NEW DELHI: International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is targeting a tentative August restart for all tournaments. The body has a lot on their plate: from the calendar to ranking points. ITTF held a meeting with athletes commission and a few prominent paddlers to learn about major concerns of players and give them assurances of the best possible solution.
The meeting took place on Saturday night. India No 1 A Sharath Kamal was in attendance. So were chairman of the athletes commission Zoran Primorac, continental champions Robert Gardos, Dina Meshref and Adriana Diaz (Puerto Rico), ITTF high-performance director Massimo Costantini and manager Dominique Plattner.
ITTF reiterated its desire to start the calendar in August and to conduct World Team Championships this year. It asked the players how much preparation time they needed, and discussed social-distancing measures that will be required by them.
“It was good that they actually asked players their opinion instead of doing it unilaterally. We all agreed that circumstances are very difficult,” said Sharath. “We made our points concisely. The meeting lasted over an hour. Though no concrete steps could be taken, it was nice to relay our concerns to them.”
Ranking points was a concern raised by players along with Olympic qualification schedule. Another point that was a part of the discussion involved travel issues for players and quarantining measures to be adopted. ITTF is scheduled to have its next Executive Committee meeting on June 2. A decision on how to go about the World Championship might be taken then.