INTERNATIONAL TABLE TENNIS FEDERATION AGM & BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING DOCUMENTS INDEX Annual General Meeting Agenda .......................................................................................... 3-4 Annual reports from the Executive Committee ................................................................. 5-23 President: Thomas Weikert........................................................................................................... 5 Deputy President: Khalil Al-Mohannadi ....................................................................................... 7 Executive Vice President (Finance): Petra Sörling ...................................................................... 9 Executive Vice President: Bruce Burton ................................................................................... 11 Executive Vice President: Patrick Gillmann ............................................................................... 13 Executive Vice President: Chérif Hajem .................................................................................... 15 Executive Vice President: Masahiro Maehara ........................................................................... 17 Executive Vice President: Melecio Eduardo Rivera ................................................................... 20 Executive Vice President: Shi Zhihao ........................................................................................ 22 Annual reports from the Continental Federations .......................................................... 24-37 Africa .......................................................................................................................................... 24 Asia ............................................................................................................................................ 27 Europe ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Latin America ............................................................................................................................. 32 North America ............................................................................................................................ 34 Oceania ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Annual reports from the CEO, Deputy CEO and Directors ............................................ 38-56 Chief Executive Officer .............................................................................................................. 38 Deputy Chief Executive Officer .................................................................................................. 41 Competitions .............................................................................................................................. 44 Development .............................................................................................................................. 48 Education and Training .............................................................................................................. 51 Marketing ................................................................................................................................... 53 Operations .................................................................................................................................. 55
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INDEX (follows from page 1) Annual reports from Committees and OPC ..................................................................... 57-73 Equipment Committee ............................................................................................................... 57 Media Committee ....................................................................................................................... 59 Nominations Committee ............................................................................................................. 62 Para Table Tennis Division ........................................................................................................ 63 Rules Committee ....................................................................................................................... 64 Sports Science and Medical Committee .................................................................................... 66 Umpires’ and Referees’ Committee ........................................................................................... 68 Veterans’ Committee ................................................................................................................. 70 Olympic and Paralympic Commission ....................................................................................... 72 Propositions and Resolutions (AGM) ............................................................................. 74-78 Board of Directors Agenda .................................................................................................... 79 Annual reports from commissions and commissioners ................................................ 80-86 Athletes’ Commission ................................................................................................................ 80 Junior Commissioner ................................................................................................................. 82 Technical Commissioner ............................................................................................................ 83 Women in Sport Commissioner .................................................................................................. 84 Propositions and Resolutions (BoD) ................................................................................. 87-98 Technical leaflets .............................................................................................................. 99-111 Technical leaflet T1 (the table) ................................................................................................... 99 Technical leaflet T3 (the ball) ................................................................................................... 105 Technical leaflet T6 (the flooring) ............................................................................................. 107
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INTERNATIONAL TABLE TENNIS FEDERATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation will be held on Tuesday 1 March 2016 at 09h00 in Dorsett Grand Subang Hotel (Selangor Room 2 & 3), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
AGENDA 1. Chair: Welcome and Opening Address 2. President’s remarks 3. Roll call of associations present and verification of proxies 4. Appointment of scrutineers 5. Confirmation of the minutes of the AGM held on 28 April 2015 in Suzhou, China 6. Presentations 6.1 Merit awards 6.2 Other presentations 6.3 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games 6.4 Update on 2017 World Championships 6.5 Update on 2018 World Championships 6.6 2019 World Championships bid 7. Membership 7.1 Applications 7.2 Proposed suspension of Kuwait TTA 8. Nominations Committee (2016-2018) 9. Annual reports from the Executive Committee 9.1 President: Thomas Weikert 9.2 Deputy President: Khalil Al-Mohannadi 9.3 Executive Vice President (Finance): Petra Sörling 9.4 Executive Vice-President: Bruce Burton 9.5 Executive Vice-President: Patrick Gillmann 9.6 Executive Vice-President: Chérif Hajem 9.7 Executive Vice-President: Masahiro Maehara 9.8 Executive Vice-President: Melecio Rivera 9.9 Executive Vice-President: Shi Zhihao
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(document A1) (document A2) (document A3) (document A4) (document A5) (document A6) (document A7) (document A8) (document A9)
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10. Annual reports from the Continental Federations: 10.1 Africa 10.2 Asia 10.3 Europe 10.4 Latin America 10.5 North America 10.6 Oceania
(document B1) (document B2) (document B3) (document B4) (document B5) (document B6)
11. Annual reports from the CEO, Deputy CEO and Directors: 11.1 Chief Executive Officer 11.2 Deputy Chief Executive Officer 11.3 Competitions Program 11.4 Development Program 11.5 Education and Training Program 11.6 Marketing Program 11.7 Operations Program
(document C1) (document C2) (document C3) (document C4) (document C5) (document C6) (document C7)
12. Annual reports from committees and OPC: 12.1 Equipment Committee 12.2 Media Committee 12.3 Nominations Committee 12.4 Para Table Tennis Division 12.5 Rules Committee 12.6 Sports Science and Medical Committee 12.7 Umpires’ and Referees’ Committee 12.8 Veterans’ Committee 12.9 Olympic and Paralympic Commission
(document D1) (document D2) (document D3) (document D4) (document D5) (document D6) (document D7) (document D8) (document D9)
13. Finance 13.1 Audited Financial Statements (2015 and 2016) 13.2 Quadrennial and yearly Budget adjustments 14. Ratification of the work done by the Board of Directors and Executive Committee 15. Propositions and resolutions
(document E)
16. Future World Championships 16.1 Selection of host of the 2019 World Championships (document to be distributed) 16.2 Deadline bids for 2020 World Championships – 30 September 2016 17. P5 Plan update (DBI – Top 5) 18. Constitution 19. Next AGM: to be held in Düsseldorf in May 2017 20. Any other business 21. Adjournment
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PRESIDENT (Thomas Weikert) Report to the AGM
Document A1
During the first year of my presidency I visited nearly all the continents. For me, this is one of the most important points: to have these face-to-face meetings and to be on the spot to see what kind of issues have to be discussed in table tennis around the world. Among my tasks as President, and besides many other obligations, I represented the ITTF at ASOIF and IOC meetings in Kuala Lumpur. There was detailed information and discussion about the AGENDA 2020 of the IOC, which is also a kind of general principle for the ITTF. As of 2015, all continental Federations have signed an affiliation agreement with the ITTF and I’m very glad that the cooperation with all worked very well. The last affiliation was signed with the Asian Table Tennis Union during the BoD meeting in Suzhou. During the AGM at the 2015 WTTC, we became the world’s biggest Sports Organization with 222 member associations. We hopefully can integrate the last four missing associations in the future. Conversations with them have already started under the leadership of Glenn Tepper. This fact shows imposingly that table tennis is a fantastic sport that is played all over the world and we should aim to develop table tennis all over the world. Our mission must be for small and economically weaker regions to get our support via the Development Programme to secure table tennis in an organized and sustainable structure, not only with equipment but also with education and training courses. This is a good opportunity to thank all the associations who support these projects. A special thank goes to the Chinese Table Tennis Association for sending out Players and Coaches around the world to follow up the development of our common sport. But it also must be clear that the funds of the ITTF are limited. We depend on public funds, money from the IOC and sponsors to continue our efforts in the Development Programme in the future. The ITTF can act in this area as a partner giving support in all items but we also need the commitment from you, the associations. This is for me a personal goal to work toward. As already mentioned, the AGENDA 2020 was an important point during the last IOC Meeting. Some main points: 1. We want to establish a Mixed Event in Tokyo 2020 and we have submitted an application. We are confident in this matter and already have had very promising discussions with the IOC and TOCOC 2020. 2. Having good and transparent governance is more important than ever considering the affairs at FIFA and the IAAF. This means introducing for the future or strengthening our past commitments to: • Be a clean sport and to protect clean athletes. No match-fixing. No betting-fraud. No doping. • Make blood doping tests (not only urine tests) for the first time. It is important to implement a systematic planning of tests, including hiring an external expert. • Increase cooperation with WADA • Continue our Anti-Corruption and Anti-Harrasment Policy. We want to introduce a Code of Ethics and an Ethics Commission to complete this sector.
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• Connect to the IBIS Monitoring Programme of the IOC (started in the summer 2015). • Continue transparency within the ITTF (e.g., publishing the minutes of the EC, AGM, and BoD). • Conduct a Risk Assessment with our Auditors, which took place earlier this year. 3. Increase the involvement of the Athletes. 4. Increase inclusion. 5. Increase youth engagement by utilizing social media platforms by thinking of innovations at the youth level. 6. Use the IOC Olympic Channel next year. Which tasks will be the main ones in 2016? I would like to mention some of them: • One of our duties for the next few months will be to get nearer to our goal of becoming one of the top 5 sports worldwide. Currently, our sport is ranked top 5 in some areas (for example, by all online sports-ranking agencies amongst all international sports). To reach this ambitious aim, the ITTF initiated the P5 plan for inputs to improve our sport in various areas. The analysis of the input for our P5 plan was published during the 2015 AGM. We expect to get further interesting ideas and initiatives to improve our sport in the future. Special thanks to our Chairman Adham Sharara, who focused on the implementation of the P5 plan. • Despite our extraordinary efforts to help our sport step into new and higher levels, we have to take a look at our financial resources. It’s a fact that we, together with our staff and our colleagues from TMS, worked hard to have established a comfortable reserve fund. It is also obvious that we need to continue to strengthen our efforts in order to be successful in the future and to secure our enormous activities. In 2015 we expect record marketing income. We are facing an economic challenge in 2016 to replace one of our biggest sponsors: the GAC Group. • World Table Tennis Day was held for the first time and will be held every year on April 6th, which was chosen because it is the UN and IOC International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. For details in multiple languages and to register, go to www.tt4all.com. In 2016 a joint PTT project with UNOSDP and the ITTF will be launched in Nepal in connection with World Table Tennis Day. • In 2016 we look forward to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We work hard in this area and hopefully we will have great table tennis events in Rio de Janeiro. • Furthermore we want to increase media and marketing action, especially with a re-launch of the ITTF website. Finally, I thank the members of the ITTF for trusting me. I thank my colleagues on the Executive Committee, our Chair Adham Sharara, the professional staff of the ITTF and TMS, and last but not least, all member associations and their athletes for such tremendous support. It´s a pleasure working together with you. We are one family and I count on you! Thomas Weikert 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Khalil Al-Mohannadi) Report to the AGM
Document A2
Only nine months ago we had the WTTC in China. In this short time, in my areas of responsibility, the two most important points have been: 1. To study reports from the 2015 WTTC in China. We will use the good points and make sure not to repeat the bad points at the 2016 WTTC in Malaysia. 2. To be in close contact with the 2016 WTTC Organizing Committee, to make inspection visits as often as needed (I attended an inspection in July, 2015) and to make sure that the ITTF WTTC Directives will be strictly followed. Areas of Responsibility • Asia (Communications) • Deputy President • World Championships (Administration) • World Championships (Technical) • World Cups (Team, Men, Women) • Media & Promotion • Publications & News In my areas of responsibility I was in close contact with Cai Zhenhua (ATTU President), ATTU Executive Board), Judit Farago (CEO), Karl Jindrak (Director-Competitions) and Arne Madsen (Media Committee Chairman). In the last nine months we had our usual number of tournaments: • QOROS 2015 World Championships (Suzhou, China) • Liebherr 2015 Men’s World Cup (Halmstad, Sweden) • 2015 Women’s World Cup (Sendai, Japan) • 2015 World Junior Championships (Vendee, France) • GAC GROUP 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals (Lisbon, Portugal) The excellent cooperation between the Organizing Committees, sponsors and ITTF staff produced very good organization at all of the events. My sincere congratulations to the associations from China, Sweden, Japan, France and Portugal, the Organizing Committees, and the ITTF professional staff for those exceptional efforts. The very detailed reports from the WTTC, World Cups, World Tour Grand Finals and World Junior Championships, produced by the ITTF Competition Managers, are available for your information. Executive Committee Meetings • Canada • France I attended both Executive Committee meetings.
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September 2015 December 2015
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Attendance at Competition Events • 2015 World Table Tennis Championships • 2015 ITTF Asian Championships • 2015 World Men’s Cup • 2015 World Junior Championships
China Thailand Sweden France
It is important to mention that at the first ITTF Asian Championships, 38 associations participated. This is the biggest entry in the history of the Asian Championships. Attendance at big events is giving me the opportunity to discuss with Organizing Committees, ITTF Competition, Marketing and Promotion Directors about problems we’ve faced and improvements we can make in the future. Those discussions produced many useful proposals for the 2015/2016 events. Attendance at Regional Competition Events • 2015 Arab Championships • 2015 Arab Club Championships
Jordan Egypt
Attendance at regional tournaments is very helpful for me and for officials from many regional associations. I can answer all questions about ITTF work and how the ITTF can help Arab associations as well as receive information about regional associations problems. In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation to ITTF President Mr. Thomas Weikert, my colleagues on the Executive Committee, and the ITTF professional staff for their support and cooperation. Khalil Al-Mohannadi
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT FINANCE (Petra Sörling) Report to the AGM
Document A3
Since I was elected as Executive Vice President in 2009, I was assigned to be responsible for a couple of focus areas in addition to the general duties within the ITTF Executive Committee (EC). FOCUS AREAS Para Table Tennis It is s a pleasure to have Para TT in my portfolio, I have a strong interest in this area and it is very positive to see that many associations now are fully integrated or with a very good working relationship between the two groups. During the year I took part in Para TT Division meetings in Copenhagen and Para TT Division meeting in Vejle. The meeting in Vejle took place during the Para European Championships. Finance Final statements had not yet been finalized as of the writing of this report. Our new Finance Committee, besides me as chairperson, include Mr. Eberhard Schöler (PAC) and Mr. Dhanraj Choudhary (BoD), as well as the President and the CEO as ex-officio members. We met in June together with responsible staff and together we did a Risk Assessment Workshop led by our auditors Ernst & Young. Our auditor also gave his audit report including financial statements. Staff I have also this year assisted our president and our CEO regarding the ITTF’s staff structure and human resource matters in general. GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES Since the last AGM in Suzhou, I participated in the following meetings of the EC: • May 2015 in Suzhou, China • September 2015 in Vancouver, Canada • December 2015 in Vendee, France I represented the ITTF at the following events (chronologically sorted): • Para Pan Am Games Toronto 2015, Canada • ITTF European Championships Yekaterinburg 2015, Russia • ITTF Men´s World Cup, 2015, Sweden • ITTF Women´s World Cup, 2015, Japan • ITTF Para European Championships Vejle 2015, Denmark • ITTF World Tour, Swedish Open 2015, Sweden • ITTF World Junior Championships Vendee 2015, France
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I represented the ITTF at the following meetings: • Audit in Lausanne 2015, Switzerland • Risk Assessment Workshop in Lausanne 2015, Switzerland • Para TT Division meeting 2015 Copenhagen, Denmark • Para TT Division meeting 2015 Vejle, Denmark Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank our new President Mr. Thomas Weikert; it is my pleasure to work with him and my colleagues on the Executive Committee. Thank you all for your continuous support and to the Continental Presidents, Board of Director members and committee/division members for your always-kind cooperation. Last, but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to our professional staff; it is always a great pleasure to work together with you. I’m very proud to be part of the ITTF family! Petra Sörling
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (H. Bruce Burton) Report to the AGM
Document A4
The experiences and learning continue as I become more familiar with the duties required as a member of the Executive Committee and as interactions increase within the assigned focus areas. FOCUS AREAS Umpires and Referees Committee Without a doubt, the URC is one of the busiest of the focus areas that I have. Specific details are provided in the URC Chairman’s report, but I would like to highlight that they: 1) have identified 38 trainers to deliver courses in the Development Programme; 2) have tested and will recommend to the EC the adoption of a set of hand signals for umpires; 3) have made significant progress on the separation and delivery of the Advanced Umpire Training (AUT) and the Advanced Rules Exam (ARE); 4) have completed a set of training videos that should prove invaluable for future referee courses; and 5) have begun focused discussions on the introduction of a more informal dress code and march-in process for our officials. Hopefully this will come to fruition early in 2016. My direct involvement with the Advanced Referee Project continues as we have ongoing evaluations for members of the original ARP and are now beginning to work with the second group of candidates admitted earlier in 2015. Commonwealth Table Tennis Through our interactions with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) we have learned that: 1) Edmonton, Canada withdrew its bid for the 2022 Games and subsequently the Games were awarded to Durban, South Africa; 2) effective in 2022, table tennis will be one of the compulsory sports; and 3) Para table tennis is on the list of optional sports. Table tennis is on the programme for the 2018 Gold Coast Games and we have confirmed to the CGF that we endorse the nominations of two Para table tennis standing class events at those Games as well. We will work to ensure that we are well positioned to enter into a partnership plan, aimed for completion with CGF in 2017, which addresses the technical, developmental, promotional and reputational opportunities associated with our involvement. I have been interacting frequently with the Chairman of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF), keeping him apprised of developments between the ITTF and CGF. In addition, we have been discussing areas where the ITTF can be of assistance to the CTTF, with the development of a CTTF ranking system being one example. North America Since my last report I have represented the ITTF at a number of 2015 events held in North America. The first three all took place in Markham, Canada: the North America Cup in May was used as a test event in the new facility constructed for the Pan Am and Para Pan Am Games in July and August respectively. Both Games were very successful and were well received by all the participants. The only downside was the lack of television coverage, a huge lost opportunity
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for the future, especially in light of the high success rate of the Brazilian contingents at both Games. We must redouble our efforts in the future to ensure that we do not miss out on such opportunities, especially in the year before the Olympic Games. During the Pan Am Games I had an opportunity, along with Melecio Rivera and Raul Calin, to sit with representatives from ITTF-NA and LATTU to begin serious discussions towards the formation of a Pan American Confederation. Following this meeting we subsequently briefed representatives of the USATT during the North American Championships in Westchester, New York, and then discussed it with the ITTF President, Thomas Weikert, just before our September EC meeting in Vancouver, Canada. A signed agreement, based on cooperation on a competition programme, at the time of writing of this report is very promising as calls are being put out for hosting of future Pan American events – one in 2016 and three in 2017. Promotion Increasingly I am becoming more involved in the area of promotion. I have regular contact with the Marketing and Media Department in Singapore and also with the Chairman of the Media Committee. We have a good example of overlap of focus areas here where the Marketing Department is working with the URC to facilitate the introduction of new and more informal attire for our officials. A re-working of the nomination and selection process for the Star Awards has been a significant focus this year. The third version of the Awards, scheduled for Lisbon, Portugal, promises to be very exciting. Eligibility There has not been a lot of activity in this area. It is important to note that all players under 21 years of age wishing to represent a new association should register with the ITTF. The registration procedure document and form are available on the ITTF website. Information Technology We are planning to create a new ITTF.com, which will be managed from the Singapore office. A number of tenders have been received and, at the time of writing, are being assessed to find the one best suited to meet our needs. Integrity We have just recently received a report ranking 35 Olympic International Federations in terms of good governance criteria. We are reasonably well positioned, but there is always room for improvement. The report serves as a useful tool to help focus our efforts in this area that is increasingly becoming an area of focus worldwide. Conclusion I wish to thank my colleagues on the Executive Committee for their co-operation and support over the past year. My experiences with the professional staff have been very rewarding as well. They are a dedicated group coping with a full program of events and are very deserving of words of support from all. As we head into an Olympic year, I look forward to these continued interactions as we strive to bring our sport to even greater heights. H. Bruce Burton
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (Patrick Gillmann) Report to the AGM
Document A5
FOCUS AREAS Global Junior Program I have been involved with the Junior Program since it started and I continue to think that it is one of ITTF's highlights due to a high performing staff and a lot of activities: training camps, competitions, world events, Youth Olympic Games, qualifications events, rankings and Hopes initiatives. Nevertheless, the lack of organizers due to few sponsors and high cost for hospitality are a big concern. Junior Commission Replaced by a Commissioner: I had a meeting with the Commissioner in Sharm El-Sheikh during the World Cadet Challenge (WCC) and I met with all the team managers to learn their opinion regarding the future of the WCC. This was a very useful meeting. It enabled me to convey to the EC their feedback. After the first time in Barbados, it has become a regular meeting during the WCC. On behalf of the EC, I asked the Commissioner to conduct a survey to discover why the ITTF receives so few bids for World Junior Championships and the WCC. I thus attended the meeting in Vendée after having brought some suggestions for the agenda, particularly to know the reasons for the lack of bids for World events. 2015 World Junior Championships They were held in Vendée, France. I was also with Raul Calin for the Second Inspection visit in May, 2015. 2015 World Cadet Challenge The World Cadet Challenge is one of the most popular and interesting projects on the Global Junior Program. It is one of the only events that allows the continents to work closely with, and build a close teamwork among, their young players. In 2015, it was the turn of Africa and Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. The organizer's welcome was warm and friendly and they promoted also the beauty of their country. I worked in close harmony with the ETTF president and the Competition Manager to face some difficulties that were not under our control (heavy rain, air crash). All had been managed smoothly. It was a very high level event and the organizers can be proud. Oceania (Communication) My involvement with the OTTF in 2015 was focused on the presentation of the World Tour event in Australia, how to save the Oceania Championships with a qualification link to the World Champs, how to increase the attendance of the continental junior events and the specificities of the Oceania islands for the development and elite events for Para TT. I thank the OTTF President James Morris and the ODO Michael Brown for their close cooperation.
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GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES I participated in the meetings of the EC: • February 2015 in Singapore • May 2015 in Suzhou, China • September 2015 in Vancouver, Canada • December 2015 in Vendée, France I represented the ITTF at the following events: • Oceania Cup 2015 in Bendigo, Australia • World Cadet Challenge 2015, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt • World Junior Championships, 2015 in Vendée, France • World Tour 2015 Gold Coast, Australia • Inspection visit in Vendée, France for the World Junior Championships, 2015 Finally, I would like to thank our President for the confidence placed in me, and my colleagues in the Executive Committee for their continuous support, the Continental Presidents, Board of Directors’ members and committee/commission members and commissioners with whom I worked, for their always kind cooperation. Last but not least I would like to express my warmest thanks to the ITTF staff for their help and the professional way they have managed all the events and meetings. Patrick Gillmann
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (Chérif Hajem) Report to the AGM
Document A6
Introduction The following is an analysis of my modest collaborations and coordination in 2015 with the chairpersons of the following structures (you can see their reports): Technical Commissioner Mr. Graeme Ireland, Technical Commissioner, and Mr. Karl Jindrak, Director-Competitions, handled with remarkable competence the technical affairs of the world, continental and international competitions. Calendar Mrs. Judit Faragó, meticulously assisted by Ms. Etsuko Enami, ensured with diligence the calendar of competitions proposed by our continents and associations. Results and Statistics Mr. Arne Madsen, Zoltan Bencsik and Matt Pound regularly published the information related to results and statistics of competitions (World Championships, world tours, the World Junior Circuit and others from associations and continents). Nominations Committee Mr. Chan Foong Keong and his colleagues, met twice in China, continue working with the candidatures received and exercising other duties there are entrusted with. I congratulate them for their presentation for the first time with criteria to present the Merit Award of our organization, with effect in 2016. Rules Committee Mr. Rudi Sporrer and his members (including those corresponding) contributed positively through their advice and proposals concerning the modifications of our handbook and through their responses to the questions related to the interpretation of the rules and regulations. Communication with Africa Several continental and regional competitions, courses of beginners and of high performance, equipment support to several associations, contributions to the young qualifiers of the continent (for the world finals), motivations to medallists (of the events), as well as media coverage of important events are assets of ITTF Africa. Also we have to note that for the first time, two African players: Omar Assar from Egypt (WR 35) and Qadri Aruna from Nigeria (WR 45) are among the top 50 in the world. I congratulate the Presidents and members of their associations. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Adham Sharara and Mr. Thomas Weikert who have not spared any effort for table tennis in Africa to achieve those results.
