BUSAN, South Korea, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Marking its first ever hosting of the World Table Tennis Championships, South Korea is buzzing with excitement as the Busan team worlds gets underway.
Outside the competition venue of the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, a huge promotional poster hangs on the wall, with home paddler Shin Yu-bin featured prominently, along with five other leading players including China's world No. 1s Fan Zhendong and Sun Yingsha.
Inside the arena, fans passionately cheer home players on, while showing their enthusiasm for athletes from other countries and regions as well.
Kim Myo-jeong, a Busan local in her 60s, watched table tennis matches on TV before. Thanks to the Busan event, she got the opportunity of being closer to some world-class paddlers.
"In the past, major table tennis competitions like the World Championships were held in other countries, so I fully appreciate that it's held in South Korea this time," said Kim.
With the event having been postponed multiple times before eventually being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has added to the fervor of people in the country when the competition finally kicked off after a four-year wait.
Moreover, 2024 also marks the centenary of the introduction of table tennis to South Korea, signifying a special bond between the country and the sport.
At the tournament's opening ceremony, Ryu Seung-min, co-chair of the Busan 2024 organizing committee, said, "Despite the disappointment of the Championships' cancelation in 2020 due to COVID-19, the aspirations of Busan citizens and our [South] Korean table tennis family enabled us to secure the honor of hosting it once again, endowing this event with deep significance and a story of resilience."
"It's a privilege for South Korea to host the World Table Tennis Championships for the first time, so I feel it's necessary that I come here to watch the opening ceremony and some matches," said Kang Eun-seo, a spectator in her 30s.
"I hope that South Korea can achieve good results, though it has already been a success for all players to compete here. Winning or losing, it doesn't matter too much for me," she added.
Competing in a major competition on home soil, South Korean players are given extra motivation to push themselves to a higher level of play.
As men's singles world No. 27 Lee Sang-su announced, "To be playing in South Korea and surrounded by supporters makes me feel so empowered."
Shin Yoon-gi, a volunteer of the event, began to show his interest in table tennis when in middle school.
"I studied and lived in China then, and my school hosted some table tennis matches at that time," he recalled.
"I'm thrilled that such a major competition as the World Championships is hosted here in Busan."
Not only have home spectators immersed in the lively atmosphere of the Busan tournament, but also some overseas visitors feasted themselves to spectacular games on site.
Yasina, 22, traveled to Busan from Kazakhstan with her husband and child, and they dropped by to watch the matches.
"Usually, I don't know about table tennis. It's the first time for us [to watch table tennis]. It's cool," she said.
For ITTF president Petra Sorling, the inclusion of table tennis in the Olympic program at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and Ryu, also president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, clinching the men's singles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, made the connection between South Korea and table tennis more special.
"It was here, almost four decades ago, that table tennis was welcomed onto the Olympic program, changing the course of our sport until now and hopefully for many more years to come," the ITTF chief told a press conference on the eve of the Busan tournament.
For the organizers, the influence will go well beyond the event itself, as they have borne the legacy of the event in their mind.
"The passion for table tennis in Busan is the best," commented Ryu. "With this World Championships being held in Busan, we have a plan to support young table tennis players. Because of this plan, we really need the success of this game."
"We will also continue to have a very close conversation and communication with head of Busan education agency to foster more young players. After this event, we will ensure that people who love to play table tennis as a daily sport can get support too. I hope we will make some efforts so that this event can continue to be remembered as a great games," he further explained.
"With activation program with the event ongoing, there will be a legacy after this event and everybody will dream and think about table tennis after having seen this around the city but also here in the venue," Sorling remarked. ■
