ITTF President visits Beijing as COC President

Beijing: International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) President Petra Sorling visited Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) President Gao Zhidan here.

The two sides exchanged ideas on cooperation in recent years, successful delivery of many competitions and development in the future, Xinhua reported.

Also present were Liu Guoliang, Vice President of the ITTF and Chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA), and Steve Dainton, CEO of the ITTF Group.

Gao recognized the ITTF’s efforts to improve governance and transparency, sports integrity, anti-doping, and promote gender equality, diversity and sustainable development.

Gao said it reflects the strong faith of international organizations in China, with the ITTF and World Table Tennis (WTT) awarding the country several times to host the host competitions. He also thanked the ITTF for its support to the CTTA and Liu in carrying out their duties.

The COC chief also said that China will hold more sports events and training camps in the future in an effort to develop into a sports powerhouse.

Sorling briefed the COC on the preparations for the 2024 Olympic table tennis competition and discussed the cooperation between the parties to add table tennis events to the 2028 Olympic program.

Sorling expressed his gratitude to the COC for successfully holding the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu last year against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In two WTT competitions held in China after the team table tennis world, Sorling said the organization has embraced the concept of sustainable development advocated by the ITTF.

After the meeting, Sorling visited the table tennis practice site of the General Sports Administration of China.

– IANS