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Missions • Cairo (EGY) January African Senior Championships • Singapore (SIN) February Executive Committee Meeting • Bremen (GER) March World Tour • Suzhou (CHN) April/May World Championships, AGM, BoD and 12 meetings: OPC, Executive Committee (2), Rules Committee (2), Nominations Committee (2), ITTF Africa (3), Arab Confederation (1), Francophone (1). • Yaoundé (CMR) July African Cup • Brazzaville (CGO) September African Games • Vancouver (CAN) September Executive Committee Meeting • Vendée (FRA) December Executive Committee Meeting Local Invitations My Federation (Tunisia) invited me to these events: • World Junior Circuit in March • AGM (evaluative) on the 1st of August • AGM of the Tunisian Olympic Committee on the 10th of August Acknowledgement and Thanks • First, I repeat my gratitude to Presidents Adham Sharara and Thomas Weikert for their support in the tasks I’ve been assigned. • Also, I thank the Presidents of the 222 Member Associations (where obviously in my position as Co-Honorary President of Africa to the 50 National Associations of Africa, which are the base of the success of ITTF-Africa in all aspects) • Also for their continuous support to our sport (now first in the world in number of affiliated associations) I want to thank all the Ministers of Sports and Olympic Committees in the World, as well as the staff of the ITTF (without any protocol order, I will mention Judit Faragó, Glenn Tepper, Mikael Andersson, Raul Calin, Anders Thunström, Karl Jindrak, Steve Dainton, Habiba Besic, Etsuko Enami, Polona Cehovin, Leandro Olvech, Claudia Vatheuer, Chuck Hoey, Mohamed El-Shentenawy, Ian Marshall, Matt Pound, Didier Leroy, Yao Zhenxu, Mohamed Dawlatly, Ahmed Dawlatly, Michael Brown, Vicky Eleftheriade, Emese Barsai and others); my colleagues on the Executive Committee; the Chairs and Members of the Committees and Commissions; the Presidents of continental and regional unions; the President of ITTF Africa, Khaled El-Salhy, his colleagues at the Executive Committee: Henri Djombo, Olabanji Oladapo, Berthe Bakhary, Hajera Kajee, Monqid El-Hajji, Balla Lo and Farah Hassan, those of their Administration Conseil, and advisors (Mr. George Segun, Co-Honorary President, and Mrs. Jane Pinto, Deputy Honorary President of ITTF Africa) and their chairs of committees: Mokhtar Toukabri, Mohamed Bassyouni, Babatunde Obisanya and Oluranti Lajide. • Last, but not least, I thank the sponsors, the media and equipment producers that have helped the associations in the different continents over the years. Chérif Hajem
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (Masahiro Maehara) Report to the AGM
Document A7
This report covers my activities in 2015. From the 5th to 8th of February 2015, I attended an EC Meeting in Singapore. During my stay, I had the chance to visit the ITTF’s Singapore office. It was a good opportunity to rub shoulders with the local office staff. From the 28th to the 31st of March 2015, I attended an ATTU Meeting in Jeju, Korea. Each of the events were reported and places and dates were set for the proposed 2016 events. From the 23rd of April to the 4th of May, the 2015 World Championships took place in Suzhou, China. Before the event started, thanks to the president of Double Happiness Mr. Lou Shi He, Mr. Shi Zhihao and I visited the DHS factory with his support. We inspected the production procedure for balls and rubbers, I realized it took a lot of time and people to make each product. I felt acutely that I should introduce the spirit of the importance of caring for equipment to the younger generation of players. After I came back to Japan, I acquired a video, which introduced the production procedure of making rubbers and balls and watched it with members of the U12 National Team during their training camp. They presented reports after watching it. I thought that is was a necessary kind of educational program for them. I commend the Chinese Table Tennis Association for the success and the organizational talents they displayed during the WTTC in Suzhou. I attended the following meetings while at the event: • On the 25th of April and the 3rd of May • On the 27th of April • On the 27th of April • On the 28th of April • On the 30th of April • On the 1st of May • On the 2nd of May
EC Meeting Olympic and Paralympic Commission ATTU Council Meeting Annual General Meeting Board of Directors Meeting Sports & Science Meeting EQC Meeting
Number of Associations South Sudan and Sao Tome/Principe joined the ITTF, bringing our total number of members to 222. We are very pleased that we surpassed Volleyball (FIVB), which has 220 members. It is the result of our steady outreach to developing countries that the ITTF went ahead. Plastic Balls The ITTF will be contacting the manufactures to request information regarding quality, price and supply. I expect to see improvements.
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ITTF and Asia Table Tennis Union (ATTU) We entered into an affiliation agreement with the ATTU Continental Federation on the 30th of April. Henceforth, the ITTF and ATTU have the same goal that we promote and develop Table Tennis more together with good cooperation for our mutual profit and growth. 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games At the EC meeting, we decided to propose an additional event (Mixed Doubles) into the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. From the 24th to the 28th of June, the World Tour Japan Open was held in Kobe. Altogether 21 associations, including 167 players participated and it was successful. On the 1st of September, President Mr. Thomas Weikert came to Japan. He visited the 2020 Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Organizing Committee and he spoke with President Mr. Yoshiro Mori. I accompanied him, together with JTTA Vice President Mr. Koji Kimura and Ms. Sachiko Yokota, who is in charge of JTTA’s International Affairs. From the 17th to the 21st of September, an EC Meeting was held in Vancouver, Canada. I attended the meeting and also discussed details about the 2016 World Tour with my colleagues. On the 21st of September, the Sports & Science Committee’s International Meeting was held at the National Training Centre in Tokyo, Japan and I joined their Information Exchange Meeting on the last day. I spent a very meaningful time with them. I would like to thank Mr. Miran Kondric, the Chair of the Committee, and Dr. Shiro Matsuo, Chief of Anti-Doping, who had taken part in making this meeting possible. From the 25th of September to the 4th of October, I attended the Asian Table Tennis Championships held in Pattaya, Thailand at the request of President Mr. Thomas Weikert. During the event, I had an ATTU EB Meeting on the 27th and the Congress Meeting on the 29th. The Asian Championships It is presumed that there was a great hardship for the Thailand Association because the venue suddenly changed from Bangkok to Pattaya. As we know every association/federation must take part in their continental Championships in order to get their eligibility for the WTTC, so the number of entries became the biggest in the ATTU’s history. There were 38 associations entered (with an increase of 14 teams), compared to 24 teams in Busan, Korea in 2013. In Busan’s ATTC, 9 tables were used, but in Pattya’s ATTC, 16 tables were required. Furthermore, the last match finished very late in the night almost every day. However, there were some very positive points I have to express. Presentations for the semifinals and finals of all events were fantastic, so the players’ motivation became very high and many good matches were played. However, it was very regretful to see there were very few spectators during the competition, except on the final day in which they were around 500 - 600.
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From the 28th of October to the 2nd of November, I attended the Women’s World Cup in Sendai as an official of JTTA. The top 20 players of the world gathered in the Northeast Japan in the city of Sendai, to engage in the competition of the world’s best. It featured a very raised international tournament. Every day many Table Tennis fans visited the venue. We invited about 350 people, including elementary and junior high school students from the area of the three prefectures affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake (Miyagi, Fukushima, Iwate) to the venue and they enjoyed watching. I hope that they and the people in the Northeast Japan felt their spirits lift and were encouraged through this event. I highly appreciate Executive Vice President Ms. Petra Sorling as the ITTF’s representative at the event, the professional staff, the International Umpires, the Miyagi prefecture, the Sendai City Table Tennis Association and all other people who gave their efforts to the event. From the 2nd to the 6th of December, I will attend two meetings (EC meeting, OPC meeting) during the World Junior Championships in Vendée, France. In conclusion, I would like to devote myself to contribute to the steady development of our future with our new President Mr. Thomas Weikert, the EC members and the ITTF’s professional staff. Masahiro Maehara
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (Melecio Eduardo Rivera) Report to the AGM
Document A8
Since the last AGM, a new stage in the ITTF’s life was initiated, which corresponds to the era of our new President Thomas Weikert. Without any doubt his performance as the head of our organization has come to refresh and mark another style of administration, characterized by being quick and efficient, and showing great initiative for the benefit of our sport in the implementation of all of its projects. Our highly professional technical staff has continued working with great success, always showing their high technical quality in all its undertakings, and always closely following the direction set by our Executive Committee. The compromise and challenge of President Weikert to continue and to surpass the great achievements already reached by our sport up to date are very big and many times full of challenges, which have been overcome each time. Our Executive Committee has been supporting, and should continue doing so, all the initiatives, steps and reforms that President Weikert has presented to implement in order for us to surpass the current status of our dear sport, always doing it with all surrender, determination and transparency. As part of my responsibilities as Executive Vice-President during the period gone by, I was summoned to represent the Executive Committee in the following activities: 1. I attended the PASO General Assembly (Pan American Sport Organization) representing the ITTF President, which took place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from January 11 - 14, 2015. 2. I attended the Latin American Championship carried out in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina from March 15 - 22, 2015. This event was a Qualification Tournament for the Pan American Sport Games that took place in Toronto, Canada, during the month of July. 3. I attended, accompanied by the LATTU Technical Director, an inspection visit to the site of the ITTF Latin American Cup in Havana, Cuba. Negotiations took place with the highest authorities of sports in Cuba. The visit was in April. 4. I attended the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada from July 18 - 27. 5. As the responsible Vice-President to the EC on the topic of the Olympic Games, I was part of the Commission that visited Rio de Janeiro to watch and supervise the development of the Test Event program from November 18 - 22. Another of the most important aspects of my responsibilities assigned by the EC during this period has been the maintenance of communications and relations with the Continental Organization LATTU (the Latin American Table Tennis Union). All interactions have always been respectful and harmonious, as such relations require. It should be emphasized that negotiations have taken place between LATTU and ITTF-NA (ITTF-North America) to try to form a Pan American Table Tennis Confederation, with the participation of the leaders of both organizations. Whenever I have been requested to attend such meetings, I have offered
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my comments and advice. I especially appreciate the special supporting role of Raul Calin, whose help in mediating issues has been an enormous help during this process. The Development Program of our Organization has been given special attention and follow-up during the period gone by, as one of the responsibilities that was assigned to me within the EC. This program has continued having excellent results, as always under the direction of Glenn Tepper and all his team. As Executive Vice-President, I was always prepared to attend all work meetings that I was summoned to, as follows: • Executive Committee Meeting in Singapore from February 3 – 8 • Executive Committee Meeting, Continental Council, Olympic Commission and Annual General Assembly (AGM) celebrated in the framework of the World Championship carried out in the city of Suzhou, China, from April 22 to May 4 • Executive Committee Meeting in the city of Vancouver, Canada, from September 18 21 • Meetings of the Executive Committee, of the Development and Continental Council and the Olympic and Paralympic Commission, celebrated during the development of the Junior World Championship in the city of Vendée, France from December 2 - 7 In order to finish this Report, I wish to express my deep gratitude to President Weikert and to my colleagues on the Executive Committee for their understanding and support during all the period gone by, as well as to all of the professional staff members of the ITTF for their help. I especially note the special manner of Raul Calin who has always been ready to help and support us in all the actions we have requested. Likewise, I express my gratitude to all the member Associations for their continuous backing and support of the Programs and Projects that our Organization has been implementing. Here’s to a lot of success in 2016! Melecio Eduardo Rivera
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EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT (Shi Zhihao) Report to the AGM
Document A9
The year 2015 was a great year for table tennis. During this year, our sport gained a lot of attention from all over the world. And I’m very glad to witness many excellent table tennis activities. Now I would like to report my work in the past year, as follows: 1. ITTF Museum As the Vice-President who is in charge of the Museum project, I would like to report on the recent progress of this project. First of all, the building design and construction is going smoothly. It will be opened to the public in November, 2017, according to the preliminary plan. The Museum will have four functions: collection, interaction, research and international communication & education. Based on these four functions, the inner design of the Museum will include several parts: International Table Tennis, China Table Tennis, Table Tennis Celebrities, Interaction Area and 4D Cinema, etc. Regarding the exhibits collection, till now, we have already collected 815 exhibit items. Under the great support from CTTA and the Shanghai Municipal Government, the target collection plan has been decided as 16,000 exhibit items. 2. ITTF Museum Tour in Suzhou WTTC During the World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou, the ITTF Museum Tour was held in the Suzhou International Expo Centre. This was the first tour organized by the Shanghai museum team after the decision of the museum relocation project. The tour was divided into 5 parts, including ITTF history, early table tennis relics, Chinese table tennis culture, visual revolution and table tennis stamps, etc. The interaction area was also especially set for table tennis fans. Famous table tennis celebrities, such as Wang Liqing, Zhang Yining, and others were invited to interact with them. 3. ITTF World Hopes Week & Challenge The 2015 ITTF Hopes Week & Challenge was held at the China Table Tennis College (CTTC) in Shanghai. There were 85 players, coaches and parents in total from 30 different countries for this year’s Hopes. Under the great support from CTTA, the CTTC invited some famous coaches, including Li Xiaodong, Zhang Yining, Feng Zhe, Xi Minjie and Yao Yan, etc, and arranged several sparring partners for all the participants. The CTTC offered a great training and competition environment for all the participants. As the ITTF Vice-President and CTTC President, I’m very glad to see that the cooperation between us worked out well. Of course, there are still some problems that need to be solved. But I believe we can work on them and improve together. I’m now sincerely looking forward to our next cooperation. I believe this cooperation is a powerful combination of the best table tennis resources in the world, which will greatly help promote our sport.
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4. Attendance in ITTF Meetings In the past year, I attended the following meetings and competition events: Executive Committee Meetings • Singapore February 2015 • Suzhou April 2015 • Vendee December 2015 BoD Meeting • Suzhou
April 2015
OPC Meetings • Suzhou • Vendee
April 2015 December 2015
DCC Meeting • Vendee
December 2015
AGM • Suzhou
April 2015
World Tour • Chengdu
August 2015
As a conclusion, I’d like to express my gratitude to my colleagues in the Executive Committee and other friends in the ITTF family. Thank you for your kind cooperation and hard work in the past year. Let’s welcome a brighter 2016 together. Shi Zhihao
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AFRICA (Khaled El-Salhy) Report to the AGM
Document B1
Africa has reached the number of 51 affiliated Associations to the ITTF last year with the last two members Sao Tome/Principe and South Sudan. The ATTF is working hard with the three remaining unaffiliated Associations (Eritrea, Cape Verde & Guinea Bissau) to ensure the full quota of Africa as all members of ITTF/ATTF soon. I have had the pleasure to represent the ATTF since the previous ITTF AGM at the following event held in December of 2015 during the World Junior Championships: the ITTF Development & Continental Council in Vendee (France). The African activities for the year 2015 were as follows: 2015 ITTF-Africa Juniors & Cadet Championships It was held in Beau Bassin, Mauritius in April 2015 with 11 participating countries. Thanks to the Mauritius Table Tennis Association for hosting such a fantastic event in which the ITTF/ATTF celebrated with them the 1st WJC event in Mauritius and also the excellent organization of the first ITTF World Table Tennis day on the 6th of April. 2015 ITTF-Africa Cup & African Clubs Championships The championships were held in Yaoundé, Cameroon in July 2015 with 16 male and 12 female players from 7 different countries. All of the players appreciated the excellent organization of the host. Thanks to Cameroon Table Tennis Federation who helped ITTF/ATTF to do live YouTube streaming with good production under the supervision of Mr. Michael Brown, ITTF Development Officer - Africa. The ITTF-Africa Cup was the qualifying event for the ITTF World Cups 2015, with the result of Omar ASSAR of Egypt for men & Dina MESHREF of Egypt for women to represent Africa in 2015. The African Cup was followed by the African Clubs Championships with 7 Men's Club teams and 6 Women's Club teams. The winner was Al-Ahly Club of Egypt and runner-up was Cub Avenir of Congo Brazzaville in both events. 11th African Games It was held in Congo Brazzaville in September 2015 with 24 African NOCs, which is a very good level of participation compared with all other sports among the Games. Table Tennis had the best priority for all technical requirements and facilities provided by COJA, thanks to Mr. Henri Djombo – President of FCTT & Deputy President of ATTF, with his group to reach the optimum level of professional organization and to help the ATTF to have the most successful sport competition within the Games. The medals list for Table Tennis was: • Egypt (3 Gold + 3 Silver + 5 Bronze) • Congo Brazzaville (3 Gold + 1 Silver + 4 Bronze) • Nigeria (1 Gold + 3 Silver + 3 Bronze) • Algeria & Ghana (1 Bronze each) The 11th African Games was the 1st qualification tournament for 2016 Rio OG, and we have recognised 4 Men (2 EGY – 1 NGR – 1 CGO) & 4 Women (2 EGY – 1 CGO – 1 NGR) already qualified and waiting for the final confirmation from their NOCs.
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2015 World Cadet Challenge The ITTF gave the chance to Africa to host the WCC for the second time after 2007 in Cape Town; this time the WCC was held in Egypt (October 2015) in Sharm El-Sheikh. It was a great pleasure for all participants to take part in such a fantastic tourist city. Thanks to the Egypt Table Tennis Federation for their super efforts to provide a remarkable success to such an important and World title event. I am so proud of the organization. Everyone there expressed genuine satisfaction. The records achieved for Africa in the current year’s event were: • 18 players from Africa took part (4 boys + 4 girls for the African team, 4 boys + 4 girls for the host team Egypt and finally 1 boy + 1 girl among the ITTF Hopes team) out of 88 players • Africa won its first Silver medal in a World title event. The pair of HAMDOUN Nathael of TUN & HODABY Marwa of EGY was the runner-ups in Mixed Doubles. African Participation & Top International Results • 12 Associations took part in the Qoros 2015 WTTC in Suzhou, with 29 Men players and 18 Women players, 5 Men (3 EGY + 2 NGR) & 5 Women (1 CGO + 1 CMR + 2 EGY + 1 NGR) were qualified for the main draw, and the best result was for ASSAR Omar (EGY) to go forward to the 3rd stage – round of 32. • 6 African Associations participated in the 2015 Universidad in Korea in July 2015 (ALG DJI – GHA – KEN – NGR - SLE). • 2 African Associations participated in the Arab Cup in Amman in August 2015 (MTNTUN), and Africa was there on the podium with 1 Gold & 2 Bronze for TUN. • ASSAR Omar (EGY), the winner of the 2015 ITTF-Africa Cup (MS) participated in the LIEBHERR Men's World Cup in Halmstad, Sweden in October 2015. He qualified for the main draw (round of 16). • MESHREF Dina (EGY), the winner of the 2015 ITTF-Africa Cup (WS) participated in the ITTF Women's World Cup in Sendai, Japan in November 2015. She qualified for the first time as an African female player to advance to the main draw (round of 16) in the World Cup. • 3 Associations (with 5 teams) should represent Africa in the 2015 World Juniors Championships in Vendee - France in December 2015, in Boys (EGY – TUN) and in Girls (ALG - EGY – TUN); the event has not yet started as of the writing of this report. • There was one GAC WT event organized in 2015 in Nigeria in March, thanks to NTTF & Lagos State for their professional organization and for being a part of the World Tour for the second year, and they already applied to continue for the next year, 2016. • There were three GJC events organized in 2015 in Africa, in Tunisia in March, Mauritius in April and finally in Egypt in June, thanks to FTTT, MTTA & ETTF for their good level of representation for Africa to host such important ITTF-sanctioned events with remarkable success and good participation level from Africa. Development & Education in Africa We had 2 successful Continental Hopes Week/Challenge events, which was well organized in TUN for the Northern part (March) & BOT for the Southern part (August) in 2015, plus another Regional Hopes Week/Challenge combining Africa & Arab countries that was held in Bahrain.
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Africa was a part of the finals of the ITTF Hopes Challenge in Shanghai (July), ELHAKEM Sara (EGY) won the Gold medal for Girl's Hope Singles & ANIMASAHUN Abayomi (NGR) won the Silver medal for Boy's Hope Singles. Both players have been selected to play for the ITTF Hopes Team in the 2015 WCC in Sharm El-Sheikh - Egypt. Thanks to all professional Course Conductors and Camp Experts who came to Africa in 2015. Sincere thanks to BUTTERFLY & TINSUE-FLOOR brands for their great and continuous support to our associations and competitions. They helped create a prestigious image at our events. Thanks to STAG brand for the same support towards promotion of African associations. Thanks also to STIGA brand for sponsoring the official uniform for the African Cadet Team in the WCC for the fourth year in a row (since 2012). Special thanks to Mr. Michael Brown for his keen efforts to follow up all DP programs in Africa during the whole year, plus for providing his great experience for TV coverage to all countries hosting ITTF/ATTF events for better promotion of such events. Essential Recognition On behalf of the ATTF EC (Mr. Henri Djombo, Mr. Banji Oladapo, Mr. Berthe Bakhary, Ms. Hajera Kajee, Mr. Balla Lo, Mr. Monqid Hajji, and Mr. Farah Hasan), I thank Mr. Thomas Weikert, the ITTF President, for his support and attendance in Africa during the 2015 WCC (Sharm El-Sheikh). I also thank the ITTF EC group for their full support to Table Tennis in Africa, and all over the World to keep our sport among the top 5 in all fields. Thanks also to the ITTF CEO, Deputy CEO, the Executive Directors and all staff for their fulltime engagement in helping our planning and activities. Khaled El-Salhy Continental President: Africa
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ASIA (Cai Zhenhua) Report to the AGM
Document B2
Number of Member Associations The Asian Table Tennis Union has maintained a total membership of 44 associations till the end of 2015. Key Competitions In 2015 member associations held different levels of events around Asia. The ATTU appreciates the great efforts of UAE, China and Japan for respectively organizing the World Team Cup in Dubai in January, the World Championships (individual events) in Suzhou in April and the Women’s World Cup in Sendai in November. The Union is also grateful to India, Malaysia, China and Thailand for staging 4 ATTU-authorized events, namely the Asian Cup, the Asian Junior & Cadet Championships, the Asia-Euro All Star Challenge and the Asian Championships, and making every tournament a great success. The SUZUKI 22nd ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships, now as the qualification for the World Championships, attracted a record number of 38 participating teams. Thailand TTA, the host association, faced with unprecedented pressure, organized an excellent Championships. In addition 8 ITTF World Tour Opens and 6 ITTF Junior Circuits were held in Asia. These events, thanks to the hard work of the associations of Japan, Korea, DPR Korea, China, the Philippines, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, India and Jordan, all achieved wonderful results. Other important tournaments include the 2015 Universiade in Korea in July, the 24th East Asia Hopes Championships in Japan in August, and the 29th Vietnam Golden Racket International Invitation Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City in July. Marketing Initiatives In 2015 sponsors of the ATTU made further contributions to the development of table tennis in Asia. GAC Group had been the title sponsor of the Asian Cup since 2011. The five-year cooperation between our two parties has now come to a win-win end. The 2016 Asian Cup will be organized by the United Arab Emirates TTA. The host association can take advantage of a full package of all commercial rights, which has been transferred from the ATTU. IEC Company, ATTU’s media promoter, had helped to broadcast ATTU-authorized events in more than 10 countries across Asia. Nittaku Company, the equipment sponsor of Team Asia, was an integral party to the team’s achievements. DHS Company funded a number of development programs, which contributed to the upgrade of Asian junior players’ performance. Relations with Continental Organizations The ATTU continued its cooperation with the ETTU by hosting the Euro-Asia All Star Challenge, which was organized in Zhangjiagang, China for the second time since 2014. With the introduction of the crystal table (with display screen beneath the transparent surface) newly invented by the DHS Company, the Challenge offered a more exciting experience to the spectators and TV audience. Team Europe also made history by winning the Asian stop for the first time.
