The table tennis world championships began on Monday, May 13, at the Palais Omnisports in Paris-Bercy. The “Mondial Ping”, for short. The only world championship in an Olympic discipline organized in France in 2013, it should remain an Asian affair. The Chinese will take the titles there. The others will pick up the crumbs, if there are any left. The French team will not win a medal, barring a miracle. And miracles are rare in table tennis.
But the essential thing is probably not there. The stakes of a world championship at home now go beyond just the results of the competition. It is measured in long-term impact on the practice of a discipline. Christian Palierne, the president of the French Table Tennis Federation (FFTT), says it again and again: “We want to take advantage of the 2013 World Cup to get closer to occasional players. There are 5 million people in France who play ping-pong for leisure, while our numbers are currently around 200 members. »
How to achieve this? Easy: by going to meet them. Not just to introduce yourself, say hello, praise the merits of the discipline and slip in a membership slip. Ahead of the Paris competition, the FFTT traveled across France to set up its tables. The operation has given itself an American name: The Mondial Ping Tour. In detail, a table tennis “caravan”, which left on March 30 to complete its tour of the country on May 18. In the meantime, she will have visited around thirty cities. Each time, the discipline is presented in half a dozen universes: Baby Ping for 4-7 year olds, Techni-Ping to learn or progress, Fit Ping Tonic for getting back into shape, Free Ping on tables at original forms, Handi-Ping, Compet'ping for competition enthusiasts, Virtual Ping in partnership with Microsoft...
Another initiative: Educ’Ping. An educational and teaching program, intended for primary schools, middle and high schools, and universities. Validated by the Ministry of National Education, it offers the practice of discipline in establishments, assistance with teacher training and a discovery of the culture of ping-pong.
Finally, the “Culture Ping” program has set itself the ambition of bringing table tennis where one would hardly imagine finding it, in the heart of cities, in estates, between buildings… Hundreds of concrete tables have been built, neighborhood tournaments were organized.
All sports know it: nothing beats an Olympic or world medal won at home to spark vocations and suddenly boost the membership of a federation. French table tennis will not be so lucky. But his Mondial Ping could earn him big.
