BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- With the 2024 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals having drawn to a close in Busan, South Korea, ITTF president Petra Sorling has hailed the event as being organized at "the highest level."
This marks the first time that South Korea has hosted the World Table Tennis Championships.
"I'm filled with a lot of emotions because we have had so many exciting matches, we also had a venue with a lot of spectators, creating the atmosphere that is really powerful for our sport," said Sorling, who was elected ITTF president in November 2021.
"We also cannot feel that it's the first time this event is held in the Republic of Korea. It's the highest level, very professional. As president of the ITTF, I'm extremely proud that we could deliver on this level, on the best level for athletes," she added.
The tournament served as a qualification event for the Paris Olympic Games, with teams who reached the quarterfinals earning their spots at Paris 2024, leading up to high-quality matches which impressed Sorling.
"It was felt the very first day when you watched the matches. Every player played in the group stage like it was the final, as here the quarterfinal gave you the ticket to the Olympic Games."
"And also for teams that already have a ticket for the Olympic Games, they need match practice, and of course, a title at a World Championships is always important, especially in an Olympic year," she noted.
Following the event's conclusion, Sorling underlined its legacy to both Busan and South Korea.
"This event will leave a great legacy both to the city and to the country," she stated. "They had a long preparation time as it was planned to be held in 2020 and due to the pandemic it was postponed. So they had a longer time, and this preparation time gave them a chance to work with the society around."
According to the ITTF, the Busan tournament is the first ever international table tennis event to achieve an ISO 20121 certification, which focuses on sustainability.
"They were working in a very sustainable way which also gives legacy to this event, and for us, the ITTF, to learn from and improve later on," Sorling commented.
For her, unity has been displayed by the motto of "One Table, One World," another legacy left by the tournament.
"I hope that many will start to play table tennis after this event. And I'm looking forward to following up on that as the ITTF president," she declared.
As an IOC member, Sorling said she is committed to improving the status of table tennis in the Olympic movement.
"We deserve that, not only on the elite level, but also all levels of sports. As we are a very diverse sport represented around the world, we can also drive this for other sports, how we can work with diversity, how we can also work with unity."
"We are also a sport that you can play for life, and a very good sport for health. This, together with the future of esports, makes us a very interesting sport, and this is what I will work hard on within the Olympic movement to see how we can grow," the Swede said.
With China defending its men's and women's team world titles in Busan, Sorling complimented China's role in driving the development of the sport globally.
"China plays a crucial role, and what is even better is that they are also sharing their knowledge," she explained. "That can backfire in the short term, as very many now are really working hard to try and see if they can beat China."
"We had an exciting women's final between China and Japan. In the end, China was the strongest team, but it's good for a sport that we have this competition. Everybody that watched the final cannot ask for more. It was table tennis on the highest level and the Chinese women's team can feel even more proud of winning such a match."
As a female chief of an international sports federation, Sorling has attached great importance to promoting gender equality and female players' role in a sport.
"Last year, when we had the first Mixed Team World Cup in Chengdu, China, I feel that we proved something we are not only talking [about], but also we proved that this event where we play together was a big success from day one, and a bigger success than I could have thought of," she said.
For her, some female role models will increase girls' interest in table tennis.
"When I played table tennis, I was always watching Deng Yaping because she is a female table tennis player," Sorling elaborated.
"For young girls, our superstars that we have today, like Sun Yingsha, are extremely important because young girls like to see stars from their same gender. We cannot underestimate that to have these role models and they are contributing in who they are, how they practice and why they choose table tennis," she said. ■