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By co-hosting this elite event over the years, the ATTU has deepened its understanding of continental cooperation. An annual exchange between officials and players through the competition has helped to bring the two Unions closer, which could be an effective model for other continental federations. Another highlight was the “China in Latin America” project jointly developed by the ITTF, the Chinese TTA and DHS. As a leading association in Asia and the world, China aimed to bring the advanced technique and concept of table tennis from Asia to other parts of the globe. Affiliation with the ITTF ATTU signed the affiliation agreement with the ITTF during the 2015 World Championships, which was a milestone in the development of the Union. Changes in Asian event organization and ATTU management followed. As the first championships held after the affiliation, the SUZUKI 22nd ITTF-Asian Table Tennis Championships experienced quite some reform. In the new era ATTU is searching for a fresh cooperation model that guarantees a win-win future. A Particular Highlight In November the ATTU new website was put into use. The new version, featuring a modern design, neat layout, and detailed categories offers member associations and table tennis fans a wealth of information about Asian events, meetings and activities. To conclude I would like to thank the ITTF, continental organizations and all member associations for their support and contribution in 2015. Cai Zhenhua Continental President: Asia
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EUROPE (Ronald Kramer) Report to the AGM
Document B3
Member Basis The total membership of the ETTU is at present 57 Associations. Competitions Since the ITTF AGM in Suzhou (CHN), the ETTU organised the European Championships in Ekaterinburg (RUS) with 39 men’s and 31 women’s teams participating. Under the guidance of the Russian Table Tennis Federation, the local organising committee set up probably the best European Championships in the existence of ETTU. A very big compliment is justified. The European Youth Championships were very well organised in Bratislava (SVK) by our more than capable colleagues from the Slovak Association, with 40 junior boys teams, 34 junior girls teams, 41 cadet boys teams and 34 cadet girls teams participating. In addition to these major events the Europe Youth Top 10 was organised in October in Buzau (ROU) by the Romanian Federation, whose leadership deserves more than respect for their performance and hospitality. The European Veteran's Championship took place in Tampere (FIN). It was a true festival of table tennis and I take this opportunity to thank the organisers, the Finnish Association, and all volunteers engaged for all the work very well done. A special word of thanks goes to our colleagues from the Asian Table Tennis Union for once more very capably organising the 2015 edition of Euro-Asia All Star Challenge, in Zhangjiagang (China) in August. After the discussions during the Extraordinary Congress in Suzhou, the Congress in Ekaterinburg took some decisions that will be of great importance for the future of our sport in Europe. The European Championships in Ekaterinburg were the last combined event. Starting in Budapest (HUN), from 2016 onwards, the European Championships in even years will only consist of the individual event (including Mixed Doubles) and in the uneven years it will be a Team event only. For the team events, there will be a series of qualification matches, offering member associations opportunities to have home (and away) matches, contributing to the promotion of table tennis in their countries. With vast majorities, the necessary new Regulations were adopted at the Ekaterinburg Congress. A word of thanks goes to the so-called Events Group and all others who contributed to these major improvements. It took a lot of work to achieve this outcome. European Games 2015 The first European Games were hosted in the city of Baku (AZE) and table tennis was among the 20 sports taking part in this first edition. The winners of the Single's events directly qualified for the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro (BRA) in 2016. Development Initiatives In the development area, 2015 was the second year of implementing a renewed more coachingcentered approach of the ETTU development program. After the camps in 2014, which resulted in 11 players being selected, three new selection camps were organised during 2015 under the name of 'Eurotalents' and they led to the selection of another 9 (boys and girls) who will get further support from ETTU.
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But even more important than the number of currently selected young boys and girls is the whole positive atmosphere created among the European TT family, especially among the young coaches. This atmosphere and hard work of all of those included in development contributed to the pride that ETTU took on account of the medals and overall titles won by the girls and the boys during the World Cadets Challenge in Sharm-el-Sheikh (EGY). During 2015, a number of additional development activities on the national levels have been already agreed with four national associations (Portugal, Greece, Finland, Cyprus), to be executed in 2016. Such activities will take place to a greater extent in the years to follow. At the 2015 Ekaterinburg ETTU Congress the proposal was adopted to start organising Under21 Championships from 2017 onwards. The main rationale being that the ‘age-gap’ between being a successful junior and reaching the same performance at the senior level leads some of our best junior players to stop playing table tennis altogether. Club Competitions and Marketing Initiatives In 2015, in cooperation with our marketing and media partner ‘the sportsman media group’ (tsmg), much time and energy has been devoted to promoting and marketing our club competitions, and in particular the Table Tennis Champions League Men. The first rounds of the 2015-2016 season showed that it is not easy for all the participating clubs to make the necessary investments in the quality of their presentation, where ETTU’s aim is to promote and to create a bigger fan base for our sport in Europe and even abroad. The cooperation with TMS has also helped ETTU to enhance its performance in 2015. ETTU is very happy to welcome a number of new participants in its suppliers’ pool and looks forward to intensifying its cooperation with them. During a well-received reception at the European Championships in Ekaterinburg, the European Table Tennis Hall of Fame was presented. On a really huge display, 36 legends were put in the spotlights of the spectators attending the EC. Relations with Continental Organisations ETTU wants to congratulate ITTF and ATTU for signing the affiliation agreement. It contributes to the strength of our sport in the global sporting and business environment. Athletes Commission The Athlete's Commission Chairman, Petr Korbel as a co-opted member of our Executive Board, has continued to contribute to the quality of our work. Finance Under the guidance of our VP for Finance, ETTU’s Executive Board and the secretariat has worked very hard to improve our financial situation. This includes our new relations with TMS and tsmg. It seems that after a number of years ending in red figures, we are back on the track where we ought to be.
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Honours During the Congress in Ekaterinburg, Jean Devys (FRA), Jeanny Dom (LUX), Hans Wilhelm Gäb (GER) and Radivoj Hudetz (CRO) were awarded the ETTU Honorary Membership and 15 other members of the European Table Tennis family have been decorated with the ETTU Badge of Honour for their great contribution to our sport. I wish to take the opportunity to thank all the colleagues of the ETTU EB as well as the staff for the loyal way they are working for the improvement of our performance as ETTU. Last but not least, many thanks to the ITTF, its President, its Chairman, its officials and its staff, and of the other continental organisations, for their support and cooperation and the work we are doing together. Ronald Kramer Continental President: Europe
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LATIN AMERICA (Juan Vila) Report to the AGM
Document B4
On the behalf of the LATTU Executive Committee and its 40 national association members, we would like to present the report on the 2015 activities, highlighted by the excellent results in the competition and institutional aspects as well as in the development and education programmes. Similarly, we would like to remember the late Oswaldo “Papelon” Borges, our beloved former LATTU President. We have lost one of the big managers of sport of our Continent and the World. Undoubtedly, we can perceive a sustained growth of table tennis in our region. We are satisfied to declare that we have succeeded in implementing all foreseen activities, as follows. COMPETITIONS We are proud to report the impressive and historical participation of our teams in the World Cadet Challenge, especially in the female category, reaching three gold medals (Teams, Mixed Doubles and Singles); we have to make a special mention of Bruna Takahashi, Adriana Diaz, Esmerlin Castro and Lucia Cordero; the male team reached the bronze medal in the Team event. Today, Adriana and Bruna are the symbol of Latin American Table Tennis. In 2015, the Latin American players succeeded in international events, with positions never before obtained. Every year there are more and more athletes that take part in European leagues and improve their World Rankings. INSTITUTIONAL RESULTS It’s important to mention the work being done jointly with ITTF North America to achieve an ambitious joint programme of Pan American Competitions (LATTU-ITTF NA). We have agreed to organize jointly in 2017 three joint events for our associations’ members, starting already in 2016 with the Pan American Junior Championships. EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT The education and development activities were intense but at the same time rewarding. The following activities were held: • 16 courses ITTF/PTT Level 1 • 16 URC-BCU-BCR courses • 6 courses ITTF Level 2 • 1 course ITTF Level 3 • 3 National Hopes activities (Belize, Bolivia and Dominican Republic) • 1 Continental Hopes activity (Cuba) • 1 Regional training camp (Cuba) • 4 Scholarships for the World Hopes Week • 1 PTT course in Jamaica
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HIGHLIGHTS Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Despite not having TV, many of us agree that these were the best Pan American Games ever, with the key aspects executed with high quality. The spectators’ attendance was great. The list of medallists was dominated by Brazil in men and by the USA in women. China in Latin America With the support of the Chinese Table Tennis Association and the ITTF Development Program and its sponsors, Puerto Rico opened their doors to receive a select group of Latin American cadet players. The Chinese delegation offered intense and quality practice sessions for the athletes and clinics for the coaches for a complete week. Participants also received equipment. We encourage CTTA to maintain this program every year. World Junior Circuit and World Tour events in Latin America • GAC Group World Tour, Argentina Open, Argentina - Challenge Series • Paraguay Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF World Junior Circuit • Puerto Rico Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF World Junior Circuit • Guatemala Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF World Junior Circuit • El Salvador Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF World Junior Circuit • GAC Group World Tour, Chile Open, Challenge Series • Chile Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF World Junior Circuit Yearly Latin American Championships • Latin American Junior Championships, Puerto Rico • ITTF Latin American Championships, Argentina • Latin American Under 13 and Under 11 Championships, Cuba • ITTF Latin American Cup, Cuba We would like to thank the great support received from ITTF authorities, a group of men and women committed to the development of table tennis worldwide. Juan Vila Continental President: Latin America
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NORTH AMERICA (Tony Kiesenhofer) Report to the AGM
Document B5
North American Development Program By the time this report goes to print, ITTF North America will have completed all planned activities of the Continental Development program in 2015. The Women’s Course took the shape of a training camp at the Lily Yip TTC in New Jersey. Lily Yip led the camp, assisted by high-level Chinese sparring partners. PARA Table Tennis training camps were held in two locations: a standing players camp at Canada’s National Training Center in Ottawa and a wheelchair camp at MyTTC in Mississauga, Ontario. Canada’s national PARA TT coach, John Macpherson led both camps; he was assisted by PARA coach Zedplin Law and a number of training partners. ITTF North America Hopes Challenge Both USA and Canada have instituted regional Hopes activities to tie in to the ITTF World Hopes program. ITTF North America selected its World Hopes Challenge participants at the Continental Hopes Challenge in Markham, Ontario. One boy and one girl from North America participated in the World Hopes week in Shanghai, China. Junior Training Camps The Junior Boys camp and the Junior Girls camp were held in Ottawa and in New Jersey, respectively. The junior boys camp had a prominent figure in North American table tennis as ‘assistant coach’ – Pradeeban Peter-Paul worked alongside Maxime Surprenant (CAN) and Yang Shigang (USA). The junior girls camp found excellent conditions and coaching at the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center where Lily Yip and her team of coaches welcomed the Canadian team, led by Canadian coach David Jacques. Cadet Challenge Program The bulk of activity, as in 2014, focused on the Cadet program leading to the World Cadet Challenge team. A system based on competitions, rankings and training camps engaged a large number of cadets in the qualification process. Unfortunately, only two – USA and Canada - of the now four associations making up ITTF North America participated in this qualification process. The teams arrived well prepared in Sharm El-Sheik and claimed a 3rd (boys) and a 4th place (girls) in the team competition. TMS ITTF North America Cup and Championships The 2015 edition of the TMS ITTF North America Cup was held in Markham, Canada, a city that is quickly becoming the capital of table tennis in Canada. The event served as a test event for the PANAM and the PARA PANAM Games that happened later in the summer. The ITTF North America Championships were staged at the Westchester TTC just north of New York City. Both events were well run and benefitted from the sponsorship packages arranged by TMS: Double Fish and Tinsue provided excellent equipment that contributed to the success of the events.
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PANAM and PARA PANAM Games The City of Toronto hosted the 2015 PANAM and PARA PANAM Games. The table tennis venue was a purpose-built facility in Markham, Ontario some 20 kilometers north of Toronto’s downtown core. Both the facility and the equipment - provided by San-Ei (tables and nets) and Double Fish (balls) – turned out to be of excellent standard. The only negative point was the lack of TV coverage, which the Toronto OC had made all but impossible when they awarded the host broadcasting rights to one large media company that showed no interest in our sport. Despite a number of attempts, an exciting and often sold-out table tennis competition did not get broadcast – neither on TV nor on the Internet. Looking Forward Due to the cooperation with TMS, the Cup and the Championships are improving in terms of presentation. It is, however, difficult to get the mainstream media excited about a continental Championship/Cup in which only two countries compete, a challenge for ITTF North America to overcome. On the heels of very successful PANAM and PARA PANAM Games, LATTU and ITTF North America have been engaged in discussions to establish a PANAM competition calendar to raise the profile of play and present a better product to athletes, spectators, media and sponsors. Tony Kiesenhofer Continental President: North America
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OCEANIA (James Morris) Report to the AGM
Document B6
Events K-Sports 2015 ITTF-Oceania Cup & PTT Championships The ITTF-Oceania Cup & PTT Championships was the first-ever international event to integrate an able-bodied even with a Para Table Tennis Championships. The event was held in Bendigo, Australia and saw strong attendance with qualification positions for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games available, as well as qualification for the ITTF World Cup. A total of over $25,000AU in prize money was made available through ITTF-Oceania. 2015 ITTF-Oceania Junior Championships The Junior Championships were held in Tarawa, Kiribati. This was the second-ever international sporting event held in the country of Kiribati, making it the first time for an international table tennis event. The event was well attended, and saw the qualification for the World Junior Championships decided, as well as the selection of Team Oceania for the World Cadet Challenge. World Cadet Challenge The Oceania Cadet Team once again competed in the World Cadet Challenge, with the team made up of athletes from five different national associations. In the team events, Oceania finished in 8th place in both the Boy’s and Girl’s events. The individual events saw a variety of results with the most exciting aspect a Bronze Medal in the newly added Mixed Doubles event. This was the first-ever medal won by an Oceania athlete at the World Cadet Challenge. Pacific Games The Pacific Games is a major event on the calendar within Oceania. The event took place in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and for the first time included Para Table Tennis events. Tahiti dominated the Games, claiming 7 Gold Medals as well as several Silver and Bronze Medals. New Caledonia and Fiji shared the Gold Medals in the Para Table Tennis events, each claiming two Gold Medals. Development Program The ITTF-Oceania Development Program continues to be the primary activity of ITTF-Oceania with several development initiatives taking place throughout the continent. There were three Olympic Solidarity funded courses, including one ‘Development of the National Sports Structure’ courses, and two ‘Technical Courses’. There were also a further seven courses funded by the ITTF-Oceania Development Program, as well as two Umpires and Referees courses linked to major events taking place in the region. The major activity which took place at the beginning of the year was the ITTF-Oceania Regional Course Conductor Training course, which brought together participants from 12 National Associations, and saw several participants now educated to conduct ITTF-PTT Level 1 Coaching Courses. Since the course was completed, ITTF-PTT L1 Coach Education has taken place locally in New Caledonia and Tahiti, with a course planned in Tuvalu in December. The program made full use of the Education & Training funding provided through hosting an ITTFOceania Hopes Challenge, as well as two National Hopes Weeks. There were two participants
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from Oceania at the World Hopes Week, and one athlete also participated in the Hopes Team at the World Cadet Challenge. Finally, the Oceania Cadet Team finalized their preparations for the 2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Kuala Lumpur, with the assistance of the Table Tennis Association of Malaysia, training with their National squads. Smash Down Barriers Pacific Sports Partnership Program The program has had funding secured through to 2017, and with possibilities of further expansion, to include more countries. The focus countries currently are Fiji, Kiribati, and Vanuatu. These associations have seen a great increase in the awareness of Para Table Tennis, which was evident at both the Oceania Regional Para Table Tennis Championships, and also the Pacific Games. Following her introduction to Para Table Tennis through this program, Mere Roden of Fiji is looking to compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, having claimed Silver at the Oceania PTT Championships, and Gold at the Pacific Games. Should the bipartite position be allocated, this is a major step for Para Table Tennis within Oceania, and an amazing achievement for this program. What’s Happening Next With an Olympic year coming up in 2016, a large focus moves towards the qualification of athletes from the Oceania region for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The sole qualification event will take place in March, and will be attached to the ITTF-Oceania Championships. For the first time, in consecutive years the Oceania Junior Championships will take place, this is a new initiative that will hopefully provide more competition opportunities for the young athletes in the region. The 2016 ITTF-Oceania Development Program is working towards providing national associations with greater opportunities to take advantage of educational and up-skilling activities of the executive members of the national association. This will take place through the assistance of the Oceania Sports Education Program. The Development Program is also looking to fund extended visits to targeted national associations to ensure a sustainable approach to development activities. In summary, the past year has been busy and with our Development Officer dropping to halftime (taking on the African Development role for the other half). I must thank Michael Brown for his committed hard work and initiative and his meeting the outcomes of our development program. Also I must mention the formation of a Para Subcommittee to the ITTF-Oceania Management Committee, which is dedicated to creating opportunities for athletes with disabilities. Finally I thank all sponsors and volunteers in the pacific region for their efforts for table tennis and, of course, a huge thanks to TMS, to the ITTF elected and paid staff for the guidance and energy you give us. James Morris Continental President: Oceania
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (Judit Farago) Report to the AGM
Document C1
Current Staff Status Since the re-structuring of the ITTF professional staff at the end of 2014, there have been very few changes in personnel. At the time of writing this report, one staff member, the Equipment Coordinator, has resigned from his position as of the 23rd of January 2016. These new positions have been created: • January 2016: Anti-Doping Manager • February 2016: Digital Coordinator (See the Program summary and the Deputy CEO’s report for more details.) At the moment the ITTF has 25 employees and service providers, 23 of them work full-time. Continental Development Officers and Course Conductors help the Development & Education Programs, while several Assigned Competition Managers support ITTF tournaments. A few service providers/consultants are hired on an event-by-event basis, or on a per-project basis (the latest additions: 2016 WTTC Coordinator until the end of March 2016, and Anti-Doping Consultant until the end of 2015). Continuity in the ITTF activity is secured by the well-established system of having 5 Directors in charge of different Programs. The ITTF staff graphic flow-chart is regularly updated on the Directory section of ITTF.com: http://www.ittf.com/main/Menus/flowchart_MATRIX.pdf Competition Program After Raul Calin moved to Operations, Mohamed Dawlatly took over the coordination of the Junior Competitions, while Assigned Competition Managers and two other ITTF staff with other duties helped by officiating at more events than before to fill the vacancy of “losing” one full-time staff. The number of competitions and players’ participation in 2015 both exceeded the figures of the previous year, however, it is expected that in the Olympic year top players will fully concentrate on Rio 2016. Here is a – far from complete – list of the key areas in the focus of the Competition Program’s objectives at present and in the near future for Karl Jindrak & Co.: enhancing the sport presentation at top ITTF tournaments; improving the bidding process for the ITTF events; introducing a new concept for the World Tour beginning in 2017; developing a common platform for the online entry system; supporting ITTF-Continental events and linking them more closely to the world title competitions. Operations Program After a short transition period, a re-allocation of duties and responsibilities took place at the ITTF Headquarters. Due to the professional staff change in structure, special support and attention was given to Operations in 2015. Daily administration and financial operation work continued without interruption under the leadership of Raul Calin, while a general overview was
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needed in order to be compliant with the new WADA code in terms of anti-doping risk assessment and testing program and to continue integration of Para Table Tennis. Administration tasks have increased by concentrating financial operations at the ITTF Head Office after the office was closed in Ottawa and as Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are approaching. A major renovation of the exterior of our Head Office took place from May until the end of the year; the work was concluded by AFCO, the tenant company in the ITTF building and was completed on time and on budget. Construction work was successfully coordinated by Habiba Besic. Marketing and Promotion/Media Program The ITTF Asia-Pacific & Marketing Office moved to a new “home” with more space. Their growing activities coordinated by Steve Dainton include 3 core programs. Marketing with TMS resulted in the highest commercial income in 2015 but it is facing a big challenge for 2016 and on to find new sponsor partners. Matt Pound introduced a new and fresh approach in promotion increased our fan base in social media as well as the number of followers on YouTube. Professional work improved the media service at major events and various video content is distributed worldwide. Special projects and innovations include the organisation of the Star Award Gala, research on new format of table tennis, new website design and promotion in Brazil before the Olympic Games. Collaboration with the Singapore laboratory in equipment is limited to research, and the equipment function will be re-allocated to the Operations Program at the Head Office during 2016. (Information on the Development and Education & Training Programs is in the Deputy CEO’s report.) Meetings and Business Travels (other than at events and official meetings) • Regular visits to the ITTF offices and staff • Representation of the ITTF at 2015 SportAccord, the 205th IOC Session and at the 2015 IF Forum • Meetings with IOC, ASOIF, Rio 2016, Multisport Games organizations • Inspection visits at future major events, meetings with future organizers (Rio, Kuala Lumpur, Düsseldorf) Acknowledgement I wish to thank the Executive Committee for their trust in, and support of, the professional staff. I also thank all of the ITTF officials who contribute their expertise and advice in their free time.
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Special thanks to my Deputy, Glenn Tepper, and to all Directors for the close cooperation and good team spirit. On behalf of the ITTF staff team, I can promise that we are doing our best to keep our strong position at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games; are following the IOC’s Agenda 2020 recommendations; are striving to be compliant with good governance and are promoting and creating educational practices to fulfil it; and are supporting completion of the DBI – P5 project to achieve the goal to be in top 5 sport. Judit Farago
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DEPUTY CEO (Glenn Tepper) (Responsible for DEVELOPMENT and EDUCATION Programs)
Report to the AGM
Document C2
Development and Education & Training Programs Summary Development and Education & Training Programs continued to work closely in 2015 across our many and varied programs including: Continental Development Programs; ITTF Coach Accreditation Scheme; Olympic Solidarity Courses; Para Table Tennis Courses; Women’s Courses; URC Courses; Dream Building Projects using table tennis as a vehicle for social change; Equipment Assistance; Table Tennis for All and World Table Tennis Day Project; Hopes Program including National-Continental-World Hopes Week, Hopes Ambassador and Hopes Team Programs; International Training Centres; “With the Future in Mind” Scholarships; Coach Mentorship Project; “Spins and Skills” Coaching Videos; and Online Education through www.ITTFEducation.com, with close to US$1.4 million in direct funding from the ITTF. More detailed information on these projects can be seen in the Development and Education & Training Director reports. All 2013-2016 ITTF Continental Development and Affiliation Agreements were fully activated in 2015, with discussions for 2017-2020 beginning at the Development and Continental Council Meeting on December 5, 2015, with the aim to sign all agreements at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The ITTF continued to work closely with the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Solidarity through Technical Courses, Developing a National Sports Structure Courses, Scholarships for Coaches, “With the Future in Mind” Scholarships, and Scholarships for Athletes-Rio 2016, and this close relationship resulted in close to US$1 million in support for these programs. Olympic Solidarity funding is from outside table tennis, but securing the funds requires considerable lobbying and applications through National and Continental Olympic Committees as well as Olympic Solidarity in conjunction with the National Associations. Co-operation with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) continued in 2015 with the ITTF being the only sport to attend and lead training at all UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camps worldwide since inception. Double Happiness, Butterfly, Nittaku, Xiom, Stag, Tibhar, the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB), and the Foundation for Global Sports Development again all supported Development and/or Education projects with equipment and/or funding. 2.
