World Table Tennis Championships confirmed for Houston in November

BEIJING -- The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced late Tuesday that new dates of Nov 23 to 29 were decided for the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships and the tournament will be staged in Houston, United States as originally planned.

"After positive weeks of discussions with the Harris County Sports Authority, USATT and USOPC, the decision was to go ahead. Necessary adjustments will be put in place to cater for the current ongoing worldwide pandemic; thus, ensuring the event will be staged successfully," read an ITTF statement.

The decision was made at the meeting of the ITTF Executive Committee on April 11.

"It's great news to confirm the 2021 event. After the 2020 World Championships event in Busan, South Korea, was canceled, it was very important to find solutions for the 2021 event. Since Houston, USA, was awarded the event, the whole table tennis world has been excited to have the event for the first time in the United States of America," said ITTF CEO Steve Dainton.

Another important decision by the ITTF Executive Committee was to confirm the attendance of operational staff required to assist in administering the table tennis competition at the Olympic Games.

According to the IOC Sports Department's suggestion and in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of officials will be significantly reduced. The ITTF Executive Committee confirmed there would be no accompanying guests accredited in line with the IOC request and recommendation.

The ITTF Executive Committee also approved the new ITTF Team and Youth rankings. The regulations, along with the first ranking lists, will be published in the coming days.

The next online Executive Committee meeting will be held on May 16.