An exception. Only one, but it's big. Unless the situation turns around, China will organize a major event on the international sports calendar by the end of 2022. Seven months after the Beijing Winter Games, it should maintain a world meeting planned on its soil . The only one to be spared from the wave of cancellations and postponements imposed by health constraints.
The city of Chengdu, 16 million inhabitants, capital of the province of Sichuan, will host the world table tennis team championships from September 30 to October 9. The event was initially planned for last April. It was postponed until the fall. But the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), which held a meeting of its executive committee in Malmö (Sweden) over the past two days, confirmed that the competition would take place. The body chaired by Swede Petra Sörling also specified that Russia and Belarus would be excluded.
Exactly 100 days before the event, on July 11, the ITTF issued a press release to ensure that the World Team Championships were on the right track. “ All eyes are on Chengdu, and we look forward to a breathtaking competitione, Petra Sörling had suggested. As we are set to accelerate preparations, I am grateful to our hosts, who have taken all necessary measures to ensure the success of our flagship event. »
At the time, the words and confidence of the president of the ITTF could have left one skeptical. Since the Beijing Winter Games, China has canceled one by one all the international sporting events planned on its soil in 2022. Among the last on the list, the Asian Games in Hangzhou, postponed to 2023.
But table tennis, often presented as a national sport in China (the country has won 32 of the 37 Olympic titles in history), seems to benefit from preferential treatment. “ Two months before the deadline, the ITTF and the Chengdu preparatory committee are accelerating their preparations, explained the body on Wednesday July 27. The Executive Committee welcomed the progress made on COVID-19 countermeasures to ensure that all participants arrive safely, participate safely and return safely"
According to our information, the organizers and the ITTF will take advantage of the symbolic date of D – 2 months, Saturday July 30, to unveil the logo of the World Team Championships. A new illustration of the Chinese determination to maintain the event.
The next one is announced for the month of August. One month before the competition, the Chinese will reveal the details of the health measures imposed on the 80 teams (40 men and 40 women) qualified for the 2022 Worlds. Unless there are any surprises, they will be very strict. The organizers could take up the principle and the main lines, but on a reduced scale, of “ closed circuit » implemented for the Beijing Winter Games. The competitions could take place behind closed doors, without any spectators
In any case, the World Team Championships in Chengdu will be an event, or at least a curiosity. The only international sporting event organized in China this year since the Beijing Winter Games.