New Initiatives
Many projects were initiated or updated in 2015 including: • “ITTF DNA - Developing National Associations” - This is both the philosophical background to and motto relating to all Development and Education projects moving forward. Shirts promoting this new direction will be distributed at the AGM as well as worn by course conductors during courses, training camps and projects. • World Table Tennis Day - April 6, 2015 and Table Tennis for All projects was launched and will be held April 6 every year to coincide with the United Nations and International
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Olympic Committee International Day on Sport for Development and Peace. Everyone, everywhere, from National Associations to Clubs and individuals are asked to plan an activity on April 6 and find further information and register online at www.TT4All.com. • Hopes new pyramid and qualifying structure has been fully implemented from National to Continental to World Hopes Week to Hopes Team with a strong emphasis on coach education to leave the maximum legacy. • International Training Centre structure has been updated with 4 levels-Academy, High Performance, Elite and Hot Spot, with applications completed in late 2015 ready for full implementation in 2016. • ITTFEducation.com, the ITTF online education platform, has been significantly expanded to be more user-friendly, to include more content, and to add progressively coaching videos, Spins and Skills. • Para Table Tennis Projects supported by the Australian Government “Pacific Sports Partnerships” in Oceania (Fiji-Kiribati-Vanuatu) with a three year budget of over US$500,000; and UNOSDP and UN International Working Group on Persons with Disabilities and Sports in Nepal with a 3 year budget of over US$100,000 have been initiated. • Mentorship Program for Coaches has been initiated. • Staff Structure was modified to become more streamlined. 3.
ITTF Membership
Since its inception, one of the ITTF Development Program goals was to have table tennis played in every country of the world, and we are getting very close to this goal. The ITTF currently has 222 member countries. With the addition of Sao Tome-Principe and South Sudan at the 2015 AGM, the ITTF became outright first among International Sports Federations in terms of membership. (When the Development Program began in 1999, we had 180 members). For countries with National Olympic Committees, the ITTF has full membership in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, while we are strongly targeting the 3 African (Eritrea, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau) and 1 Latin American (Bahamas) countries remaining. We have an equipment package sponsorship deal as an incentive for new members and we are also working closely with Olympic Solidarity to use Technical Courses as a means to assist them with forming their National Associations. 4.
International Conferences
The ITTF Development and Education & Training Programs were represented at the following International Conferences: • • • •
ASDEG (ASOIF Development & Education) Forum – Switzerland - Glenn Tepper International Sports Federation Seminar – Switzerland – Leandro Olvech Peace and Sport Conference-Monaco-Leandro Olvech ICCE, NSSU, ASDEG Coach Developer Course-Japan-Ramon Ortega Montes
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5.
Thanks! • • • • •
•
•
•
•
• •
To Butterfly and Stag for their kind and unwavering support of the ITTF Development and Education Programs since inception in 1999. To Double Happiness, Nittaku, Xiom and Tibhar for funding projects in 2015. To the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) for their on-going support since 2006. To the Foundation for Global Sports Development for their on-going support of the ITTF Development Program since 2009. To Olympic Solidarity and in particular Pere Miro, and the Coaches Department - Yassine Yousfi, Carina Dragomir, and Cynthia Amami and the Athletes Department - Olivier Niamkey, Silvia Lucciarini and Edward Kensington for their close co-operation and support. To the hard-working Development and Education Staff: Directors-Leandro Olvech, Polona Cehovin; as well as Michael Brown and Dejan Papic; and for Women in Sport Vicky Eleftheriade; Continental Development Officers: Michael Brown (Africa and Oceania), Afshin Badiee (Asia), Neven Cegnar (Europe), Ramon Ortega Montes (Latin America), and Mireille Tallon (North America); To ITTF President Thomas Weikert, for his strong commitment to development and education, commencing already in 2006 through DTTB providing financial and technical support that has continued annually since 2006. To all ITTF Executive Vice-Presidents and in particular those responsible for Development, Mr. Melecio Rivera; Education & Training, Shi Zhihao; Global Junior Program, Patrick Gillmann and Women: Petra Sörling, for their support, guidance and efforts to develop table tennis worldwide. To all Continental Presidents for their on-going support and close co-operation. To all course conductors and ITTF staff connected with the Development and Education Program.
Glenn Tepper
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COMPETITIONS (Karl Jindrak) Report to the AGM
Document C3
This report covers the period of the last 12 months, so it is almost in line with the yearly calendar basis operation of the Competition Program. This way I can summarise what happened in 2015 and give a short preview for 2016 and 2017. Competition Program The objectives of the Program are the same since the start: 1) to provide opportunities to the ITTF members to take part in international competitions both at the elite level and in terms of mass and global participation, and 2) to improve further the level of organization partly by practical assistance on site and partly by leaving a legacy of event management skills. As a “service provider,” the Competition Program is responsible for: • Offering and coordinating the ITTF competitions through the ITTF Calendar; • Supervising all the ITTF events; • Ensuring the implementation of the contractual agreement between ITTF and the organisers as well as between TMS and its commercial partners; and • Assisting organisers in running the events according to the directives. The 2015 ITTF Calendar included 138 tournaments in total, among them 74 sanctioned and authorized by the ITTF, 11 registered, 21 approved, 9 recognized and 23 Para events by the ITTF. Compared to 2014, we had 31 more events. The Competition Program is responsible for implementing the ITTF Event Classification Policy established by the Executive Committee for event inclusion and approval in the ITTF Calendar and in the ITTF World Ranking system. While we continue to reach high and record figures in visual and web coverage worldwide, we do hope to improve it even more in 2016 to reach and keep our position to be among the TOP 5 International Sports Federations worldwide. ITTF Sanctioned Events (all sanctioned events are listed below) QOROS 2015 World Championships 2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships LIEBHERR Men´s World Cup Women´s World Cup GAC GROUP 2015 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals GAC GROUP ITTF World Tour events (22 events) 6 Super Series; 5 Major Series; 11 Challenge Series World Junior Circuit Finals World Junior Circuit 4 Gold Events; 8 Premium Events; 20 Regular Events ITTF World Cadet Challenge ITTF Europe Cup Asian Cup ITTF Latin American Championships
ITTF African Junior, Cadet Championships K-Sports ITTF Oceania Cup ITTF-Oceania Junior Championships ITTF North American Cup ITTF Latin American Cup Latin American Junior and Cadet Championships European Youth Championships ITTF Africa TOP 16 Cup Asian Junior and Cadet Championships ITTF North American Championships USA LIEBHERR ITTF-European Table Tennis Championships Suzuki ITTF-Asian Championships EuropeYouthTop-10
The QOROS 2015 World Championships in Suzhou was another very well organized World Championships by the Chinese Table Tennis Association, together with the city of Suzhou. The venue was in general an excellent location, but not ideal for Table Tennis in terms of
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venue layout. The local organising team did a very good job and their cooperation with the ITTF was smooth. The Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) is to be congratulated for their great efforts in successfully securing visas for all delegations. We had 3 World Title tournaments last year. All three of the ITTF World Title events were organized at a very high quality level and we took the next step in terms of presentation at those events, especially at the LIEBHERR Men’s World Cup in Halmstad and the Women’s World Cup in Sendai. In 2015 the World Tour was successful, with 22 World Tour tournaments in total, plus the World Tour Grand Finals at the end of the year in Lisbon. We had again, after 2014, participation of 5 continents in World Tour events: 11 events in Europe, 7 events in Asia, 2 events in Latin America, 1 event in Oceania and 1 event in Africa; only North America was missing in 2015. Another goal for the World Tour in the future is to have all 6 continents host a World Tour. For 2016 we are not planning big changes, mainly because our tour title sponsor, GAC Group, didn’t renew their sponsorship. After 2014, we found new organizers that stayed “on board” for the GAC GROUP ITTF World Tour 2015, such as the Philippines, Nigeria, Argentina and Australia. Completely new organizers in 2015 included Bulgaria and PRK Korea. Both new organizers did an excellent job and immediately rose to being one of the best Challenge Tier organizers in 2015. From the statistical point-of-view: 85 different Associations in total took part in our World Tour 2015. 1,384 unique players participated in 2015, with a breakdown of 826 unique men and 558 unique women. The most active associations were Japan with 82 players (42 men and 40 women), followed by Korea Republic with 81 players (35 men and 46 women) and Nigeria with 58 players (32 men and 26 women). The ITTF World Junior Circuit had 28 events last year, including in all six continents. There were 12 events in Europe, 8 events in Asia, 5 events in Latin America, 1 event in North America, 1 event in Africa, and 1 event in Oceania, with a total of 13 Premium and 15 Regular events. Last year exactly 2,450 different players entered a junior circuit tournament (1,396 Boys and 1,054 Girls), representing 100 national associations; there were 4 more associations participating than in 2014. Compared to 2014, the total number of participating players increased in 2015 a lot as well, by exactly 493 players! The GJC Finals were held as a stand-alone tournament for the third time in January 2016 in India (Indore) after its separation from the World Cadet Challenge in 2011. The last World Cadet Challenge at the end of October was held successfully in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), with a very short notice for the organizers.
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Small associations repeatedly give evidence that they can organise major and title junior events with high playing and hospitality conditions all over the world and many small Associations did an excellent job. According to the contractual agreement between the ITTF, TMS and the Continental Federations concerned, the ITTF's Competition Program and the Marketing Division assisted, for the first time, all five Continents in eleven continental events, such as 6 ITTFContinental Championships and 5 ITTF-Continental Cups. (The Asian Cup was held before the agreement was signed.) It has become a tradition to present awards to the best organisers of different ITTF tournaments based on the Tournament Evaluation Reports; this has been well received by the Associations. Plans for the Future The Competition Department, together with the Marketing Department, developed a completely new concept for the 2017 World Tour after the termination of the GAC Group World Tour Title Sponsor contract. Coordination of the Competition Management Team The above-mentioned comprehensive competition program is mainly implemented by four full-time staff: Mohamed Dawlatly, Zoltan Bencsik, Vicky Eleftheriade and me; I am acting as the Competition Manager at a certain number of events during the year as well. Didier Leroy is the Competition Manager at about 10 tournaments per year. I thank all of them for their tireless and dedicated work as well as for their professional approach. In recent years a group of Assigned Competition Managers (ACMs) were selected and trained; they regularly help the ITTF on a contractual basis. This program has run since 2009, the last seminar to recruit new ACM´s was held in September 2014. At present we have 8 ACMs to help the ITTF in the competition area when requested in their respective continents. After the last ACM Seminar in Vienna at the ITTF Office, we trained 8-10 of them during 2015 and we have recruited another 6-8 new ACM´s to help the Competition Department from 2016 onwards. Due to the heavy schedule and geographical distances it is difficult to hold joint meetings, however, we always find at least 2 times a year “out-of-competition” to meet besides the seminars. Administration and Communication National Associations are in the main streamline of communication either as participating associations or as host associations organizing ITTF events. The administrative work of the Competition Program covers: Preparing, announcing, distributing and posting prospectuses, invitations, entry forms; Reporting on inspections and on competitions; Finalising and updating the ITTF calendar;
2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
Preparing, announcing, distributing and posting directives and policies; Preparing contracts for organisers of ITTF sanctioned events; and Announcing and collecting bids for different events.
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Tournament Management System The ITTF’s former IT Manager, Mohamed El-Shentenawy, has almost completed his work on the development of the ITTF Result Management System (RMS) for both team and individual competitions. The Team RMS was successfully implemented during our last Team WTTC in Tokyo 2014. The Individual RMS was successfully implemented during our last WTTC in Suzhou 2015. As all the Continental events have become ITTF events, we need to focus on an update for the Individual & Team RMS as well so that our RMS can cover all our ITTF Sanctioned events. We are still in the progress of finalizing this part of the RMS. We are also working to make the RMS easier to use and more user-friendly to enable all our CM’s or ACM’s to use them in an easier way. For that reason we are holding yearly meetings in Vienna at the Europe office to development our RMS in the future. In its present format the system makes the work of Competition Managers and local organisers already much easier and independent from IT assistance. At the same time it is used as a local Tournament Management System at several world title and World Tour events (for example, the 2015 WTTC in Suzhou, at the WTGF 2014 and 2015, and the Qatar Open 2015). The 2016 WTTC in Kuala Lumpur will also be managed by one fully integrated system locally and on the ITTF website, with one result input on a local intranet system. For the first time, at the WTTC in Kuala Lumpur, the main Umpires will enter the results on ALL tables using Touch pads. We will have one input for the score and will have the possibility to display the score everywhere immediately. (Website, TV graphics, local display, mobile results apps..). With that huge step to let the main umpires operating the touch pads we will safe at the end a lot of additional human resources because until now Volunteers outside the courts did operate the touch pads. The online entry system for Junior Circuit events was introduced already in January 2013. The 3.0 version was updated and introduced in January 2015. The temporary solution of an online entry system for Junior events was programmed and done by one of our Assigned Competition Managers, Mr. Dimosthenis Messinis, and it ran successfully again in 2015. From 2016 onwards the plan is to run one centralized online entry system for all of our ITTF events. We will customize our WTTC online entry system to use at all our ITTF events. With that step it will be much easier for all national associations to work with only one online entry system. Acknowledgement Finally I wish to thank the Executive Committee for trusting and supporting our work, and all ITTF officials and professional staff colleagues for helping and cooperating in the most efficient way. I am grateful to the National Associations to be partners to reach our common goal: to show the best image of our sport both at the participation and organizational levels. Karl Jindrak Director of Competitions
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DEVELOPMENT (Leandro Olvech) Report to the AGM
Document C4
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 2015 OVERVIEW 2015: Development Agreements in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania are being fully implemented. After the Development and Continental Council meeting in December 2015, the ITTF and the Continental Federations will start to discuss the next Development Agreements, intended to be signed in the middle of 2016, covering the period of 2017-2020. FACTS 2015 140 Activities were executed in 2015, including Coach Education, Training Camps, URC courses, Para TT, Women’s, Marketing and Tournament Organization courses. • 33 major equipment packages were distributed. • 6 Courses were funded by the PTT Division: Seychelles, Denmark, Jamaica, Canada, Solomon Islands and India (TBC) Olympic Solidarity - Coaches Department • 15 Technical and “Developing a National Sports Structure” Courses • 3 “Scholarships for Coaches” TABLE TENNIS FOR ALL April 6, 2015 was the first edition of the World Table Tennis Day. The results were significantly higher than our initial expectations. There were 158 events held in 70 countries all over the planet; the local organizers couldn´t have spread the message in a better way. Table Tennis is Universal, Popular and Inclusive. The main event was held in the city of the sport’s future, Buenos Aires, the host of the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in 2018. Former World Champion Peter Karlsson was present as the ITTF role model. The 2016 edition (always APRIL 6) must be bigger, cover more countries and regions, include more people and engage more new players. Please visit the dedicated website www.TT4ALL.com and register your event. Besides the English version, there are also French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese and German translations. If you love table tennis, share your passion! ITTF COACH ACCREDITATION SYSTEM One of our aims is for National Associations to become self-sufficient at ITTF-PTT L1 initially and later at higher levels. With this in mind, 4 ITTF Coach Accreditation Course Conductor Training Courses have been held in 2015 in South Africa, Fiji, Iran and France. This led to 44 self-funded ITTF Coach Accreditation Courses in 2015, which shows the process is working well. The ITTF Coach Accreditation System is also looking to add to the PTT education component by the inclusion of PTT courses for the Levels 2, 3 and High Performance (Level 4) over the coming years. Level
2015 Courses
Coaches Accredited since Inception
1 2 3
60 21 2
4,424 565 23
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DREAM BUILDING •
United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP): The ITTF has been present at their 6 Youth Leadership Camps in 2015, in which leaders from developing countries attend for 2 weeks to learn about the use of sport for social change. Those camps were held in Japan (March), Germany (April), USA(June), Colombia (May), Korea (February) and Sweden (September).
•
UNOSDP – International Working Group: The ITTF signed a Memorandum of Understanding to run a pilot project in Nepal with the aim to promote the practice of PTT. It will be launched in 2016 and the financial support from the UN for this 3 years project is US$104,000. It includes also the rebuilding of a TT venue inside the National Rehabilitation Center that was damaged during the last earthquake. Continental Federations provided also US$10,000 for the rebuilding.
•
Ping sans Frontiers: A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in order to launch joint projects in different countries and produce a manual to build tables with local resources.
•
DTTB Support: The German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) provided equipment assistance to the ITTF Development Program as it has been doing since 2006, and for 2015 it has been allocated to Jamaica.
•
“China in Latin America”: In August, former World Champions, National Junior Coaches and sparring partners from China provided a training camp and coach education in Puerto Rico for Latin-American young players, funded by ITTF Dream Building, Double Happiness and the CTTA. WOMEN IN SPORT PROGRAM Women’s Courses have been held in all continents in 2015 (Iran, Guatemala, Austria, USA, Djibouti, Tonga). PROMOTION Two new films were produced: They are both related to the promotion of the World Table Tennis Day. Links: Announcement for registrations: https://youtu.be/rctUEs71hDg Main event in Buenos Aires: https://youtu.be/gL6Vw9Kzoz8 AWARDS
• • •
•
SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Federation Awards: The ITTF won the category Global Popularity and Expansion. Peace and Sport shortlisted the ITTF in the Category Best Sport Federation because of our project World Table Tennis Day. Results are unknown at the time of writing this report. Foundation for Global Sport Development created a new award for athletes as role models, which provides US$ 10,000. The ITTF nominated Sarah Hanffou, founder of Ping Sans Frontiers. Results are unknown at the time of writing this report. Beyond Sport Awards, the ITTF was shortlisted again for the category Best International Federation or Governing Body for the Dream Building Program. It is the 3rd time we were shortlisted. Premiership Rugby (England) won on this occasion. 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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•
Al Maktoum Awards: The ITTF was nominated again in 2015; results to be announced.
Thanks to all contributors that made 2015 a successful year, especially our course conductors in the field, the experts and the Continental Development Officers! Thanks to the Executive Committee and Continental Presidents for their support, and to the National Associations for their cooperation on the implementation of all activities. Last, but not least, thanks to our Deputy CEO Glenn Tepper for his leadership and advice and to our President Thomas Weikert for his support! Leandro Olvech Director of Development
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING (Polona Cehovin) Report to the AGM
Document C5
This has been a productive and interesting year for the ITTF Education & Training Program, during which we have continued to further strengthen our current projects, while at the same time we have been aiming at introducing a higher level of expertise in the different areas of our involvement that have also been expanded. Moreover, the updating of some existing projects will hopefully result in more sustainability and professionalism, offering top-end conditions for education and training of players and coaches around the World. 1. HOPES PROGRAM The Hopes Program is one of our most popular initiatives. It aims at becoming a worldwide talent identification movement. The program has undergone major restructuring, with the introduction of a pyramidal model that has gained momentum practically immediately. Many National Associations have recognized the value of the program and, following their national activities, became more active in different regional and continental activities that are today organized practically in all the corners of the globe. The annual World Hopes Week & Challenge continues to be the showcase event of the Program and the edition in 2015 held in China definitely justified the reputation: 16 girls and 16 boys together with their national coaches, spent an intensive week of training and education under the watchful eyes of prominent Chinese coaches and experts. The Hopes Team that was selected to attend the 2015 ITTF World Cadet Challenge was later offered comprehensive training and educational opportunities and their performance at the event proved that the new model based mainly on inclusiveness and education of coaches is the right pathway for the development of the young, talented players. It provided an insightful experience for their coaches, too. In 2015 Kanak Jha of the USA, a former Hopes player, was nominated as the Dream Building Hopes Ambassador. The allocated scholarship was used for training opportunities in China and Germany and also contributed to his participation at different international events, where he promoted the ITTF Dream Building and Hopes programs. 2. WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND The modified management concept that was introduced on pilot basis in 2014 has been further reinforced with the ultimate objective of having the National Association and especially the coaches of the targeted players actively on board in relation to the planning and implementation of the individual programs of the 14 players that were nominated for the “Road to Rio.” We are also proud to report that for the very first time ever players from all the 6 continents have been represented in the selection, which beside the technical aspect of the project, also works toward the global promotion of the ITTF DNA (Developing National Associations) philosophy. Beside support to the WFIM athletes, Olympic Solidarity, the funding partner of the program, granted 28 more scholarships to table tennis players through the direct applications filed by their respective National Olympic Committees; the total amount of the invested funds has reached US$ 419,380. That marks a new height of support for our sport within the Olympic movement. 3. INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTER NETWORK The Network continued to play a significant role in the implementation of the Athletes Development Model that stretches from talent identification initiatives, prospects’ development 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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to Olympic Games preparation and finally coach education. However, with the reflection of the evolution and growth of the other projects in mind, the wish to progress the Network materialized in a revision of the network, which has been launched with the release of the renewed Directives and Operational Guidelines in September 2015. The document outlines the new ITTF International Training Center Network policy and structure, including the affiliation requirements and conditions for maintenance of the status for the different levels of recognition. Following the application process, a new Network of International Training Centers with 4 different levels of affiliation – Academy, High Performance, Elite and Hot Spot, has been put in place. It is envisioned that the Network will satisfy to an even broader extent the provision of quality coaching, evolving competitive training groups and international excellence in our sport. 4. ONLINE EDUCATION This renovated and more user-friendly platform aims to attract stakeholders of different profiles – coaches, players, umpires, PTT classifiers, etc. It is primarily used as a supportive educational tool in combination with the projects of the Education & Training and Development Programs, but not limited to them. Content related to coaching, in particular talent identification, planning and highly applicable scientific theory, has been released regularly and has gained a lot of popularity among the targeted groups of students. The development of an educational culture and the promotion of the modern delivery channels reached a new dimension in 2015. With the introduction of the unique mentorship option that, besides the online components, also features a live interaction between the mentors and the mentees. And with the production of coaching videos, first of their kind launched by the ITTF, that will complement selected sections of the ITTF Coach Accreditation system, coach education overall and finally also promote self-education. The collaborative approach is a fundamental aspect of our work. It has been a big pleasure to operate under the guidance of Glenn Tepper, the Deputy CEO, and in close cooperation with the Development Program, making sure that the joint projects were implemented successfully and effectively, as well as with our colleagues from Competitions and Marketing, since our roads cross very often. At the same time, it was also very delightful to follow how our external partners – continental federations, national associations, coaches, players, training centres, experts and finally sponsors – valued and responded to the various initiatives, and incentives that were introduced in 2015. I would like to sincerely thank each and every one for their contribution, support and efforts in making our plans become reality. We also appreciate their critical feedback as this assists and motivates us further to map a way for the future that will even better satisfy the specific needs and better cater to the realities in the field. Last but not least, a special note of thanks to the Executive Committee, in particular Mr. Shi Zhihao, the Executive Vice-President in charge of our Program, and to Thomas Weikert, our President, who have both always been supportive, positive and encouraging us to bring even more education and training to the Table Tennis family. Respectfully submitted, Polona Cehovin Director of Education & Training
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MARKETING (Steve Dainton) Report to the AGM
Document C6
Becoming a Top 5 sport is the Marketing Division’s key priority and it is driving our direction on a day-to-day basis. In 2015 we have been able to capitalise on the centralisation of Media and Marketing into the Singapore Office, proven by the fact that 2015 will be the healthiest year ever for the ITTF in terms of Marketing income. Keeping that momentum, however, will prove to be a difficult task in 2016 and the future. We start now to see that unless there are significant changes to some of our key event assets (World Championships and World Tour, namely), and unless there is a stronger connection to our Continental events, then further growth will be difficult. Therefore, 2015 has been a year in which we work towards ensuring those products can change for the long-term benefit of the ITTF. TMS International Partnership – Management The Marketing Department works very closely with TMS International on all aspects of the ITTF’s Commercial activities. We mainly assist with new and existing sponsor relations, TV partnerships and help to develop new business. As our office is based in Singapore, we also assist heavily with the events and partners that are also located in the Asia Pacific region. As the ITTF’s marketing revenue has grown over recent years, and there are now numerous commercial partners, this area is the key focus of our daily activity. Continental Events – Commercial Support The ITTF Marketing Department, with the support of TMS International, continues to manage the Marketing agreements with the Continental Federations of Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania. Other Properties – Commercial Growth There are several other properties and ideas that our division has been feverishly trying to support and develop in order to help further commercialize and to help bring further support to the ITTF and its programs in 2015. The main areas being: 1. ITTF Star Awards: The Awards have no doubt grown into one of the biggest events for table tennis of the year. Two great events have been held and, at time of writing this report, we are gearing up for another wonderful event in Lisbon, Portugal, connected to the World Tour Grand Finals. 2. YouTube Development: The ITTF’s YouTube page has gone from strength to strength in 2015 and is becoming a key factor in promoting the sport in parallel with itTV. As it stands in early November, we currently have 106,000 subscribers and 73 million views, which rivals any other IF. The channel provides table tennis fans with bite-sized content that they can quickly and easily browse, such as: match highlights, amazing shots, top 10 shots at events, daily review, PongCast (12-minute magazine show), Off the Table interviews, Ask a Pro Anything interviews and much more. 3. Sports Presentation: In 2015 we delivered to our Organisers the tools needed through our Sports Presentation Guidelines to ensure our events can take some giant leaps to ensure we present ourselves in a much more professional, cool and modern way. In 2015 we saw some events embrace these novel approaches.
