Table tennis, as a national ball, has an irreplaceable position in the hearts of Chinese people!
Rong Guotuan, in 1959, became the first world champion of New China in Dortmund. Let the world see a rising eastern power, which greatly stimulated the ambition and pride of a generation of new China builders in that era of ruins. The victories of the Chinese table tennis team in the international arena have accompanied the passionate youth of generations of Chinese people.
China's first world champion, Rong Guotuan
To win the first world championship in New China, we should not forget one person, he is the first ITTF president, the Englishman Ivor Montagu. As the founding elder of the ITTF and a meritorious figure in the table tennis world for 41 consecutive years, in the era when New China encountered the imperialist iron barrel blockade, it was his initiative to invite us to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships, and only then did Rong Guotuan win China's first world championship gold medal.
ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) was founded in 1926, similar to ITF (International Tennis Federation) and BWF (International Badminton Federation), and has a history of nearly 100 years.
ITTF LOGO
Since the 70s of last century, with the development of the world economy, people's living standards have improved, and the demand for culture and sports has also been continuously improved, which has spawned the vigorous development of professional sports. With the United States as the pioneer, the four major leagues of the NBA, NFL (American Football League), MLB (Major League Baseball) and NHL (American Hockey League) are in full swing.
Some international sports organizations have also followed the tide of history and opened the road of professional reform. The emergence of APT (Men's Tennis Association) and WTA (Women's Tennis Association) forced the ITF to make reforms and ultimately became a success story, together with the PGA (World Golf Association), becoming a pioneer and successful model for international sports associations.
International Network Federation LOGO
Seeing that the ITF career of similar styles is booming, the sport of tennis is growing rapidly around the world, and the ITF, APT and WTA organizations are making a lot of money in its happy and united atmosphere, the BWF weighed for many years and finally chose to follow suit, and in 2018 began the road of professional reform modeled on the ITF and achieved small achievements.
BWF LOGO
For the vast majority of international sports associations, they are above the state, lack the constraints of domestic law, and most have more or less problems. But if you judge, the ITTF is chaotic, infighting, and strife that no other association can match, especially after entering the 21st century.
The tide of professionalism is unstoppable, although it is a little late, the ITTF has taken a landmark step in reform amid controversy: WTT (World Table Tennis Professional League) was established in August 2019 to upgrade and build a commercial event system centered on athletes and fans, fully explore the potential of table tennis, further expand the world influence of table tennis, and strive to stand out in competition with other sports.
International Table Tennis Major League LOGO
● On March 3, 2020, ITTF officially announced that starting from the 2021 season, WTT will recreate past international tour tournaments, modeled on tennis, and add four Grand Slam tournaments throughout the year, with a total prize fund of $20 million last year.
● On June 29, 2020, WTT announced that Liu Guoliang, President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, will serve as the chairman of the newly established WTT Council to comprehensively lead and open up the future of world table tennis.
● On October 5, 2022, the WTT Board Meeting was held in Chengdu, and Liu Guoliang was elected as the first chairman of the WTT World Table Tennis Federation.
WTT event reform target board
This year marks its fourth year since WTT was created, and exactly three years since the release of the tournament reform blueprint in March 2020. Compared with the grand blueprint planned three years ago, under the leadership of Liu Guoliang, have the original goals been achieved? According to the 2023 annual event schedule released on the WTT official website, let's compare its KPIs one by one!
● Grand Slam top tournaments
Goal: 4 stops per year for 10 days each, prize money up to $3 million
Status: There will only be one stop in 2023, the ongoing Singapore station. Target completion: 25%
WTT Grand Slam Singapore
● World Cup
Goal: One stop per year for both men and women
Current situation: If the World Cup is understood as the annual WTT Cup finals, that is, the 2022 Xinxiang WTT Cup Finals, the arrangement of this year's event is not yet visible from the WTT official website. Since the official website only schedules the tournament until the end of November, and the finals are usually scheduled for the end of the year, it is considered feasible for the time being. Target Completion: 100%
● Championship Game
Target: 8 stops per year
Status: From the WTT official website 2023 event schedule, only three stops: Xinxiang Station, Macau Station and Budapest Station. Target completion: 37.5%
WTT Championship Macau Champion Sun Yingsha
● Star Challenge
Target: 6 stops per year
Status: From the WTT official website 2023 event schedule, only three stops. Target completion: 50%
● Challenges
Target: Up to 14 stops
Status: From the WTT official website of the 2023 tournament schedule, there are 9 stops. Target Completion: 64%
In the 2023 tournament schedule on the WTT official website, there are more feeder tournaments (12 stops), youth star challenges (6 stops) and youth challenges (37 stops).
Liu Guoliang
The promotion of table tennis in the world and the enhancement of the audience's attention to table tennis require an efficient and reasonable organization to do the support, create a perfect ecosystem for associations, coaches, players and fans to participate together, and make reasonable and balanced event arrangements according to the world table tennis market. When the nest is ready, it can attract the phoenix.
Based on the above KPIs, it seems that WTT under the leadership of Liu Guoliang still has a long way to go. In a word: lack of money! But to truly achieve the reform goal of the ITTF, is it just a matter of money, which can be solved by only vigorously pulling sponsorship?
How about WTT copying ITF assignments? What are the problems? What needs to be improved? Specific observation and analysis, and to be discussed in the next article.
Chinese professional sports, pay attention to the frost sky cloud crane.
Note: This author has long followed the reform process of professional sports in China, but the reform in the past 30 years has disappointed the Chinese people. The reform path of WTT is the same, because this topic needs a long time to explain clearly, so it is completed by a series of three articles, this is the first article, I hope interested friends will actively pay attention. Thank you!