The incredible memories made in Budapest this April will live on forever, the blockbuster action and drama on display capturing the imagination of sports fans across the world.

Now the success of the Liebherr 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships is being harnessed and used to ensure that all future World Championships events will be just as unforgettable.

Setting a long-lasting legacy for the World Championships was the subject of this week’s meetings between the ITTF and the HTTA, whereby HTTA President Roland Nátrán and HTTA Secretary General Gabor Felegyi spent two days at the ITTF’s Singapore Office to give a full report on how to make table tennis’ biggest event even greater.

This was the first time that the ITTF, with the new Competition and Marketing Departments in place, to organise a World Championships debrief as part of the ITTF’s new professional approach to the events.

ITTF Deputy President, Khalil Al Mohannadi, was present at the meetings and expressed his delight at the proactive approach taken by the ITTF and the local organising committee to ensure that future World Championships will also be a huge success.

“This is the very first time that we held a face-to-face debrief with the local organising committee of a World Championships event. I think it’s a positive step to improve the organisation of our events, which is a key target for the next World Championships in 2020 in Busan, Korea Republic, as we continue to professionalise the sport and progress towards the revolutionary, new competition format from 2021 in Houston, United States.”

ITTF Deputy President, Khalil Al Mohannadi

“Since table tennis, as a global sport, develops rapidly and acquires hundreds of millions of spectators’ attention all around the world, we have to evaluate the 2019 World Championships in Budapest in the most professional way possible. We deeply scrutinised the experiences gained, both on a professional and policy level. It was an honour for me to exchange views with the highest-level professionals and policy makers at the ITTF in Singapore.”

HTTA President, Roland Nátrán

“From the very beginning of our “journey” to the delivery of the event it has been a great pleasure for all professional staff in the ITTF to work with a full team of professionals in each of the key areas, led by Mr. Roland Nátrán and Mr. Gabor Felegyi. The cooperation with the LOC was smooth throughout all phases and we felt it was important to keep the momentum with the planning of this debrief, whilst the experience was fresh for both sides. It was a great opportunity to exchange experiences and views on how the ITTF and the LOCs can work in a better model and synergy in the future for delivering world-class events that table tennis deserves to have.”

ITTF Competition Director, Vicky Eleftheriade