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4. Development of Urban Table Tennis: This idea and concept has come a long way in 2015. Our research lab partner in Singapore, ISR, is developing equipment. A promotional plan is in place with the launch event set to be held during the Rio Olympic Games and tentatively the first World Championships will be held in Dusseldorf in 2016 connected to our WTTC. Stay tuned on this one, as I am sure it will bring a lot of opportunities to our sport. Media - Promotion 2015 has been another productive year for the media and promotion of the ITTF and table tennis. ITTF’s media reach has continued to grow with more relationships being created with large media agencies and the ITTF providing more content to the media. The ITTF has increased its social media fan base considerably and now has over 1.2 million social media followers, which is the 3rd most of any IF. An increased emphasis on turning our players into star names has been one of the key focuses in 2015. The more people know our top players, the more people will like and follow table tennis! We will keep on pushing to bring new fans to our sport with new and innovative ideas! General Picture In 2015 the team in Singapore worked hard to see Table Tennis cement itself into the Top 5 sports in the World through stronger promotion and presentation of our events, more assistance to our Continental counterparts and additional support to all of our Members in their Marketing and Media needs. All of this work is being done so that we can try to find more sources of income for our sport from outside the table tennis world. Future/Key Issues There are several key changes needed to ensure that our momentum will move forward and that the ITTF can become more profitable from the commercial and marketing side. These issues make it difficult for commercial goals to be achieved. We continue to work on them and push for change, but I now spell them out clearly so that all Members can see and understand the changes needed for the benefit of our sport. I do not spell out how to change, as there are complex issues, but just so we are all aware, and can think of what is needed for the future. 1. We must find a way to make our top events more competitive and less predictable in terms of all being won by one country – China. Our media rights income is severely minimised by a situation that athletes from only one country win all the major events. If this situation can change, we will see healthy increases in media rights income and, more generally, more interest in our sport around the World. 2. The World Championships and World Tour concepts and formats need serious revamps to cater more to the media and commercial aspects. Both assets have a very strong brand image, however, they struggle to make income for the ITTF. Deep and serious thoughts into further modernising and commercialising these products need to be taken. 3. The connecting of our World events with our Continental events needs to speed up. In the marketplace it is quite confusing if you look at the World events and their relation with the Continental events. If we can speed up the process to connect World and Continental events, both will benefit massively. Steve Dainton Director of Marketing 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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OPERATIONS & OLYMPIC GAMES (Raul Calin) Report to the AGM
Document C7
Staff Structure 2015 has been a transition year at the ITTF headquarters in Switzerland, with the incorporation of two new staff members after the departure of Alison Burchell at the end of 2014. Raul Calin became the Director of Operations and Olympic Games (DOOG) in January 2015, after eleven years of working on competitions. Habiba Besic assumed full responsibility as the Finance and Administration Manager (FM). Emese Barsai joined the ITTF to work as Project Manager, with her main focuses on Para Table Tennis, anti-doping, and administration of the Umpires and Referees Committee. Vicky Eleftheriade moved to half-time Equipment Manager and half-time Competition Manager (based in Cyprus) and Darren Leong continued as Equipment Coordinator. Etsuko Enami continued in a part-time capacity as Project Manager and Chuck Hoey, Honorary Curator and Historian, kept assisting with the migration of the museum to Shanghai and with the publication of the bimonthly “The Table Tennis Collector” magazine. Operations The ITTF headquarters handled the payments for 100+ ITTF-funded development activities and over 70 sanctioned competitions. The ITTF made payments for prize money, travel contributions, services to providers, etc., on behalf of some organizers, for a total of over 1,500 bank transactions. Finances The 2014 audits were conducted in March 2015 and presented to the AGM in April. The 2015 audits will be presented in 2017 due to the earlier dates of the Kuala Lumpur World Championships. A risk management seminar was held at the ITTF headquarters, with ITTF President Thomas Weikert, Vice-President of Finances Petra Sörling, CEO Judit Faragó, Finance Committee member Dhanraj Choudhary, the DOOG and the FM in attendance. The seminar was presented by Juan Leston, Head of Global Compliance and Reporting from Ernst and Young, the ITTF’s auditing company. Equipment In 2015, over 450 invoices were issued for tests, approval of equipment and, in some cases, penalties. Equipment tested included balls, flooring, tables, nets and racket coverings. Anti-Doping 2015 was also a transition year in terms of the anti-doping implementation. WADA published their new code effective January 1, 2015 and all International Federations were asked to adapt their anti-doping programs to the new code. The ITTF redoubled its efforts in this area with an agreement concluded over the last four months of 2015 with Françoise Dagouret, the former Director of the SportAccord Doping-Free Sport Unit. She conducted the mandatory risk assessment exercise in coordination with our Sport Science and Medical Committee Chairman Miran Kondric, Chief Anti-Doping expert Dr. Shiro Matsuo, ITTF CEO Judit Faragó, DOOG Raul Calin and Project Manager Emese Barsai. The risk assessment exercise was approved by the ITTF EC and was presented to WADA in December. Para Table Tennis In close coordination with the Para TT Division Chair Dorte Darfelt and Deputy Chair Nico Verspeelt, the Operations staff provided support to the Para TT Division activities. In this
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transition year, the staff learned about the usual practices in place, and for 2016 we will try to work closely to continue the path of full integration of the Division into the ITTF structure. Interaction with the International Paralympic Committee and AGITOS Foundation management during the Open Days held in Bonn in June and the IPC General Assembly held in Mexico City in November proved to be very effective and good for the ITTF-IPC relationship. Support to Various Committees Besides supporting the Para Table Tennis Division, within the duties assigned to the Operations Program, we continued providing support to the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the Annual General Meeting, the Olympic and Paralympic Commission, as well as these committees: Equipment, Nominations, Rules, Veterans, Sport Science and Medical as well as Umpires and Referees. Support to Other Programs Etsuko Enami continued providing support to the ITTF CEO, Development, Education & Training and Competition Programs for their communications to the ITTF-affiliated members. Also our staff worked in close cooperation with the competitions staff related to appointments of umpires and referees and implementation of doping controls. Multi-Sport Events The 2015 Summer Universiade held in Gwangju, South Korea, as well as the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Para Pan American Games received intense support from the ITTF staff. The Pan American Games were an excellent opportunity to interact with LATTU and ITTF North America with the aim of having a joint calendar of competitions in the near future. Contact with the Mediterranean Table Tennis Union and the Commonwealth Games Federation has already been initiated for their events to be held in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games The work and interaction with Rio 2016 increased dramatically compared to 2014. Two inspections were held during 2015, scheduling and venue floor plans were almost finalized and also the ITTF official hotels were confirmed for both Games. 816 communications were received from Rio 2016 and 350 were sent to them, besides approximately 25 hours of teleconferences, mainly with the two Sport Managers Carlos Leon and Edimilson Pinheiro. Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Work and contact has already started and the first draft of the schedule and equipment needs has been already shared with the organizing committee. Tokyo 2020 The ITTF will pursue Mixed Doubles as our fifth Olympic event in Tokyo. Our President visited the Organizing Committee in September and we will work closely with the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to try to achieve that goal. Our gratitude to ITTF CEO Judit Faragó for her daily contact and support to our duties, and our sincere appreciation for the permanent assistance provided in different areas from the ITTF Technical Commissioner, Graeme Ireland. Respectfully submitted, Raul Calin Director of Operations & Olympic Games 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE (Federico Lineros) Report to the AGM
Document D1
General The year 2015 has been again a year of elections of the members of the different committees. Some members whose contribution have been very important for many years in the Equipment Committee have left us, giving the opportunity to newcomers to join us. My acknowledgement for people like Nobuyuki Shirakawa (JPN) and Peter Bradley (ENG) for their support and undoubted dedication during all these years. As a consequence there have been some changes in the responsibility of approval/authorisation of some equipment. Thus, the distribution of the different items’ responsibility is like this: • • • • •
Tables: Racket Coverings: Balls: Floorings: Nets:
PAUL SCHILTZ (LUX) KAGIN LEE (USA) TORSTEN KÜNETH (GER) ATSUSHI HASEGAWA (JPN) PHILIP McCALLUM (SCO)
As usual a lot of meetings with manufacturers and suppliers were held during the WTTC in Suzhou, and some members had also the opportunity of visiting testing labs and table tennis equipment factories to see “on live” the reality of table tennis equipment production. Apart than the normal meetings of the committee, we repeated this year the experience of meeting with other commissions and committees to exchange ideas, which I consider really worthy for our sport. Vicky Eleftheriade (ITTF Equipment Manager) and I visited at the beginning of the year the ISPO 2015 in Munich, where we had the opportunity to meet some manufacturers and suppliers. It is part of our strategy to cooperate more closely with them to improve the quality of table tennis equipment. We have been working very closely with the ITTF Equipment Staff, especially Darren Leong, with the Bounce Test Project. A report was sent to the Executive Committee with some conclusions, which recommended the EC to give it up. The EC accepted our recommendations to finish with this research, but asked for the Equipment Committee to continue with other possible ways of fighting against cheating and boosters. All technical leaflets were modified in order to introduce the mandate of the EC requiring the country of origin on all equipment. Approved/authorised Equipment At the last count of approved/authorised equipment we had: Equipment Balls Tables Nets Floors Racket Coverings
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Balls The temporary release of tolerances for weight, hardness and bounce, is ending on December 31, 2015, as announced by the ITTF on May 1, 2014. Balls produced after January 2016 will be tested under the original specifications of the Technical Leaflet T3. Random testing of non-celluloid balls bought from retail shops is running as planned; 23 of the currently 40 brands are already tested. This first round of testing will be completed for all brands, according to their availability. In Suzhou, part of the manufacturers' side announced a "2nd generation" of non-celluloid balls with an improved material, to be produced toward the end of 2015, and it was agreed to postpone the obligatory second random test for the failed brands until it can be executed under the original tolerances re-instated in 2016. An update of the non-celluloid balls Q&A presentation has been provided on the ITTF website, responding to all additional relevant questions which have occurred since July 2014. Research has started to include friction and durability as official specifications to be tested in the Technical Leaflet T3. Tables The re-test of safety properties of all currently approved Type II-Tables are now in progress. We are now working in the mandate of the BoD after the proposition of the Brazilian Table Tennis Federation to determine a maximum and minimum coefficient of friction (CoF) in the playing surface. Nets There has been transition period due to the change of the person in charge of this equipment item. Now the activity is again normal thanks to a good transference of the information. A re-test of all approved nets with samples directly bought on markets will take place at the beginning of 2016. Floorings The re-tests of all approved floorings have been completed during the year. Racket Coverings The new LARC (List of Authorised Racket Coverings) has been really welcome by umpires and referees, as they consider it as more user friendly than the former format. The Technical Leaflet T9 was re-written for increased clarity and ease of use. Racket Control A new issue of the Technical Leaflet T9 was approved by the BOD in Suzhou. As usual I wouldn’t like to finish this report without thanking the ITTF Equipment staff for their support and efficiency. Federico Lineros Chairman
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MEDIA COMMITTEE (Arne Madsen) Report to the AGM
Document D2
Since 2013, the purpose of the Media Committee has been to ensure that table tennis is highly profiled in the media and perceived as a modern and dynamic sport. The committee advises in all media matters, including promotional and marketing matters, which have an influence on the coverage of table tennis in all aspects of the media. The integration of media, promotion and marketing matters have had a lot of synergy effect. The presentation has improved a lot in the world events, as well as the service for the traditional media and the promotion in the social media and the interaction with the fans. The Qoros 2015 World Team Table Tennis Championships was the most followed table tennis event in history due to the following service from the ITTF media team and the Organizing Committee: Media Service Results, Daily Quotes, Daily Fact Sheet – head to head, interesting results between each team etc, Photographers diagram, Press releases, Player Bios, Links to editorial pictures. Photographers For the first time, the ITTF followed the Olympic photography philosophy with two different levels of photographers: Pool photographers (black bib) and regular photographers (green bib). Pool photographers were able to access areas next to the tables, and regular photographers were restricted to the ring around the tables and the photography stand in the media tribune. Media guide The media guide was a huge success, with the majority of the media actively using the media guide to assist them with their work. This initiative will be continued for future World Championships. Press releases Each day of the Championships, the ITTF created a press release, which was distributed to roughly 50,000 media contacts. The press releases distributed assisted in the 11,000 articles written about the Championships. Daily newsletter For the second time in WTTC history, there was an electronic newsletter sent out each day of the championships. The ITTF gained about 10,000 subscriptions and this number will be built on in the next 12 months. The content of the daily newsletter was: Daily written review, Daily feature story, Daily video review, Shot of the day, Moment of the day and Photo of the day. Photos Remy Gros was again the ITTF’s official photographer and did a fantastic job. The photos were distributed to: specific media agency requests, requests from National Associations (very low requests, which is not a good sign), ITTF’s Flickr account and ITTF’s Facebook. ITTF Media Internships In 2015, there was a huge interest for the ITTF Media Internship program for 3 young media students to come and work for the ITTF media team, with 130 budding media professionals applying for the media internships. The 3 successful candidates were: Anne-Sophie Jean (FRA), Christoph Prinz (AUT) & Shuang Li (CHN). The ITTF is extremely impressed with the 3 media scholarship winners. 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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Piing of Power – Video Content As has become the norm at ITTF’s major events, the ITTF had 2 videographers on site to provide additional content for YouTube and TV. Piing of Power (PoP) – Joachim Davy and Christian Ortner both did a fantastic job, providing an immense amount of content. Interviews, STIGA Daily Review, which summarized all the days’ action in 5-6 minutes in both English and Chinese. The daily review was put onto YouTube and YouKu and also distributed to all the TV rights holders for their use, Shot of the Day & Qoros Moment of the Day – created each day and uploaded to YouTube and Youku in both English and Chinese. Qoros Driving with the Stars – A new series done in collaboration with the title sponsor Qoros. This involved players answering questions on a tablet, whist being driven around in a Qoros car. This showed another side of the players to the fans. Statistics Daily stat/fact sheet to the media – This was kept to one page and included all the interesting facts, head to heads, recent results for the upcoming day’s play. YouTube This year’s Championships were the most active on YouTube that the ITTF has ever been. Each day the ITTF uploaded: Player interviews - 5 per day, Individual match highlights – 10 per day, STIGA Daily Review, Shot of the Day, Moment of the Day, and Qoros Driving with the Stars. The success of the YouTube content was evident as 7 million people watched content on the ITTF YouTube channel during the Championships, which is 2.8 million more than 2014. Twitter The official hashtag of the event was #ITTFWorlds2015. This was agreed with the OC prior to the event and was promoted together globally. Just on twitter #ITTFWorlds2015 was used over 9000 times, which is a large increase from last year. To engage the audience even further, fans were able to ask the TV commentators questions directly by tweeting to @ITTFWorld and using the #ITTFWorlds2015 hashtag. This proved very successful, as it allowed the fans to learn more about the sport, as well as the commentators being able to fill in down time during matches. Facebook Facebook.com/ITTFWorld was used extensively to promote the event before, during and after the Championships. New in 2015, was the use of videos. More video content was put onto Facebook to ensure a higher level of engagement with fans. This had to be done carefully not to take too many views away from YouTube, which the ITTF makes money from. Facebook stats for the period of #ITFWorlds2015: Total Reach: 3,051,892 Total Daily Impressions of any content associated with our page: 11,602,402, Total Daily Impressions of our posts: 9,792,678. Instagram Instagram was used in the same way as Facebook, which was to showcase interesting and behind-the-scene pictures to show the World Championships from a different perspective. Our
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followership grew significantly over the course of the event, and each post on average had more than 1,500 likes. itTV For the first time in history, all the tables in the main hall (8 tables) were broadcasted live on itTV. This was a fantastic service for the world’s table tennis fans, as over 1 million people from 179 countries tuned in to watch the action live and on demand from Suzhou. ITTF.com ITTF’s website got record numbers from the event, at some stage getting 15,000-20,000 hits on the front-page every second! Media Statistic Summary • Countries that broadcasted the event live on TV: 170 • CCTV viewers: 252 million • World wide TV viewers: 330 million • ITTF.com unique visitors over 8 days: 10 million • itTV unique viewers over 8 days (live and on demand) : 1 million • 440 matches on itTV • Countries that watched itTV: 179 • People who saw content on ITTF’s Facebook: 3,000,000 • YouTube views: 7 million • Countries that watched content on YouTube: 231 • Minutes watched on YouTube: 25 million • Accredited media: 1,000 • Media articles: 11,000 In the other ITTF events like World Cups and the Grand Finals, a similar concept but in a lower scale has been followed. There is still room for improvement and all organisers and associations are welcome to ask for help and advice. The media service accomplished in Suzhou hopefully will be an inspiration for all coming organisers. All in the family are welcome to ask for help and advice and join the network. Star Award Night For the third time, the ITTF honoured the table tennis stars of the year. In Lisbon, Portugal in December, the ITTF Star Award in the following categories were celebrated: • Male and Female star • Male and Female para table tennis star • Star point • Fair play star • Table tennis star coach • Breakthrough star Thanks to all who have contributed to the work. Special thanks to the office in Singapore and to the Promotion and Media Manager Matt Pound and the whole staff for their enormous work, for all the discussions and exchange of ideas. 2015 was a fantastic and an exciting table tennis year, but 2016 will even more exciting. Arne Madsen Chairman
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NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE (Chan Foong Keong) Report to the AGM
Document D3
COMMITTEE MEETINGS Two (2) meetings were held during the 2015 WTTC in Suzhou, China as follows: 1st Meeting:
26 April 2015, 1500 hours
In attendance:
Cherif Hajem, Judit Farago, Raul Calin, Walter Ronmark, Andreas Geogiou, Ivam Passos Vinhas, Sirje Lubi, Sandra Deaton Khaled El-Salhy and Chan Foong Keong
2nd Meeting:
29 April 2015, 2000 hours
In attendance:
Cherif Hajem, Andreas Georgiou, Khaled El-Salhy, Sirje Lubi, David Jackson, Miran Kondric, Wahid Eniton Oshodi, Sandra Deaton Ivam Passos Vinhas and Chan Foong Keong
ITTF COMMITTEE/COMMISISION NOMINATIONS 2015 – 2016 The Committee Members had discussed and recommended the various nominations to the Executive Committee for consideration as members of the various committee and commission. APPRECIATION I wish to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Mr. Cherif Hajem, ITTF staff and all members of the committee for their kind cooperation and assistance extended to me during the year 2015. Chan Foong Keong Chairman
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PARA TABLE TENNIS (Dorte Darfelt) Report to the AGM
Document D4
In 2015 I was elected for my second period as chair for the Para Table Tennis Division and, as always, the year has been very busy for the division. Besides all the day-to-day work with answering emails, our year started with a 2-day PTT division meeting in January in Copenhagen. At that meeting we welcomed Mrs. Emese Barsai, who has been appointed as our new staff assistant from the ITTF. Meetings were held at the World Championships in Suzhou, China where I participated in the AGM and BOD meeting. Nico Verspeelt and I also had some internal meetings with Emese Barsai and Raul Calin. The last PTT meeting was held in Vejle, Denmark in connection with the PTT European Championships in October. This year has been very busy in the competition area. All together there has been 23 competitions included 5 continental competitions all around the world. This mean that there have been regional championships in all regions as well as competitions hosted by federations. Totally we have had about 3,550 players taking part in competition in 2015. In a lot of competitions, we have provided classifiers and of course technical staff. At the same time, we have worked to improve our entry and competition system. We have not been able to close a deal with a software company in writing but we are close and we expect to implement a new online-entry system in 2016. In 2016, the Paralympics will be held in Brazil, so more or less every player will of course try to qualify and to be selected to play in Rio de Janeiro. For some years we have had a well-proven system for qualification and selection. But to be sure that we have the right system, we have created a working group to look into that matter and others as well for the Paralympics in 2020 in Tokyo. I have only been part of PTT for 3 years, but I really admire the people who have been working in our section for many years. All are volunteers and many people are working many hours every day to secure that the completions, the seminars and every other little detail is taken care of. Everyone in the PTT division is working hard and so are all our other volunteers; classifiers, technical delegates, referees and umpires. Thanks to all who has contributed to Para Table Tennis all over the world. Personally I will thank Nico Verspeelt and Georgios Seliniotakis. I am so glad that you guys are retired from your professional jobs so you can work nearly every day and night for PTT. Dorte Darfelt Chairwoman
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RULES COMMITTEE (Rudi Sporrer) Report to the AGM
Document D5
