ITTF to launch new tournament platform in 2021

Singapore, July 2: The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced here on Monday that it has signed an agreement with Sportsmaster, a sports marketing agency, to set up a new professional tournament platform in 2021 with an integrated commercial programme that will take the sport to the next level. This new platform, as part of the plans announced by the ITTF to professionalize table tennis by 2021, will have the ITTF World Tour, Table Tennis X, World Veterans Tour and T2 Asia-Pacific Table Tennis League (T2APAC) unified under it, according to a press release, reports Xinhua news agency. "This will be quite unique for a sport having its World Championships and a separate yet truly professional platform under one roof, which is all connected to the world ranking and Olympic qualification, which we believe will make us pioneers in the sporting world," said ITTF CEO Steve Dainton in the press release. IANS