The countdown is fast approaching the fateful day for the organizers of the individual table tennis world championships in Paris. Saturday, April 13, it will indicate D – 30 before the start of the only World Cup meetings in an Olympic discipline scheduled on French territory in 2013. Where is the organization? What is the event like? What will be new? The answers from Pascal Maillet, operational director of the 2013 World Cup.
FrancsJeux : One month before the start of the 2013 World Cup, how is the ticketing going?
Pascal Maillet: Pretty good. We have already sold around 34 tickets, for a budget target of 000 tickets. We are not too far away. And there are four weeks left before the start of the competitions. We hope to reach our goal, or even exceed it, thanks to the sales made just before and during the world championships. But the economic context is not favorable.
Will Bercy be sufficiently full?
Yes. We hope to reach a score of 80 spectators over the whole week. In addition to places sold, the Mondial will have around 000 accredited people, 2000 to 4 VIP spectators per session, plus 600 children invited to Bercy as part of the Educ’Ping operation. The last weekend, the POPB should be full.
France and Bercy had already hosted the world table tennis championships in 2003. In ten years, has the context of the event changed?
Yes, a lot. The World Cup has taken on a new dimension, much larger and much more complex. In 2003, the competition had 550 table tennis players. There will be 300 more next month. Television constraints are also heavier. An example: the Japanese channel TV Tokyo will provide its own production at Bercy. During the first rounds, the Japanese players will play on a dedicated court.
In France, how will the World Cup be broadcast?
The rights were acquired by Team 21. The TNT channel will provide one hour of programming per day, plus the end of the French players' matches. The five finals will be broadcast live. But we want to innovate in the way we show table tennis on television, by offering the channels, in addition to the matches, new images and behind the scenes of the event.
Will the 2013 World Cup stand out from its French predecessor, organized ten years earlier in the same setting?
I'm convinced. We do not deny the past. We even draw on the experience acquired during global events recently organized in France. I worked on the women's handball world championships in 2007 and those of badminton in 2010. And we have, in the team, two alumni of the Judo World Championships in 2011. But we are moving up a level compared to 2003. In in terms of hospitality, in particular, an often neglected sector in table tennis. We also aim to make the competition a real show, with lots of sound and light entertainment. We want to create a new benchmark in the way of organizing a world ping championship.
Aside from the competition, will the event be marked by institutional news?
Yes. It will serve as the setting for the General Assembly of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). A very important assembly, since it is elective. And nearly fifty meetings of the various ITTF commissions are planned during the ten days, in Bercy or in the official hotels.
Will the 2013 World Cup be a “people” event?
Yes. We invited personalities, particularly sports personalities, close to our discipline. Monday May 20, the last day of the World Cup, a “ping star” tournament will be organized in Bercy before the last finals.