The main tasks of the ITTF Rules Committee in the season 2015-2016 were: Inquires/Interpretations on Rules The Rules Committee had to respond to almost 200 questions and inquires about table tennis laws and regulations. Again, the majority of questions were related to eligibility cases or to interpretation of rules. Propositions to the AGM and Board of Directors Meeting 2016 As a result of internal lively discussions the Rules Committee will present some propositions to the AGM and Board of Directors in 2016. The Committee has again contributed in preparing written explanations and comments on propositions and resolutions Review of the ITTF Handbook The Committee is continuously trying to correct inconsistencies of our rules by preparing related editorial amendments. In late October 2015 I had the opportunity to have a meeting with the ITTF CEO Judit Farago at the ITTF office in Schwechat. Our task was to finalise the text of the new ITTF Handbook 2016, which for the first time will be published as a calendar year edition and not as a sports season edition. ITTF Ranking Default Policy As Chairman of the Rules Committee, I participated in the Ranking Default Policy (RDP) Panel dealing with default cases at all ITTF sanctioned events including Continental Championships based on reports of responsible ITTF competition managers. Meetings As usual, two meetings of the Rules Committee took place during the QOROS 2015 World Table Tennis Championships in Suzhou. The first meeting was focussed on the final discussion on propositions for the AGM and the BoD meeting. The second one was dealing with decisions taken at these meetings and with proposals for a final wording for these new rules. All full Committee members participated in our meetings and we were pleased to welcome some distinguished guests as well. Committee Structure Still our Committee is the smallest within the ITTF as far as the number of full members is concerned (only 6!). I would like to repeat that it could be for the benefit of our work to have two more members, one from the athletes’ and one from the coaches’ area. 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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I would like to express my sincere thanks to all Rules Committee members for their valuable contributions. My particular thanks go to the Deputy Chair, Phil Males, who assisted in managing the Committee, whenever I was not available. I also express my gratitude to the ITTF Executive Vice-President Cherif Hajem, to the members of the President’s Advisory Council participating in our work, to the ITTF CEO Judit Faragó, to the Director of Operations & Olympic Games, Raul Calin, as well as to my colleagues, the Chairpersons of the Athletes Commission, the Umpires and Referees Committee and the Equipment Committee for their support, which is highly appreciated. Rudi Sporrer Chairman
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SPORT SCIENCE AND MEDICAL COMMITTEE (Miran Kondrič) Report to the AGM
Document D6
The ITTF’s Sport Science and Medical Committee (SSMC) is proceeding with the work on different fields of sports science, sports medicine and the anti-doping fight. Our primary responsibility at the present time is the cooperation with WADA and the IOC regarding the antidoping fight as well as injury and illness prevention. Another task is to finish the Proceedings of the congresses organized in Suzhou this past year. We have accomplished some activities since May 2015 and some of them we expect to accomplish prior to the next WTTC in Kuala Lumpur, 2016: 1. After the WTTC in Suzhou, the Editorial Board of the 14th ITTF Sports Science Congress started to work on Proceedings of the congress. By the deadline, we had received 144 papers (combined with other racket sports papers). All the papers are at the present time under the reviewing process. It is our intention to publish the proceedings before the start of the WTTC in Kuala Lumpur. 2. With the Journal of Human Kinetics, we started with negotiations on special issues, which will include the best papers from our congress in Suzhou. The special issue should be published in 2016. 3. We are still enlarging our database on scientific and anti-doping scientific papers, which are published in highly respected scientific journals, and can be found at: http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf4.asp?category=science. For that database, we are following the Web of Science and spreading the information on publication of those papers on the ITTF website. Thanks to Mohamed Dawlatly for promptly publishing all the papers on our website. However, we are still waiting for the new website where we can improve information on scientific research with some database support. 4. Since January 1, 2015 WADA has intensively promoted its new anti-doping code. In October, the new Prohibited List was published and all NA’s have been informed about this list. WADA also publishes a global list of suspended athlete support personnel where 114 have disqualified status under the new Prohibited Association rule. 5. During the WTTC in Suzhou, we signed an agreement with the JTTA on a jointly organized sports science and medical meeting. This meeting had been organized by our member Dr. Shiro Matsuo in September 2015 in Tokyo. More than 40 JTTA scientists spoke about recent trends in sports science and medicine related to table tennis development. Nine members of the ITTF SSMC took part in this three day meeting in Tokyo. We used this opportunity also to have our ITTF SSMC meeting, where some new proposals for the future work was presented (see the minutes of the meeting). 6. We have received for evaluation a book: Table Tennis – how to classify, read, predict spins & return a spinning ball; Referring to the principle of Physics. Author of this book Phung Tuan Khanh from Vietnam published the book on Amazon. Foreword has been written by the chairman of SSMC. 7. The ITTF is strongly involved in WADA and IOC activities. As the Chair of the ITTF’s SSMC, I attended the Informal Anti-Doping Experts Meeting for Summer Olympic IFs in October 2015. WADA has already announced the next WADA Anti-Doping Symposium, which will be held in Lausanne from March 14 – 16, 2016. As the Chair of the ITTF’s SSMC, I will attend this symposium. 8. The ITTF appointed Ms. Francoise Dagouret as consultant to help in several areas such the risk assessment required by WADA to implement the new 2015 code, to advise
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regarding the RTP strategy for the future, the plan for out-of-competition tests, etc. Ms. Francoise Dagouret will work close with our Anti-doping Chief Dr. Matsuo Shiro. 9. Dr. Matsuo Shiro, Mr. Zoran Primorac and I applied for positions in WADA committees for 2016. We were also candidates in 2015 but, unfortunately, none of us were appointed for the positions on the Health, Medical and Research Committee, the Athletes Committee or the Education Committee, respectively. We hope that this time we will be more successful. 10. The ITTF’s SSMC is also cooperating with the IOC, so we attend the IF Medical Commission Chairpersons’ Meeting in Lausanne. During the meeting I gave a lecture entitled: “Health Status and Incidences of Injuries in Para Table Tennis Related to the Substance Misuse.” 11. In October we have started with preparation for the 15th ITTF Sports Science Congress, which will be held in Germany in 2017. The first announcement for the Congress should be sent out in the beginning of 2016. 12. In the Netherlands our member Irene Faber organized in November a meeting of three SSMC members (+ two through Skype) and six invited scientists who discussed a proposal on: profiling international elite youth table tennis players using a multidimensional approach. The project was presented in September during our meeting in Tokyo and Irene has forwarded a final proposal to the ITTF’s EC. 13. A proposal has been presented to the ITTF SSMC for participation in a global university level coach education project. The proposal has been made by SSCM member Prof. Goran Munivrana who, in cooperation with ITTF Development & Education programs, has already launched the first phase of the university level coach education project made for table tennis coaches and players. The main aim of the project has been to provide an opportunity to both players and coaches within the table tennis community to acquire university level education while pursuing their professional careers. The consensus within the SSMC is to help such a project that would benefit the whole table tennis community. 14. During the WTTC in Kuala Lumpur we will hold three workshops, which we hope will be well attended. The response of participants in Suzhou was very good, so we decided to continue with this kind of educational topics for players and coaches. 15. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Judit Farago, Raul Calin and Emese Barsai for their contribution to the work of the ITTF SSMC with regard to scientific topics and cooperation with WADA and the IOC. I also would like to thank Mr. Masahiro Maehara for his support to our activities in field of sports science and medicine. Tasks to Be Fulfilled Prior to February 2016: • We are still searching for the tool to prepare a database for scientific papers and scientists in table tennis. • Updating the database of scientific papers that have been published in different scientific journals. • Preparation of workshops to be organized during the WTTC in Kuala Lumpur. • Activities on doping control and medical health proposals at the WTTC in Kuala Lumpur. • Activities for the 15th ITTF Sports Science Congress in Germany. • Help to NA’s regarding anti-doping policy. • Other activities. Prof. Miran Kondrič, PhD Chairman 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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UMPIRES’ AND REFEREES’ COMMITTEE (Ronald Wee) Report to the AGM
Document D7
1. IR School 2015/6: The URC has plans for 3 IR schools: one in Schwechat, Austria (December 2015), a second in Medellin, Colombia (January 2016), and a third in Guangzhou, China (April 2016). A total of 30 candidates have applied for the IR schools. 2. Development Programme: The ITTF URC selected 38 trainers who will be nominated to deliver courses in the Development Programme. The selection of trainers for a specific programme/event will be done together with the Development Department. All 38 trainers are responsible for updating the training documents and will participate in Train the Trainer courses. The ITTF URC also nominated one coordinator for each continent. 3. Nomination of Referees for ITTF Events: The ITTF URC is working closely together with the ITTF office to confirm/facilitate nominations of organisers for ITTF events to make it possible to include more/different/new referees in the events. 4. Referee Tool Box: A toolbox with 16 documents is available for all referees. This shall guarantee a standardised approach in all tournaments. 5. Referee Report/Frequently Asked Questions/Case Studies Document: The ITTF URC evaluates all referee reports and uses the results/recommendations of these reports for quality assurance and training. The results are included in the FAQ and Case Study Document. 6. Referee Training Video: The URC, in collaboration with the Beijing Sport University, has successfully produced the Referee Training Video. This will be used as a training tool for the IR Schools. It will also be uploaded onto the URC website. 7. Advanced Referee Project 2 (ARP2). With the success of ARP1, we embarked on ARP2 with 9 candidates, commencing with the first workshop held in Suzhou from the 24th to the 25th of April 2015. The 9 candidates are: Cyril Sen (MAS), Joseph Lau (SIN), Steven Lee (AUS), Mohamed Bassiouny (EGY), Isabelle Beumier (BEL), Tina Crotta (GRE), Silvia Garro (CRC), Thomas Wadsten (SWE) and Zhang Yingqiu (CHN). Unfortunately, for family and health reasons, Steven Lee has withdrawn from the project. We genuinely hope that he can return in the not too distant future. 8. Procedures for Conduct of AUT/ARE: Working together with a group of evaluators, the URC has formalized the procedures of organizing AUT/ARE courses. This covers the requirement before, during and after the course, the examination and evaluations. A separate heading covering similar procedures for evaluations only is also included. The requirement and procedures for coordinating the AUT and Evaluators for the World Championships were updated and documented. 9. Separation of ARE and AUT: These have been separated as two separate entities as of May 2015. The ARE can be and has been carried out and supervised by a URCapproved examination administrator on several occasions. Those umpires who have no desire to enter the Blue Badge program, but who want to improve their officiating skills,
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may follow the AUT course without the obligation of making the ARE. As these are new initiatives, the URC is still in the process of documenting the processes. 10. ARE for Evaluators: Success in writing the ARE becomes mandatory on a yearly basis for all evaluators and AUT course conductors to be considered on the active list. This will ensure our course conductors and evaluators themselves are up to date with the current rules and regulations. This was implemented at the WTTC in Suzhou and this will continue for all subsequent World Championships. 11. AUT Courses and Evaluations: The URC conducted 4 AUT courses and there were a total of 570 evaluations. There were 12 new Blue Badge umpires. 12. Hand Signals for Illegal Services: The URC has also developed a set of hand signals to show various illegal services committed by the players. Trials were conducted during the 2014 Global Junior Finals in Paraguay and the Asian Championship in Pattaya, Thailand. The results of the trial and recommendations have been submitted to the EC for approval. 13. Advanced Umpire Training (AUT): After one year of implementation, a postimplementation review was conducted amongst the Course Conductors. The subjects taught were re-packaged and timings were readjusted, to ensure a smooth delivery to the participants. Participants were informed prior to attending the AUT to watch the umpiring training video so that they would have a better understanding and be able to engage the course conductor and have a fruitful discussion during the course. 14. Acknowledgement: I wish to thank fellow members of the Umpires’ and Referees’ Committee for their support and contributions as well as the Special Advisors for their guidance. I thank ITTF staff members Raul Calin and Emese Barsai for providing background information and their assistance in co-ordinating with the National Associations, Organisers and other agencies for the successful hosting of tournaments. Ronald Wee Chairman
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VETERANS COMMITTEE (Reto Bazzi) Report to the AGM
Document D8
1. Composition of the Committee (Period 2015 - 2017) Members: Reto Bazzi (Switzerland / Europe), Chairperson; Galal Ezz (Egypt / Africa), Deputy Chairperson; Dean Johnson (USA / North America), Ina Jozepsone (Latvia / Europe), Paul Kyle (New Zealand / Oceania), Jamil Lotfollah-Nasabi (Iran / Asia); Diane Schöler (Germany / Europe), Swaythling Club International; Hans Westling (Sweden / Europe), World Veterans Championships Committee. 2. Committee Meetings / Communication The following officials attended the Committee meetings in April 2015 during the World Championships in Suzhou / CHN: Reto Bazzi, Chair; Galal Ezz, Deputy Chair; Ahmed Juma Albahar (Member 2013 - 2015), Dean Johnson, Ina Jozepsone, Paul Kyle; Diane Schöler, Swaythling Club International (SCI); Hans Westling, World Veterans Championships (WVC) Committee. During the year the Chairperson communicated regularly with the committee members through e-mail correspondence and / or sometimes by phone, especially with the Deputy Chairperson. 3. Committee’s Activities Following the purpose (mandate) according to the “Terms of Reference” the committtee concentrated its activities in the following areas: 3.1 Support SCI in organising World Veteran Championships During the World Championships in Suzhou, the Chairperson attended five presentations of the candidates for hosting the 2018 World Veteran Championships. I also attended the SCI AGM and all meetings of the SCI Executive Committee and the WVC Committee in Suzhou. 3.2 Encourage continental and national federations to promote veterans’ table tennis activities Chairpersons of both the Asian and the European Veterans Committees attended one of our Committee meetings in China. There was a very open and constructive dialogue with the aim to continue the close co-operation. 3.3 Support continental and national federations in preparing rankling lists for veteran players During the World Championships in Suzhou, a separate “working meeting” was organised with the two main topics “Veterans’ calendar” and “Veterans’ ranking”. 3.4 Update veterans’ activities on the ITTF Website, section SCI/WVC, in cooperation with the SCI
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As in the years before, some articles about international veterans’ events have been published on the website. It is still the aim to publish more and more articles about the veterans’ activities. The Veterans’ calendar was also regularly updated by Hans Westling and published on the website. 3.5 Establish working groups to address specific areas of work for a specified period of time In Suzhou two special working groups were established. The first one concerns the “Veterans’ calendar”. Hans Westling prepared a written report about the present situation including a summary of suggestions for future improvements. The second working group regarding the very complex topic of “Veterans’ ranking”. In the meantime, initial ideas for a future “World Veterans’ Table Tennis Ranking” (WVR) have been exchanged. It is obvious that the realisation of such a project needs time. Therefore more discussions are necessary in the near future (during the next World Championships in Kuala Lumpur / MAS). 4. Appreciation I take the opportunity to express my thanks to the committee members for their contributions during the last year. I also express my sincere thanks to the chairpersons of the continental veterans committees and the President and WVC Committee members of the SCI for the good cooperation. Reto Bazzi Chairman
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OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COMMISSION (Raul Calin) Report to the AGM
Document D9
The Olympic and Paralympic Commission met twice during the year: at the World Championships in Suzhou, China and at the World Junior Championships in Vendée, France. At these meetings, the decisions were taken in regards to the appointment of officials (the jury, umpires and the referee team) for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The events for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games were also confirmed. The OPC was briefed about the meeting held between ITTF President Thomas Weikert and IOC President Thomas Bach on April 22 in Lausanne. At that time, Mr. Weikert expressed the ITTF’s desire to add Mixed Doubles, beginning with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The ITTF also renewed the application for Adham Sharara to become an IOC member. A summary of the IOC Agenda 2020 was presented to the OPC members.
Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Update Two inspections were held in 2015. At the first one, in April, updated overlay plans for the venue were carefully studied, the ITTF hotel for the Olympic Games was confirmed and several meetings with different departments of Rio 2016 were held. The second inspection was held November 18 - 21, simultaneously with the 2016 Aquece Rio International Table Tennis Tournament (our test event for the Olympic Games). This was the first opportunity for the ITTF President to visit Rio, where he had the chance to meet with Agberto Guimaraes, the Executive Director of Sports and Paralympic Integration, and with Rodrigo Garcia, the Sports Director. Rio 2016 Organizing Committee President Carlos Nuzman and CBTM President Alaor Azevedo also attended the test event and interacted with ITTF executives and officials. In addition, the staff at the ITTF Headquarters welcomed and interacted with Rio representatives regarding logistics three times in 2015: 1) during the first week of February, Rodrigo Garcia, Sonia Almeida and Agberto Guimaraes, 2) in the last week of February, Carlos Leon and 3) in the last week of September, Rodrigo Garcia. Communication with Rio 2016 Sport Managers, Carlos Leon (Olympic Games) and Edimilson Pinheiro (Paralympic Games), was intense in 2015. Other appointments confirmed during the year included: Gabriel Taamy as the Rio 2016 Service Manager and Mohamed Dawlatly as the Technical Operations Manager. The European Games in Baku, Pan American Games in Toronto and African Games in Brazzaville provided the first Olympic Qualifiers. The majority of qualifiers will be decided, however, between February and May in 2016, with the continental qualification events being held as well as with the publication of the final ranking selections. So far all qualified athletes have been confirmed by their respective NOC’s.
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For the Paralympic Games, with the final event of the 2015 calendar held in Costa Rica in December, the qualification process was closed. The January 1, 2016 World Ranking will be used to determine the selections for the Rio Paralympics. Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games Update ITTF representatives met with a Buenos Aires representative at the IF Forum held in Lausanne in November. The work has started in terms of scheduling preparation for both practice and competition as well as with the decision on the equipment to be used for the Games. The first site visit will take place in 2016. Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Update The ITTF President visited Tokyo 2020 in September. At that time, Mr. Weikert presented the ITTF’s proposal to include Mixed Doubles, beginning with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The general venue floor plan for the Paralympic Games was also confirmed in 2015. 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games At the time of writing this report, four out of the five original candidate cities remain in the running for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome (in alphabetical order). The ITTF noticed the appointment of Mr. Jean-Philippe Gatien, the 1993 Men’s World Champion and 1992 Olympic Games Silver medallist in table tennis, as the Sport Director of the Paris 2024 candidature. Respectfully submitted, Raul Calin Director of Operations & Olympic Games
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Propositions to the AGM 2016 2/3 majority required
Document E
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 1.3.4: 1.3.4
1
The ITTF shall observe the general and fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, including, but not limited to, the Code of Ethics and Compliance; the Code of Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions and the IPC Handbook; and no provision of this Constitution shall be deemed to conflict with or derogate from those principles.
Rationale: to introduce two new codes to the Handbook in line with IOC directives
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 1.4.1.8:
2
1.4.1.8
to promote and to supervise World, Olympic, and Paralympic and ITTFContinental title competitions;
Rationale: to add ITTF-Continental events to the core competition programme of ITTF
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 1.5.2: 1.5.2
3
Between AGMs, the work of the ITTF shall be managed, in accordance with policy decided by the AGM, a Board of Directors, referred to elsewhere in this Constitution as “Board”, and the Executive Committee to which the AGM may delegate any of its powers; on the request of at least one-quarter (1/4) of the Associations not in arrears, the AGM may decide to deal with a matter normally delegated to another ITTF body or decided upon by this body.
Rationale: to be in line with 1.5.3
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 1.5.2.1: 1.5.2.1
4
The Board shall consist of the President, Executive Vice-Presidents, Presidents of Continental Federations or their appointees, the Chair of the Athletes Commission or his or her appointee and 32 Continental representatives.
Rationale: to allow appointees only to the Chair of Athletes Commission who may be an active player.
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Propositions to the AGM 2016 (continued) 2/3 majority required Proposed by the Athletes Commission To amend 1.5.3.1:
5
1.5.3.1
The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, the Chairperson of the Athletes Commission and 8 Executive Vice-Presidents…
Rationale: This proposed change will bring ITTF in-line with the wishes of the IOC and their efforts to further involve athletes in the decision-making bodies of all Federations.
Proposed by the Athletes Commission To amend 1.12.2: 1.12.2
6
No more than 1 person from an Association shall be nominated for the Executive Committee except the Athletes Commission representative who may come from the same association as another member of the Executive Committee and no-one shall be nominated for more than 1 post of the Executive Committee.
Rationale: To be in line with the International Olympic Committee
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 1.19.5.4: 1.19.5.4
7
Voting other than in elections shall be either by a show of hands, by electronic device, a roll call in alphabetical order of Associations, starting with a name drawn at random, except where the Chair is satisfied after a show of hands that such procedure is not necessary or a secret ballot, as decided by the meeting on a proposition by the Chair.
Rationale: To add the use of voting machine which is in place at AGMs since 2006
Proposed by the Latvian Table Tennis Federation To amend 1.19.5.2.1, to delete 1.19.5.2.2 and to renumber 1.19.5.2.3:
8
1.19 General Meetings 1.19.5.2 Questions shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast except that: 1.19.5.2.1 changes to the Constitution, changes to the Laws of Table Tennis, expulsion from membership, the acceptance of belated or emergency business or propositions and the revocation of a World Championships option require a majority of 2/3 of the votes cast; 1.19.5.2.2 changes to the Laws of Table Tennis require a 3/4 majority of the votes cast; Rationale: The ITTF Constitution in this point is too conservative and it is very difficult and sometimes not possible at all to make changes to Laws of Table Tennis which could be necessary and good for the development of our sport. In the same time Regulations for International Competitions which are also very important for our sport could be changed by the simple majority of the votes cast in the meeting of Board of Directors of the ITTF (point 1.8.4. in the ITTF Constitution). It will be very normal if we will allow to change our main rules with 2/3 majority and the rules for the international competitions with 1/2 majority.
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Propositions to the AGM 2016 (continued) 3/4 majority required Proposed by Hong Kong Table Tennis Association To delete 2.4.2 2.4.2 At least 85% of the blade by thickness shall be of natural wood; an adhesive layer within the blade may be reinforced with fibrous material such as carbon fibre, glass fibre or compressed paper, but shall not be thicker than 7.5% of the total thickness or 0.35mm, whichever is the smaller.
9
Rationale: 1. The current rule on percentage of the blade being natural wood is arbitrary. 2. There is no guideline or mechanism to detect or monitor the current rule at a competition. 3. Racket blade is currently not a piece of authorized equipment. 4. Removal of rule 2.4.2 would allow innovative ideas from developers and manufacturers to look for new materials that may be less costly or longer lasting. 5. ITTF could always amend/add rules on racket blades if future development has any adverse impact on the sport. 6. All other rules in connection with the blade (shape, size, weight, covering, and continuity) would remain unchanged.
Proposed by the Athletes Commission To amend 2.4.3: 2.4.3
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A side of the blade used for striking the ball shall be covered with either ordinary pimpled rubber, with pimples outwards having a total thickness including adhesive of not more than 2.00mm, or sandwich rubber, with pimples inwards or outwards, having a total thickness including adhesive of not more than 4.00mm 4.25mm.
