The International Table Tennis Federation will organize its elective general assembly on May 27. Petra Sörling, outgoing president, broke a second term against Qatari Khalil al-Mohannadi and Mauritanian Mohamed El Hacen Ahmed Salem. The Swedish, who will reveal her manifesto during the week, confided in Francs games To take stock of his first mandate and present his vision for the years to come.
His first term
I had the privilege of being elected to Houston in 2021. It was a special moment to take the lead of a federation because of the pandemic. Table tennis may have suffered even more as China is our main market and that the country has been almost completely locked for three years. In just four years, we have created a dynamic. We saw it at the Paris Games. I exchanged with the presidents of the continental federations to have their feelings on this first mandate, they feel that there is a dynamic, they want table tennis to remain on the front line. This is also why I decided to run for a second term.
Unlike 2021, it is a more traditional campaign, where people can travel and meet. I have to “sell” my ideas to members, but it is not that complicated with the course that has been in the past four years because I can show results. Being the first woman president, and the first leader of the ITTF elected to the IOC was a dream. I have this weight on my shoulders but I have the feeling that we have a lot to do. I see it as a second chapter, we have to do a little more, while showing member associations that our actions bring them something.
Top 8 objective in Los Angeles 2028
Table tennis can be a Top 8 sport at Los Angeles Games. It is not impossible if we continue to move forward at the same speed. For us, trying to grow, grow, is an obligation. When we look at the sports of the top 8, I think we deserve to be with them. For this, there is the sports component, but also everything we can do on the various markets. I want all our members to have the feeling of being part of the adventure. We have 227 member associations, it’s huge, but how can we make sure to be unavoidable around the world, and not only in China or Asia?
At the Tokyo Games, in the single gentlemen tournament, we had players of four continents in the quarterfinals. It was something big. Last week, the Brazilian Hugo Calderano won the Macao World Cup by beating the two best players in the world. To be a sport of the top 8, it takes diversity in the results. We are on the right rails. It is not impossible, we can succeed. We are working on all aspects, the sportsman and the salesperson, and that’s how we will get there. We know what to do, and we have to do it everywhere!
The integration of a mixed team test at the Olympic Games
We had four events until 2020. From Tokyo, we have five (with mixed double), and in Los Angeles we will have six. This is not just another event. We created a mixed team World Cup and we had two very successful editions, which really brought something in terms of equality. Some member associations complained by saying: “We cannot compete, we have no players. »» It’s time to support girls to be able to train a mixed team in the future! The addition of this event to the games will boost the number of players. Globally, around 20 % of licensees are women while we are a very committed sport for parity, with equality from the Prize money between men and women since 2008. This event will have been pushing the federations to support the players. For us, it is not just one more event, it changes the situation.
Limit the environmental footprint
The first thing I did after my election was to create a position of sustainability manager, where we appointed someone from our foundation. Now we have manuals dedicated to organizers with a special chapter on sustainability and inheritance. Recently, we organized a sustainability forum where all members were able to exchange their best practices. When we started, in 2021, the manufacturers saw that with fear. From now on, they have their own working group on sustainability and there will be a few surprises this year with good initiatives in terms of recycled equipment, new green products that will come out soon. I am very proud because it is concrete. There are also areas where we have a lot to do, but we are on the move.
Travel is our biggest challenge. We are trying more and more to have event clusters: when you are in Asia, you have several events that follow each other. This is important for the climate but also for the well-being of athletes. At the end of the pandemic, we had to push the organizers, we were already happy to have an event, regardless of its location. Now that the situation is better and new members want to receive competitions, it’s easier for us to establish priorities. We see this this year, and it will be further reinforced next year: we want to promote clusters of events to limit these journeys.
The next ESPORT World Championships
Last year, we organized the very first world championships for virtual table tennis to stick to the young generations, meet them where they are, behind the screens, and attract them to sport. It was a great success. We will organize another edition by the end of the year to prepare for the 2027 games. We want to have a world championship each year, but we have not yet decided if it will be as in 2024, if it will be dedicated to young people or if it will be at isolated event. We try to calibrate the format for the Esport Olympic Games.
We do not want to do something artificial: table tennis in virtual reality already existed and it was popular on the market. France was among the leaders in terms of results but also as a member. The French Federation pushed me in this direction, I felt that they were with me and without them, I do not think that we would have organized the first edition last year. They helped me push my executive office. We are in the planning phase. Location and dates are not yet defined, but there will be an event this year. We will continue on this path.
