ITTF questions LA28 venue size

The head of the Inter­national Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), Petra Soerling, has expressed concern that the designated home for the sport at the upcoming Summer Games is ‘too small’ and will not meet the discipline’s growing demands.

The competition is expected to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which will also host other Olympic events such as wrestling and judo.

According to Soerling, the expected seating capacity for table tennis is approximately 7,000, a figure similar to that of the Paris 2024 venue. “The location is ex­cellent but I am sad to say we can only be maximum seven thousand. We are selling out bigger venues than that. Let’s see what we can do. There is still time,” she added.

Soerling, who is seeking re-elec­tion as ITTF president on May 28, emphasised that table tennis has been gaining traction globally, especially following the success of the 2024 Games in Paris.

As further evidence of the sport’s rise, the ITTF is preparing to stage its first Grand Smash tour­nament, the most prestigious level of its World Table Tennis series, in Las Vegas this July, marking the debut of the event outside of Asia. A second Grand Smash will follow in Malmö, Sweden, in August.

Sörling said that growing the US market is high on the ITTF’s priority and noted that while the sport is popular as a leisurely pastime, the federation is looking to its professional circuit in the country with the introduction of the WTT Smash. –Insidethegames.biz

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