Rationale: The results of the research and tests show that with the increase in thickness, certain rubber characteristics required by players, like control, speed and spin, might be reached without further interference. This will eventually lead to a decrease in use of boosters and create an even level playing field. With more options, a chance to find equipment that suits individual needs will be higher. With better equipment, players will perform better and the game will be more attractive. Allowing additional thickness will reduce stress during the racket control process. With the introduction of the plastic ball a lot of spin is lost, therefore an increase to 4.25mm will provide "some" compensation.
Proposed by UAE Table Tennis Association To delete 2.9.1.1
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2.9.1 The rally shall be a let: 2.9.1.1 if in service the ball touches the net assembly, provided the service is otherwise correct or the ball is obstructed by the receiver or his or her partner; Rationale: to make the point more exciting and decrease the stops in the game.
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Propositions to the AGM 2016 (continued) 3/4 majority required Proposed by USA Table Tennis To add a new paragraph 2.10.1.16
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2.10 A Point 2.10.1 Unless the rally is a let, a player shall score a point 2.10.1.16 if an opponent deliberately disturbs the conditions of play in a way that could affect the outcome of the rally. Rationale: There is currently no “interference” penalty in table tennis. If Player A is at a clear disadvantage during a rally (for example, returned service too high and out of position), and he interferes with the opponent to attempt to make him miss (for example, yelling at him), the rules permit the umpire to either allow play to continue, or call a let. The umpire can then give Player A a yellow card warning. In effect, Player A has nothing to lose by attempting to interfere; if a let is called, the player gets to play the point over. Therefore the rules should include a clause which awards a direct point to Player B, if Player A deliberately disturbs play.
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Resolutions to the AGM 2016 Simple majority required Proposed by the Palestine Table Tennis Federation Organisation of an international tournament(s) on the level of the Presidents of National Associations affiliated to ITTF. The suggestion is to organise a tournament(s) that includes all presidents of all National Associations, each representing his/her country which will contribute in realizing sports highest goals and achieving goals behind creation of International Table Tennis Association (Sports For All) in addition to keeping ITTF on the lead as the largest International Sport Federation in the world through this idea (tournament), following are the main points: 1- Helps in spreading, promoting the sport in a new, beautiful way worldwide
A
2- Helps confirming, administrational positions are not only honorary positions 3- Helps in bringing presidents of NAs more physically active 4- Helps in promoting tourism in those countries will host that big international sport event and gathering 5- Partially contributes in increasing ITTF`s income 6- Helps in encouraging organisers to consider the possibility of the participation of heads of states worldwide, expanding the range of success of the tournament and this activity in the future, promoting sport in general and Table Tennis in particular which will represent a huge, unprecedented sport achievement in addition to other positive goals that could be achieved for the benefit of the sport and keeping it as the master of sports worldwide. Proposed by Swiss Table Tennis
B
Test on Height of the Net Table tennis is a very attractive and spectacular sport as soon as there are rallies. Unfortunately, too many rallies are finished within the first 3 strokes. To reach the fixed target to become top 5 sport, table tennis has to be more spectacular. The importance of service (and receive) has to be declined. Especially the services and receives are crossing the net very low, afterwards, the balls cross the net much higher. Therefore one might estimate that with a higher net, there would be more rallies. Swiss Table Tennis, after having discussed with a lot of top players, technical directors, presidents of NA and others, assigns the ITTF to register at the 2016 Olympic Games (or a World Tour competition) with a high speed camera at the height of the net a minimum of 20 matches of men and another 20 matches of women with different playing styles and to publish the statistics until the 30th of November 2016. Depending on the results, Swiss Table Tennis will maybe ask to the AGM 2017 in Germany to change the rules and introduce a higher net from July 2018 on.
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INTERNATIONAL TABLE TENNIS FEDERATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING A meeting of the Board of Directors to be held on Thursday 3 March 2016 at 09h00 in Dorsett Grand Subang Hotel (Selangor Room 2), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
AGENDA 1. President: Welcome and Opening Address 2. Roll call and welcome of new members 3. Confirmation of the minutes of the BoD held on 30 April 2015 in Suzhou, China 4. Annual reports from the athletes and the commissioners: 4.1 Athletes’ Commission 4.2 Junior Commissioner 4.3 Technical Commissioner 4.4 Women in Sport Commissioner
(document F1) (document F2) (document F3) (document F4)
5.
Propositions and resolutions
(document G)
6.
Code of Ethics and Compliance (document to be distributed)
7.
Code of Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions (document to be distributed)
8.
Committee structure (Terms of Reference) (document to be distributed)
9. Updates of Technical Leaflets
(document H)
10. World Championships 10.1 2016 World Junior Championships (South Africa) 10.2 2017 and 2018 World Junior Championships bids 10.3 Confirmation of number of teams for 2018 (Sweden) 11. World Cups and World Tour update 12. Global Junior Programme 12.1 Update on 2015 World Cadet Challenge, World Junior Circuit and WJC Finals 12.2 Bids for World Cadet Challenge and World Junior Finals (2016-2017) 13. Ratification of the work done by the committees, commissions and commissioners 14. Next meeting: to be held in Düsseldorf in June 2017 15. Any other business 16. Adjournment
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ATHLETES’ COMMISSION (Vladimir Samsonov) Report to the BoD
Document F1
ATTF Athletes’ Commission We would like to thank the ATTF and everyone involved in the creation of the African Athletes’ Commission. This will create a better interaction and communication with this significant number of athletes, and have their voices and concerns heard in an official manner.
Para Players Committee There are many positive changes in the Para movement, such as many new players, even from countries where TT is not that popular. The quality of players is also on the rise throughout the whole spectrum. It seems that the development program is running well and Para TT is going to gain in popularity. The overall tournament quality is on the rise as well. Some significant areas of concern remain and require immediate attention, as witnessed in one of the Continental Championships: • The type of balls was changed just the day prior to the start of the event, not giving the players enough time to adjust, which lowered the overall quality of performance. • The hospitality costs are very high; still, the quality of food is not good. Fruit (apples) and drinking water were limited to only certain times (such as 10am - 2pm). Worse, drinking water was not provided after that time, and players had no choice but to drink water from the taps inside the restrooms. This is not acceptable. • For several days prior to the competition, there was no transportation. • We believe that more than 4 players or coaches per country should be allowed at the Opening Ceremony.
New DHS Table It was really exciting to play on the new DHS table with a TV screen under the surface that was used during the Asia-Europe All Stars event. The surface was see-through. While there are aesthetic benefits to this, the bounce is not the same nor as consistent as on a standard table. The lighting also caused some glare. On the other hand, the new table was great for the spectators in the venue and looked really good on TV. It is clear that a lot of work was already done, and it would be fantastic if the surface and the issue with light reflections could be improved. However, we must take care of the quality of the balls, if the bounce could be higher and consistent, table tennis might hugely profit from this invention.
Plastic Balls The ITTF and manufacturers put a lot of effort into enhancing the quality of the balls and it is much appreciated. While we have recently seen a small improvement, and the actual survey results have not been made available at the time of this report, the overall quality is still lacking. Often the rallies are fantastic; but for every good rally, there are many bad and soft bounces. In addition, there is a lot of variation within the balls; at the moment 4 very different kinds of balls are used in various events. Each has a different bounce and spin catch – this makes it much 2016 ITTF AGM & BoD Documents
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more difficult to warm up to, and different (and especially bad) bounces are also causing the players to have to jerk and reach more, which will eventually cause injuries. Giving a bit more time to the manufacturers to adjust and then modifying the regulations might be beneficial.
Hot Food and Drinks For a very long time athletes have been stressing the importance of hot food in the players’ lounge. This is a necessity that cannot be overlooked. Players are competing for hours, expending a lot of energy, but lacking proper intake and nutrition. This is bad for performance and for health. We strongly require that more attention be paid to the food that is served in the players’ lounges. There are a variety of affordable options available.
Player’s Meetings and Current Issues During 2015 various players’ meetings were held. These are the conclusions and wishes of the majority: • To modify the world rankings - points for a loss to be eliminated; rating points for the U21 to be reduced or not included in the senior ranking; rating and bonus points for the junior tournaments to be reduced or not included in the senior ranking; • To allow thicker rubbers; • To not use colored balls since they disturb match play; • To introduce prize money for the medalists of the World Championships; and • To have more warm-up tables at tournaments will be helpful. Some recent events with a high number of participants did not have enough practice tables. Therefore, even if it means reducing the space in between, it is better to have more warm-up tables. 2016 World Tour Funding Due to unfortunate circumstances, the prize money offered in the 2016 World Tour events might suffer a significant reduction. The ITTF has set lofty goals within its P5 plans and we hope to see greater importance placed on the livelihood of the athletes. We urge special measures be put into place so we can work to have respectable prize money.
Star Awards, YouTube, Social Media Platforms We want to thank everyone involved in the organization of the Star Awards. It is a great advertisement of our sport as well as a pleasure to watch and to attend. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the excellent presentation at many top events as well as the great work done on YouTube and social media platforms. Vladimir Samsonov Chairman
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JUNIOR COMMISSIONER (Dennis Davis) Report to the BoD
Document F2
World Junior Championships The French Table Tennis Federation (FTTF) hosted the 13th World Junior Championships in Vendeé, France from the 29th of November to the 6th of December, 2015. The Vendéspace was a first-class venue for the competition. The FTTF and the Vendée organizing committee presented a very well organized event and also leveraged it to expose thousands of school children to the sport, with a continuous flow of buses full of students arriving throughout the tournament. There were some team cancellations before the event caused by the recent attacks in Paris, but safety was not an issue at all during the event in the very safe city of La Roche-surYon. Viva La France! World Junior Circuit 2015 was a great year for the World Junior Circuit. The number of events increased from 28 to 31; and also the number Associations sending players increased from 97 to 100. There was an increase in players participating from 1,957 players in 2014 to 2,434 in 2015. World Cadet Challenge The Egyptian Table Tennis Federation hosted the World Cadet Challenge in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh. World Champion Peter Karlsson very successfully led the training camp that preceded the WCC. A very rare heavy rain hit the day before the competition and caused flooding in the area as well as water leaking into the venue. The decision was to delay the start of the event until the afternoon due to travel safety concerns and the venue condition. The ETTF teams worked through the night and morning and were able to have the venue in top shape and ready by the afternoon deadline and the roads became passable as well. The event quality was very high and well organized and the hospitality was second to none. Mounir Bessah did a great job as the Competition Manager. It was a very successful event and the ETTF should be proud of the accomplishment. Patrick Gillmann hosted a meeting with all the Continental Team Managers and other interested parties to ask for their feedback regarding the World Cadet Challenge as well as other items. It was an important meeting that provides opinions from those “closest to the action” and it seems the meeting will hopefully become an annual tradition. Junior Circuit Finals The Junior Circuit Finals for 2014 successfully took place at the end of January 2015 in Paraguay. There is a challenge in finding hosts for this event and more will be done to increase the number of bids for the premier event of the World Junior Circuit. The 2015 Junior Circuit Finals will take place in Indore, India from January 22-24, 2016. Respectfully Submitted, Dennis Davis
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TECHNICAL COMMISSIONER (Graeme Ireland) Report to the BoD
Document F3
The mandate of the Technical Commissioner includes: • Liaise with the Competition Program and advise the BoD on the organisation of World Title competitions and to make recommendations of the system of play; • Assist the Competition Program and referee with the World Championships draw; • Advise on the playing schedule for the World Championships if necessary; • Serve as a member of Ranking Default Commission • Act as the chair of the jury at World Championships; • Work closely with the Competition Program to achieve the above objectives; and • Provide technical expertise and guidance to the Equipment, Rules, Umpires and Referees Committees, PTT Division and professional staff;
These responsibilities are handled in close co-operation with the Competition Program.
In 2015 my main role was to assist ITTF and the Competition Department on playing format, schedules, and general enquiries relating to technical rules for all major events. These included Olympic Games, Olympic Games qualifying events, World Cups, World Championships, World Junior Championships and World Junior Circuit Finals. I have also provided expertise and assistance as required to other Committees, mainly to URC, and ITTF staff whenever requested. I am also available to liaise with the continental representatives on technical issues related to continental events to align them more closely with ITTF’s events.
Graeme Ireland
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WOMEN IN SPORT COMMISSIONER (Hajera Kajee) Report to the BoD
Document F4
My report will cover the period from April 2015 to December 2015.
1. WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT COURSES Continent
Country
Africa
Djibouti
Latin America
Month/Year Course
Expert
Dec 2015 – Jan 2016
Women's Course (Training Camp)
Carole Grundisch (FRA)
Jun 2015 – Guatemala Jul 2015
ITTF Women´s Course - ITTFPTT Level 1 Coach Education + Training Camp + forum
Luisana Perez (VEN)
North America
USA
Nov 2015
ITTF Women's Course - Junior Training Camp
Lily Yip (USA)
Asia
Iran
May 2015 – Jun 2015
Iran Women's ITTF-PTT Level 1 Coach Education
Sima Limoochi (IRI)
Europe
Austria
Sep 2015
Women´s Coaching Seminar
Li Xiaodong (CHN)
2. CONTINENTAL UPDATE a. Elsa Avalos is the Deputy Minister of Labour of Guatemala and she is currently leading a campaign for the United Nations to promote gender equality and eliminate prejudices against women. Elsa was a special guest at the Women’s Forum held from the 31st of June – the 1st of July 2015; the chair of the Forum welcomed her. Luisana Perez was a Silver medallist in the Women’s Singles event at the Latin American Championships in 1998 in Mexico and 2003 in El Salvador, whilst being a member of the Venezuelan National Team at seven World Championships from Manchester in 1997 and Rotterdam in 2011. Elsa emphasised, “Life is today. What matters is what you do. Look to the future, but you must have realistic goals. Be persistent and work every day with effort and dedication,” she added. “The fear of change is the hardest thing I've had to face in life but change is good; sport and family support will always take you to your destination." Table tennis is able to overcome all the problems of your life,” added Elsa Avalos as she summed up her thoughts in a highly motivating manner. We congratulate Elsa for her achievements, but more importantly her passion for table tennis. She is a role model for all of us.
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b. Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou, the founder of Ping Sans Frontières, has been acknowledged as a result of her humanitarian efforts to help the less privileged by Global Sports Development. Sarah was moved by the acknowledgement. “I do not know how to express all of my gratitude; thanks a lot, sincerely,” was the reaction of Sarah Hanffou upon receiving the news from Leandro Olvech, the ITTF Director – Development. Recipients will receive a US$10,000 grant, in order to further promote their respective projects. Without a doubt Sarah Hanffou sets a splendid example. Originally she represented France, but later transferred her allegiance to Cameroon, the country where her father was born. “I do not take it as a personal award; I could not work in developing table tennis in underserved areas around the world with Ping Sans Frontières without the support of its members and partners,” concluded Sarah Hanffou. “I really want to thank the ITTF for its support; again, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” Sarah, a high level player, notably the winner of the Women’s Singles title at the 2010 African Championships, is giving back to the sport which has given her so much. Sarah Hanffou will visit Haiti for two periods of one month each, the first being in January 2016, as part of the recovery programme. An earthquake devastated Haiti on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. c. One-on-one meetings with the Continental Presidents will be coordinated from the 5th - 6th of December 2015 in Vendee, France. The intention of these meetings is to receive clarity on the role of the Continental Women Co-ordinators and, where necessary, to assist with the rollout of their planned programmes.
3. IOC WOMEN AND SPORT AWARDS 2015 Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa received the 2015 IOC Women in Sport Award for Asia. As an athlete she played table tennis in the traditionally conservative country of Bahrain, after which she was elected Vice President of the Bahrain Table Tennis Association and later became Deputy Chairperson of the Table Tennis Development Committee in the Arab Table Tennis Federation, then Vice-President of the Arab Table Tennis Federation. Most recently, Shaikha Hayat was elected President of the Bahrain Table Tennis Association and she is a board member of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.
4. 2015 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP Petra Sörling, ITTF Executive Vice President, attended the Women’s World Cup, held in Sendai, Japan the 30th of October – the 1st of November 2015.
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5. INITIATIVES As of the time of the writing of this report, it is planned that I will attend the DCC meeting to be held at the 2015 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, the 29th of November 2015 – the 6th of December 2015 in Vendée, France in order to discuss with the Continental Presidents ways to promote Women in Sports.
6. 2015 WOMEN’S DAY In 2015 we suggested to National Associations to organize a day for Women and Girls as part of other activities for the “World Table Tennis Day” on the 6th of April, instead of the traditional Friendship Trophy. We thought it would be a good idea to promote inclusion and equality and we were happy to see many events registered under the “World Table Tennis Day.”
7. CONFERENCES a. Keynote Speaker The Olympic Studies Centre within the Department of Sport and Movement Studies at the University of Johannesburg will host an international conference on the Historical and Contemporary Issues in Olympic Studies from the 30th of November to the 2nd of December 2015, in collaboration with the German Sport University Cologne. I have been invited to be the Keynote Speaker on the 2nd of December 2015 on “Olympic Practices in Southern Africa.”
b. Women Sport Africa The Women Sport Africa conference will be held in Gaborone, Botswana from the 19th – the 20th of November 2015, to elect a committee for Africa. I will be attending as the expert appointed by the International Women’s Group until 2018. It is indeed a pity that no table tennis representative is nominated.
8. CONCLUSION My appreciation and thanks to Ms. Judit Farago, ITTF Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Glenn Tepper, Deputy Chief Executive Officer - Development and Education & Training Programs; Ms. Petra Sörling, ITTF Vice President; ITTF Chairperson Mr. Adham Sharara; and the ITTF President Mr. Thomas Weikert and Ms. Vicky Eleftheriade for their continued support for the ongoing development programs for Women and Girls in Sport.
Hajera Kajee
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 Simple majority required
Document G
Proposed by the Japan Table Tennis Association To include following principles in paragraphs 3.2.1 (Approved and Authorised Equipment) and 3.2.4 (Racket Control) 1.1 Proposal 1: Changing the way in Authorising Sandwich Rubber with pimples in (we say rubber from now on). 1.1.1 To authorise a new rubber, ITTF will use Pyrolysis Chromatograph Analyser to measure any sort of oil component within the rubber. Then, only the product that contains oil component below 10% of the total mass of the rubber may be pre-authorised. 1.1.2 After the rubber has been pre-authorised, ITTF will operate a bounce test under certain conditions (temperature controlled room), and if the rubber shows higher result than the limit, the rubber may not be authorised. *Other sports using balls such as Tennis, Baseball and Golf have bounce tests with maximum repulsion depending on the material of the equipment.
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1.2 Proposal 2: New Racket Control for Rubber 1.2.1 All ITTF approved events (including Olympics) shall apply the new racket control test to the following players. a) Individual Events: All players who made it to Semi-Finals and Finals, or any other player who has been chosen by the referee at random. b) Team Events: The Referee shall choose players from the team that has made it to Semi-Finals and Finals, and any other players at random. 1.2.2 The new racket control is to test the rubber of the racket which the player will be using in the next match. The test will be carried out using a bounce test with ITTF authorised equipment. Any racket that has a higher repulsion than standard level may not be used. 1.2.3 Any racket that has not been tested before the match but has been used in the match will be tested afterwards. If the repulsion rate of the rubber is higher than the standard level, the player shall be penalised by the ITTF. 1.2.4 If there is any protest to be made against the above 2 sections, the player shall hand in the rubber that has been used in the match to ITTF. ITTF shall then test the rubber using their Pyrolysis Chromatograph Analyser and compare their result against the result from the same product authorised by the ITTF which has not been in use. ITTF will then conclude, rightfully on this allegation whether boosting was conducted by the player or not. 2. Reason for this Proposal 2.1 At the 2013 ITTF Board Meeting, JTTA made a proposal to set a limit on repulsion of the rubber so that any boosting that takes place after purchasing the rubber may be eliminated. Then the then President Mr. Sharara announced that this proposal was discussed thoroughly within the Board meeting and this matter still has to be studied. But it was not yet managed to reach any conclusion. 2.2 At the 2015 AGM ITTF Athletes Commission made a proposal on having the thickness of the rubber to 4.25mm. (This has been rejected.) At the same time it was
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reported that players have been boosting their rackets after purchase. 2.3 ITTF has banned the use of boosters after purchasing the rubber, but have been turning a blind eye on boosting at the manufacturing phase, which as a result ITTF had to turn a blind eye to boosting by the players after purchase. 2.4 For the ITTF to keep control of players respecting the rules, using fair and equal equipment will lead to enrichment of the sport value on long term. As an important member of IOC and to withhold the trust from the community, this problem needs to be solved as soon as possible. 3. Implementation Setup 3.1 Required Equipment The following equipment’s need to be prepared as ITTF authorised device. 3.1.1 Pyrolysis Gas Chromatograph to measure the substance that is increasing repulsion of the rubber. 3.1.2 An appropriate Bounce Test device to measure the maximum repulsion needs to be developed through the past experiment results. 3.1.3 Temperature Humidity Control Cabinet to adjust the test. 3.2 Related Procedures 3.2.1 To lose the differentiation of repulsion due to different blades, we would need to set a wide range for maximum repulsion. Will need to have a plate (benchmark) to put the rubber on to when measuring. In case there is no Temperature Humidity Control Cabinet, there should to be a list made that contains a wide range of results for different types of racket on different temperatures to be used as a measurement. 3.2.2 When a new rubber is brought in from the manufacturers for authorisation, they need to submit the rubber sheet with sponge put together. Also the thickness of both put together must be at its thickest. 3.2.3 For the ITTF to run this proposed test, ITTF will provide (rent) the required equipment (Pyrolysis Gas Chromatograph if possible, and bounce test device) to the association organising the event. 3.2.4 In order to analyse this test, ITTF will prepare a guideline and provide a practice session at WTTC or other events. 3.3 Timing of implementation 3.3.1 This proposal of Sandwich Rubber to ITTF will be official as of January 1st, 2018. 3.3.2 Above mentioned proposal 2.1 shall be implemented as of January 1st, 2019. Proposed by the Equipment Committee To amend 3.2.1.2:
14
3.2.1.2. The entry form or prospectus for an open tournament shall specify the brands and colours of table, net assembly, flooring and ball to be used; the choice of equipment shall be as laid down by the Association in whose territory the competition is held, selected from brands and types currently approved by the ITTF. Rationale: It’s important that the prospectus gives also the name and colour of flooring, which is anyway the practice for most of ITTF events already.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by USA Table Tennis To modify 3.2.1.3 3.2.1.3
15
The racket covering material on a side of the blade used for striking the ball shall be currently authorised by the ITTF and shall be attached to the blade so that the ITTF logo, the ITTF number (when present), the supplier and brand names are clearly visible nearest the handle. Paints and dyes are not considered racket coverings and do not require authorisation.
Rationale: All rubber racket coverings should be authorised by the ITTF, even if the player declares it to be a nonstriking side of the racket. This prevents gamesmanship in which the opponent must carefully watch to see if the “wrong” side of the racket was used; a player should not use a racket that has an illegal rubber.
Proposed by the Equipment Committee To amend 3.2.3.2: 3.2.3.2.
16
The following equipment and fittings are to be considered as part of each playing area: The table including the net assembly, printed numbers identifying the table, flooring, umpires tables and chairs, score indicators, towel and ball boxes, printed numbers identifying the table, surrounds, floor mats, boards on the surrounds indicating the names of players or Associations.
