'Grand Smash' events for revamped tour

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday announced a revamp of its elite world tour, including the introduction of 'Grand Smash' tournaments branded as the circuit's most prestigious events.

The new structure, which promises to deliver double the amount of prize money than the current schedule, will begin next year and be operated by newly founded World Table Tennis (WTT), which will run all of the ITTF's commercial and event business from 2021 onwards.

The annual Grand Smashes will be staged "up to four times annually", each over 10 days, and will feature the top 64 men and top 64 women players, who will compete for up to $3 million.

A new WTT Series will take place throughout the year and include the WTT Champions Series, WTT Cup Finals, the Star Contender and Contender Series, with a total of $8 million in prize money up for grabs.

The ITTF reckons the new model, which will also feature separate women's events, will provide a more modern entertainment experience for fans, broadcasters, host cities and partners.

"We want that players are more satisfied by prize money and events themselves, while we also want to support our members by making more money to reinvest into the development of our key stakeholders," said ITTF president Thomas Weikert.

The ITTF also believes the new events will increase the level of competitiveness among players.

"Through World Table Tennis, we are endeavoring to build a platform that really benefits our athletes and fans, enabling better structured events and higher prize money," said ITTF CEO Steve Dainton.

"Lots of time and resources have gone into this, as it's a huge project that will revolutionize our sport for good. The professionalization of our core top products is something that had been missing in our sport.

"This is a great moment for table tennis, and we cannot wait to enter our new era upon overcoming the unforeseen challenges of 2020," added Dainton, referring to the coronavirus outbreak which resulted in the postponement of this month's world team championships in Busan, South Korea.

Philippe Le Floc'h, who has worked in top-level sports business for the last 25 years and is the former chief commercial officer at soccer governing body FIFA, has been appointed as WTT's senior commercial strategy consultant.

"It is very rare that an international federation is so forward-thinking about the way it runs its commercial business. That is why I decided to get involved in this groundbreaking journey," said Le Floc'h.

"I have high hopes for what this new business model can achieve and I believe that WTT will become a case study for all the other international federations. I look forward to using my years of experience to help WTT become a success and position table tennis among the global sporting elite."

Xinhua