and happy that table tennis is played and has an established administration structure in almost every corner of the world. The fact that the number puts us equal with the FIVB in terms of membership among all International Federations is a bonus and a boost in our long-term objective to be in the top 5 sports in the Olympic movement.”

There is now only five associations that have a National Olympic Committee but are not yet an ITTF National Association: Guinea Bisseau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome & Principe, Eritrea and the Bahamas.

ITTF Deputy CEO, Glenn Tepper, who initiated the ITTF Development Program 15 years ago, added: “When I started the ITTF Development Program as a pilot project in Oceania in 1999, we had 180 members. One of the challenges given to me was to have table tennis played in every corner of the globe. Since that time we have progressively added several new members each year in a sustainable way providing technical and equipment assistance to all new members. We are now very close to our initial aim. We already have contact with the 5 remaining countries and I am confident that by the time of the Opening Ceremony at the Rio Olympic Games that table tennis will be played in every corner of the globe and that every country participating in Rio will have an active table tennis program.”

From the humble beginnings in 1999 with a budget of just US$30,000 and one staff, the ITTF Development Program has grown into an award-winning program with the world’s best practise in its field, ran by 10 full-time and 100 part-time staff providing over 100 courses and 30 equipment packages annually and with a budget of over 1 million dollars.

Table Tennis Road to Rio 2016 Starts in Baku

The road to the Table Tennis event at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games will start at the 2015 European Games in Baku, which will qualify one man and one woman, the winner of both singles events.

Table tennis made its debut in the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul and has been a regular and popular fixture ever since. After the successful London Games, table tennis was promoted in the IOC group review system with only eight Summer Olympic sports ahead of table tennis.

ITTF’s CEO Judit Farago stated: “Compared to the last system some changes were implemented to simplify the selection process, to make it easier to understand and to ensure that the best players participate at the Continental Qualification Tournament. From now on I am sure that most of the players focus on their dream, some of them to become Olympian first time in Rio, and for a few maybe one day to step in the footpath of the big trio, J-M. Saive, Z. Primorac, J. Persson who all made history by playing at seven Olympic Games between 1988 and 2012. ”

The 172 positions available in Rio, 86 for men and 86 for women, will be allocated over 12 months of intense qualification for the players to join table tennis folklore and become Olympians.

There will be four table tennis gold medals on offer at Rio 2016; men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s teams and women’s teams.

The men’s and women’s singles events will be contested by between 64 to 70 players, with a maximum of two per National Olympic Committee (NOC), which will be made up by the below qualification methods:

Zhang Jike (left) and Wang Hao (right) leads China to the Men’s Team title at London 2012 Olympic Games.

40 Continental qualification places with a maximum of two (2) athletes per NOC qualified. These 40 positions are composed of: 6 from Africa, 11 from Asia, 11 for Europe, 6 from Latin America, 3 for North America and 3 for Oceania

22 ITTF Olympic Singles Ranking, not to exceed an overall maximum of two (2) athletes per NOC

1 Tripartite Commission Invitation place

1 Host Country place

The 16 men’s and women’s teams are made up by three players per team. The highest ranked team from each continent (six teams) that has already two qualified players for the singles event secures direct qualification.

The remaining 10 positions are composed of the 9 highest ranked teams that have two players qualified for the singles. If less than 9 countries have two players already qualified, the next best teams with one player qualified secures their spot in Rio. The 10th team quota will be allocated to the host nation if not yet qualified through the team selection process.

It is up to the NOC to choose the additional player/players to join the singles players in the team event.

The table tennis event at Rio 2016 will be held in Riocentro, similar to the ExCel at London 2012 which is a big and open convention center, and hall three will be dedicated for table tennis, holding up to 6,000 people and creating an electric atmosphere.