Rationale: The word floor mats should be replaced by flooring which allows other floor designs than mats as movable wooden sports floor or elastic tiles.
Proposed by the Executive Committee and Rules Committee To amend 3.2.3.2 and to add new 3.2.3.9 3.2.3.2
17
New: 3.2.3.9
The following equipment and fittings are to be considered as part of each playing area: The table including the net assembly, umpires tables and chairs, score indicators, towel and ball boxes, printed numbers identifying the table, surrounds, floor mats, boards on the surrounds indicating the names of players or Associations, technical equipment such as small cameras on or near the net assembly. Technical equipment on the table such as small cameras on or near the net assembly shall be considered part of the net assembly and shall be fitted in a way that does not affect play substantially.
Effective date: 7 March 2016 Rationale: In our time small net cameras can contribute significantly to the better presentation of our sport and should therefore be considered in the rules as part of the equipment.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Equipment Committee To amend 3.2.3.8: 3.2.3.8.
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The flooring shall not be light-coloured, brightly reflecting or slippery and it shall be resilient. its surface shall not be of brick, ceramics, concrete or stone; but tThe flooring may be of concrete rigid for wheelchair events.
Rationale: The antonym of resilient (springy, supple and elastic) should be used for describing concrete-like floors: rigid. Wood, for instance, laid down on concrete is rigid and does not give a floor sporting properties, and we should not suggest it. Instead of announcing examples of non-resilient floors in the regulations, just refer to the essential property: resilience, that is described in Technical Leaflet T6.
Proposed by the Rules Committee To amend 3.2.5.8: 3.2.5.8
19
There may be 2 advertisements on nets which shall be clearly different from the colour of the ball in use and shall not be within 3cm of the tape along the top edge and outside of the vertical extensions of the side lines shall not obscure visibility through the mesh.
Rationale: As there were complaints of players about disturbing advertisements in the centre of the net such logos should only be at the very left and very right part of the net.
Proposed by the Rules Committee To amend 3.2.5.8: (only if proposition 19 has not been passed) 3.2.5.8
20
There may be 2 advertisements on nets which shall be clearly different from the colour of the ball in use and shall not be within 3cm of the tape along the top edge; advertisements placed on parts of the net within the vertical extensions of the side lines shall not obscure visibility through the mesh.
Rationale: As there were complaints of players about disturbing advertisements in the centre of the net such logos should either be transparent or at the very left and very right part of the net.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Rules Committee To amend 3.5.1: 3.5.1 3.5.1.1 3.5.1.2 3.5.1.3
21
Advice Players may receive advice at any time except during rallies provided the progress of play is not thereby delayed. If the actions of an adviser delay the progress of play, the umpire shall warn him or her by holding up a yellow card. After a warning has been given, if in the same team match or the same match of an individual event an adviser again delays play, the umpire shall hold up a red card and send the offender away from the playing area, whether or not he or she was the person warned.
3.5.1
Advice
3.5.1.1
In a team event, players may receive advice from anyone authorised to be at the playing area.
3.5.1.2
In an individual event, a player or pair may receive advice only from one person, designated beforehand to the umpire, except that where the players of a doubles pair are from different Associations each may designate an adviser, but with regard to 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 these two advisors shall be treated as a unit; if an unauthorised person gives advice the umpire shall hold up a red card and send him or her away from the playing area.
3.5.1.3
Players may receive advice at any time except during rallies and between the end of practice and the start of a match; if any authorised person gives advice illegally the umpire shall hold up a yellow card to warn him or her that any further such offence will result in his or her dismissal from the playing area (version effective from 1st October 2016).
Effective date: 1 October 2016 Rationale: By this Regulation 3.5.1 (Advice) should be simplified by securing that play shall not be delayed by any communication between player and adviser.
Proposed by the Rules Committee To amend 3.5.1: (only if proposition 21 has not been passed) 3.5.1 3.5.1.3
22
Advice Players may receive advice at any time except during rallies and between the end of practice and the start of the match; provided that continuity of play is not affected (3.4.4.1); if any authorised person gives advice illegally the umpire shall hold up a yellow card to warn him or her that any further such offence will result in his or her dismissal from the playing area.
Effective date: 1 October 2016 Rationale: By this Regulation 3.5.1 (Advice) should be simplified by securing that play shall not be delayed by any communication between player and adviser.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Oceania Table Tennis Federation To amend 4.1.2.2.1, to add 4.1.2.2.2 through 4.1.2.2.5, to renumber following paragraphs on 4.1.2.2 and to add 4.1.3.1.1: 4.1.2.2
Organisers shall provide accommodation and meals from the evening lunch on the day before the Championships begin until the breakfast on the day after the Championships end for
4.1.2.2.1 up to five male and five female qualified players nominated by an Association for World Individual Championships not more than 3 men and 3 women players nominated by an Association; 4.1.2.2.2 up to five male players nominated by an Association qualified for the men’s team event for the World Team Championships 4.1.2.2.3 up to five female players nominated by an Association qualified for the women’s team event for the World Team Championships 4.1.2.2.4 one coach nominated by an Association qualified for the men’s team event for the World Team Championships
23
4.1.2.2.5 one coach nominated by an Association qualified for the women’s team event for the World Team Championships 4.1.2.2.62 1 delegate to the AGM from each Association if he or she is not already included in the nominated players listed above; …//… 4.1.3.1
4.1.3.1.1
Only an Association which is not in arrears (1.16.3.3) and has taken part with at least one player or team (an entry) in its preceding Continental Championships, including qualification tournaments, or Continental Games, shall be eligible to enter teams or individual players in the Championships. Only individual players and teams who have qualified to participate in the World Championships may be entered.
Rationale: The progressive connection of the continental events to the World Championships should go one step further to ensure that the best players compete at the continental events. To guarantee this, there should be a link not only in participation but also in performance at the continental level to be eligible to compete at the World Championships. With this proposal, the Continental Championships will be authentic pathways to the World Championships, thus giving higher value and media impact to the Continental Championships. The Competition Department will determine relevant quotas for the different continents according to their strength.
Proposed by the Oceania Table Tennis Federation
To amend 4.1.9.3: (only if proposition 23 has been passed)
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4.1.9.3
The system of play in team and individual events, the system of qualification in team and individual events and their implementation dates shall be decided by the Board of Directors, on the recommendation of the Technical Commissioner, and the Competition Program and the Marketing Program.
Rationale: To not lose the momentum of the ITTF-Continental Championships and ensure the new Olympic cycle starts with a quality approach.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Executive Committee (if proposition 23 has passed)
To amend 4.1.2.2: 4.1.2.2.5 up to 8 members of the Athletes' Commission not already included in the nominated players list; 4.1.2.2.6
Honorary Presidents;
4.1.2.2.7
Personal Honorary Members;
4.1.2.2.8
members of the President’s Advisory Council;
4.1.2.2.97 International Umpires, and Referees and Evaluators from other Associations invited in accordance with the ITTF directives for match officials at World Title Competitions issued by the ITTF; 4.1.2.2.108 up to 7 members of the ITTF staff including 1 assisting the Doping Control Panel. (if proposition 23 has not passed)
25
To amend 4.1.2.2: 4.1.2.2 Organisers shall provide accommodation and meals from the evening lunch on the day before the Championships begin until the breakfast on the day after the Championships end for: 4.1.2.2.1 not more than 2 3 men and 2 3 women players nominated by an Association; 4.1.2.2.2 1 delegate to the AGM from each Association if he is not already included in the nominated players listed above; 4.1.2.2.3 members of the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors and the Olympic and Paralympic Commission, full members of committees, and the Technical and Women in Sport Commissioners; 4.1.2.2.4 up to 3 members of the Doping Control Panel appointed by the Sports Science and Medical Committee; 4.1.2.2.5 up to 8 members of the Athletes' Commission not already included in the nominated players list; 4.1.2.2.6 Honorary Presidents; 4.1.2.2.7 Personal Honorary Members; 4.1.2.2.8 members of the President’s Advisory Council; 4.1.2.2.97 International Umpires, and Referees and Evaluators from other Associations invited in accordance with the ITTF directives for match officials at World Title Competitions issued by the ITTF; 4.1.2.2.108 up to 7 members of the ITTF staff including 1 assisting the Doping Control Panel. Rationale: To make adjustment according to the 2014 ITTF BoD decision and to be in line with the Prospectus and the contractual agreement with WTTC organisers.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Fiji Table Tennis Association To amend 4.1.3.3 and 4.1.3.4: 4.1.3.2 4.1.3.3 4.1.3.3.1 4.1.3.3.2
4.1.3.3.3 4.1.3.3.4 4.1.3.3.5 2 4.1.3.3.6 3
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4.1.3.3.7 3 4.1.3.3.8 4 4.1.3.4
In addition to provisions of 3.8, players who have acquired a new nationality and wish to represent the association corresponding to the new nationality shall register with ITTF through this new Association Such player shall not represent the new Association before: 3 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 15 when registered, but only 1 year after the date of registration if the player has never represented another association; 1 or 2 year after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 16 but at least 15 years when registered and has never represented another association and has lived in the country of his/her new nationality since the age of 6 2-3 years after the date of registration, if the player is under 17 but at least 16 years when registered and has never represented another association and has lived in the country of his/her new nationality since the age of 8 4 years after the date of registration, if the player is under 18 but at least 17 years when registered and has never represented another association and has lived in the country of his/her new nationality since the age of 10 5 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 18 but at least 15 years of age when registered and has already represented another association 5 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of 19 and at least 18 years of age when registered and has never represented another association and has lived in the country of his/her new nationality since the age of 12 7 years after the date of registration, if the player is under the age of of 21 and at least 18 years of age when registered 7 years after the date of registration, if the player being 21 years of age or older at the time of registration and has never represented another association and has lived in the country of his/her new nationality since the age of 15. Players being 21 years of age or older who have already represented another association will not be registered with the ITTF and will not be eligible to represent a new association at World Championships
Rationale: 1. UN Declaration for the rights of children/minors under the age of 18 years 2. Children who have accompanied their family from a young age whose table tennis is learned and developed in the country of their new nationality and has never been exposed or trained in the country of their birth prior to their family taking up a new residence 3. While many young players in developed table tennis countries with a more advanced coaching/development system and supported by adequate resources, facilities and opportunities are identified in table tennis at a young age , usually when they are around 6-8 years old this is not the same for less developed table tennis countries. If we are to bridge the gap in standards between Tier 1 and Tier 4 or non tiered countries and if the ITTF truly wants table tennis to be a global sports with better competition, either more resources need to be provided to the under developed countries who are isolated and exemptions allowed in the eligibility of young players who take up a new nationality when they are young. Many of the young players on changing nationality have no say in their choice of nationality until they are 18 or 21 years of age. 4. Unlike many players in the past who have changed nationality when much older, they have not adapted their lifestyle to the culture, language of their new nationality and have only been given new nationalities for their table tennis skills without their parents/families migrating 5. ITTF needs to revisit the intent of establishing the initial rules of eligibility in September 2008 which was primarily to stem the tide of countries buying their players from another association through lucrative offers which the poorer countries could not afford
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 4.2.2.2: 4.2.2.2
Organisers shall provide accommodation and meals from the evening lunch on the day before the Championships begin until the breakfast on the day after the Championships end for
4.2.2.2.1 not more than 2 boys players nominated by an Association eligible for the boys team event; 4.2.2.2.2 not more than 2 girls players nominated by an Association eligible for the girls team event; 4.2.2.2.3 not more than 1 coach of an Association participating in 1 or 2 team events;
27
4.2.2.2.4 members of the ITTF Executive Committee and the Junior Commissioner; 4.2.2.2.5 up to 2 members of the Doping Control Panel appointed by the Sports Science Committee; 4.2.2.2.6 up to 2 ITTF Committee or Commission Chairs nominated by the Executive Committee; 4.2.2.2.7 International Umpires, and Referees and Evaluators from other Associations invited in accordance with the ITTF directives for match officials at World Title Competitions issued by the ITTF; 4.2.2.2.8
up to 7 3 members of the ITTF staff.
Rationale: To be in line with the Prospectus and the contractual agreement with WJTTC organisers as best practice for several years.
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 4.1.9.5:
28
4.1.9.5 There shall not be more than 128 places in the first round proper of a singles and mixed doubles event nor not more than 64 places in the first round proper of a men’s, and women’s and mixed doubles event, unless otherwise authorised by the Executive Committee. Rationale: with less entries at the WTTC (max. 2 pairs per association), no need for having a main draw of 128 in Mixed doubles. In Suzhou we had 137 mixed doubles.
Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend 4.1.12.7:
29
4.1.12.7 The Association acknowledging receipt of a trophy shall be responsible for its safe keeping including the arrangement of insurance. The cost of insurance and of inscription of winners' names, which in team events should include any non-playing captain, shall be borne by the ITTF the Association whose team or player wins a trophy. Rationale: more logical to cover these costs by the holder.
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Propositions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 (continued) Simple majority required Proposed by the Executive Committee To amend in Chapter 5: Scope – Definition of IL Athletes Within the overall pool of Athletes set out above who are bound by and required to comply with these Anti-Doping Rules, the following Athletes in the Registered Testing Pool shall be considered to be International-Level Athletes for purposes of these Anti-Doping Rules, and therefore the specific provisions in these Anti-Doping Rules applicable to International-Level Athletes (as regards Testing but also as regards TUEs, whereabouts information, results management, and appeals) shall apply to such Athletes: The first 250 Men and 200 Women in the General List of ITTF World Ranking, available on http://www.ittf.com/ittf_ranking/, and, The following Athletes in the Para Table Tennis rating, available on http://www.ipttc.org/rating/ Men Women Class 1-5 (Sitting) Top 80 Top 30 Class 6-10 (Standing) Top 90 Top 30 Class 11 (Mentally Top 15 Top 10 impaired) Rationale: To make exact definition on IL Athletes. 5.5.2.1: Art. 5.3, not 5.5.3
30
Rationale: 5.5.3 does not exist in the Code 5.7.1.2 The Executive Committee shall appoint a Doping Review Panel consisting of a Chair and 2 other members with experience in anti-doping. Each panel member shall serve a term of four years. In each case the Chair of the panel shall appoint 1 or more members of the panel (which may include the Chair) to ITTF Anti-Doping Coordinator or his/her delegate shall conduct the review discussed in Article 5.7.2, 5.7.3, 5.7.4, 5.7.5 and 5.7.6 of any potential violations of these Anti-Doping Rules. The review discussed in Art. 5.7.7 can be conducted, as may be requested by ITTF, by the ITTF AntiDoping Coordinator or his/her delegate, or by an ad-hoc Doping Review Panel (which may include the ITTF Anti-Doping Administrator or his/her delegate) appointed by the ITTF CEO, consisting of a Chair and at least two other members with experience in anti-doping and/or investigations. Rationale: this would simplify the initial review process and leaves a greater flexibility depending on each case and internal organisation. For non-analytical cases, that are much less familiar for many Ifs, the possibility remains to form an ad-hoc panel with relevant expert as appropriate, e.g. a person familiar with interviews, investigation, etc. 5.7.6: Replace “Violations” with “Failures” Rationale: to be in line with 5.2.4 and Code 5.7.7.7: Replace with 5.7.7
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Rationale: to correct the numbering 5.7.7.8: Replace with 5.7.8 Rationale: to correct the numbering Appendix 1 - Definitions Event Period: The time between the beginning and end of an Event, as established by the ruling body of the Event. For ITTF, it means from the day before the first day of the Competition, to the last day of the Competition, inclusive. Rationale: exact definition for ITTF Event Venues: Those venues so designated by the ruling body for the Event. For ITTF, it means that part of the event building used for Table Tennis and its related activities, facilities and public area (as in 3.2.4.5) Rationale: this is a mandatory definition in the Code and Model Rules which has been omitted. International Event: An Event or Competition where the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, an International Federation, a Major Event Organisation, or another international sport organisation is the ruling body for the Event or appoints the technical officials for the Event. ITTF International Events can be downloaded on http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf2.asp?category=calendar Rationale: This is not absolutely necessary as International Events are not a criteria for classifying IL Athletes. However, for external stakeholders it clarifies that all events (approved, sanctioned, registered, etc.) in the ITTF calendar are International Events for the purpose of anti-doping.
Proposed by the Equipment Committee To modify Technical Leaflets:
31
T1 Table (update) T3 Balls (update) T6 Table Tennis Flooring (update)
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Resolutions to the Board of Directors Meeting 2016 Simple majority required Proposed by the Executive Committee
C
That the ITTF Marketing Division researches the possibility of a different form of table tennis in order to attract youth to our sport. Proposed by the Palestine Table Tennis Federation Increasing number of players in each team (match) representing each national association in WTTC for teams from 3 to 5 players As you may know, it is allowed to participate in WTTC for teams with only 3 players in each match, this has its negative and positive sides. Here are some positive sides when participating with 5 players instead of 3, keeping the present format as it is (best of 5 matches), or no. of matches could be increased to 7 matches upon your approval, as follows: 1- Helps in spreading the sport, activate different levels 2- Helps in increasing no. of essential players worldwide 3- Helps in giving hope, ambition to 4th, 5th levels players to represent their countries 4- Helps in giving a real chance for all 4th, 5th levels players to represent their countries 5- Helps not always depending on only level 1, level 2 players with the possibility of no participation for any reason. And also for the purpose of not degrading players from levels 4, 5
D
6- Participation of levels 4, 5 players in playing against levels 1, 2 players will help in determining their levels, how far they are technically and psychologically prepared, which will add power to the sport 7- Helps in not bringing despair, giving in to countries, national teams when player no. 1 or 2 is being defeated. 8- Helps in selecting coaches when increasing the range of competition, no. of participants and paying more attention to players from levels 4, 5. 9- Strongly helps, media wise in forcing TT fans to follow the game, results. 10- Helps increasing level of enthusiasm for participating teams and gathering around their national teams. 11- Helps in increasing training and TT activities for coaches that will contribute in increasing competition levels, intensifying training and raise the level of the game. 12- Helps in increasing scientific research, invention, development by the sport`s experts in the world and enhancing research for the purpose of wining. 13- Helps in increasing excitement in following the events. 14- Helps in enlarging countries interest, increasing sponsorships and paying more attention to Table Tennis in their countries and for their national teams. In addition to more goals that may help in spreading, developing and keeping Table Tennis as no. 1 sport and master of all sports worldwide.
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Technical Leaflet T1: The Table
BoD Approval: pending
Changes for Technical Leaflet T1: The Table Document H Under each chapter/section, only the paragraphs or sentences with suggested changes are indicated. Deletions are indicated with strikethrough and additions are underlined. Chapter 1: Introduction The International Table Tennis Federation tests and approves tables, thus setting a high standard for sporting quality and safety during international competitions. Information and instructions Full details of the procedure for applying for or renewing ITTF approval of tables and information about the approval procedures are established by the Equipment Committee as an appendix to the present Technical Leaflet and are is contained in Technical Leaflet T7, available to Associations and manufacturers from the ITTF Web-Site. New tables are approved only provisionally for the first year after their first use at an tournament listed in the ITTF calendar; during this period the approval can be cancelled by the Equipment Committee if ITTF receives adverse comments and a retest at the supplier’s expense shows that the table does not meet ITTF specifications.
Chapter 2: Laws and Regulations for International Competitions The Regulations for international competitions (3.2.1.2) state as follows: 3.2.1.1 The approval and authorisation of playing equipment shall be conducted on behalf of the Board of Directors by the Equipment Committee; an approval or authorisation may be suspended by the Executive Committee and subsequently the approval or authorisation may be withdrawn by the Board of Directors. 3.2.1.2
... the equipment … shall be selected from brands and types currently approved by the ITTF.
3.2.5.3 …fluorescent, or luminescent or glossy colours shall not be used anywhere in the playing area…
Chapter 4: Criteria for approval and guideline 4.7. Surface colour, finish and lines of the playing surface The playing surface of an ITTF approved table must have a dark colour, whose lightness L in the CIELAB system must not be of any degree of darkness having a Yvalue under illuminant D65 of not more than 30% (CIE system). It must be matt, with a degree of gloss not more than 15 (60° specular gloss, ASTM procedure D 523) and a low haze-gloss. A change of the paint may affect the friction, the gloss and the bounce; it requires a testing. Both green and blue give a good contrast to the reddish floor recommended by ITTF. Nevertheless It may be reminder that about 8% of the male population, with North European ancestors, have problems in distinguishing green and red. The finish must be uniform over the entire surface; it must therefore be applied in some uniform manner such as spraying, or roller or curtain coating or similar; brush marks are unacceptable. The finish will also be unacceptable if, regardless of the measured degree of gloss, it permits the shape of a light-source to be distinguished in its reflection.
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Technical Leaflet T1: The Table
BoD Approval: pending
Although The surface must be matt, it must also be even and regular, with no inlaid dust and no projecting particles of pigment. The difference in level of all lines should not be detectable by the fingers, and in no case should shall it be measurable. 4.8. Friction of the playing surface The changes of both spin and trajectory when a table tennis ball bounces are governed by the coefficient of friction (CoF) between the ball and the table; the part contributed by the table to the CoF is almost exclusively a property of the surface finish. We formerly specified the CoF of the playing surface, but have subsequently learned that there are unidentified variables that reduce the reproducibility of the method. The following is therefore advisory, not mandatory: The dynamic CoF between the playing surface and that of any ITTF-approved ball should not be greater than 0.6 6 and not be less than … (this limit will be set during 2016, and submitted to BoD in 2017). The CoF should be essentially the same regardless of the direction in which it is measured. It should be noted that not all balls have the same frictional properties; although they do not differ greatly. Nevertheless, the CoF should be measured according to a standardized procedure including balls used and prior cleaning of balls and tables. with at least two brands of ball. 4.9. Bounce on the playing surface Both speed and spin of a ball are affected by the resilience and the friction properties of the playing surface and other properties factors that all together define govern the bounce. This The vertical bounce of a spin-less ball is measured by dropping an approved ball of average bounce on to the table; from a height of 300 mm, measured between the playing surface and the bottom of the ball, the ball must rebound to a height of 230-260 mm. A table will not be approved unless the bounce is legal and uniform (see below) over the entire playing surface. 4.10. Advertisements and markings on the table Each side of the table shall carry once the ITTF logo indicating that the table is ITTFapproved. The logo shall be visible in an area of at least 25 sqcm and not more than 50 sqcm that may be located on the frame of the tabletop or on the undercarriage. On show tables the ITTF logo may be bigger on the undercarriage. The logo shall be in Black or White, but not in any other colours. Permanent advertisements on tables are allowed only on the sides and ends of the tabletop and each shall be no longer than 60 cm on any face. On each face, a continuous length of 70 cm shall be free, i.e. without any permanent marking including ITTF-logo, so that temporary advertisements can be affixed. 4.11. Country of origin markings Applies for ALL tables produced and distributed after October 2015. A printing or sticker (letters at least 1 cm high) on the table-top underside shall inform as follows:
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Technical Leaflet T1: The Table
BoD Approval: pending
If all the undercarriage and the table-top are is made and assembled in the same country, simply print: «Made in » If the essential parts are made or assembled in different countries, print (all together not one of the three): «table-top made in » «table undercarriage made in » «table assembled in » If table-top and undercarriage are made and assembled in the same , the table-top frame may wear on both (out)sides once «made in
