Why ITTF boss Srling wants all communities to participate in table tennis

International Table Tennis Foundation (ITTF) president Petra Sörling has called for integration of all communities in the world to participate in the game.

Sörling was speaking at Charter Hall, Nairobi during the World Table Tennis Day celebration which is marked every year in April to honour Ivor Montagu, organiser of the first World Table Tennis Championship in 1926 and the founder and first president of ITTF.

“It is the day we celebrate table tennis, as well as the universality and social inclusiveness the sport represents. It is a moment to recognise that diversity enriches our sporting communities, fostering an environment where everyone, regardless of their gender, age, race or physical capabilities can participate and thrive,” said Sörling.

According to Sörling, the ITTF aims to amplify the spirit of diversity and inclusion ostensibly to inspire a more accepting society worldwide.

She also supported a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board to introduce a groundbreaking Mixed Team event for table tennis at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

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“We really need to work and rethink about the next generation. On the social side, we need to think about the next generation doing good things, how we can open the door for the next generation, how we can involve, how we can work with diversity and inclusion as a theme for the World Table Tennis Day. But diversity and inclusion is not only something for the WTTD, it’s something we should embrace every day in our lives,” remarked Sörling.

Reflecting on the historic development ahead of the 2028 Summer Games, Sörling highlighted: “The Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028 will be a mixed team event, and all the 227 member associations across the globe will need female players to prepare for the Games. That’s why I am extremely proud of the concept that we conceived in 2018 about the WTTD.”

The Olympic table tennis programme, which will now feature Men’s and Women’s Singles, the return of Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and, for the first time ever at the Olympic Games, the Mixed Team event.

The Mixed Team event was first successfully launched at the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup held in Chengdu, China, in December 2023.

This year’s WTTD in Nairobi celebrated the Vision Changers Kenya.

Kenya Table Tennis Association (KTTA) president Andrew Mudibo thanked the ITTF Foundation for allowing Kenya to host the WTTD Main event.

“I wish to appreciate the journey that the Vision Changers Kenya has undergone in transforming lives, because it’s how you live in a community that determines how your life will be.  It’s a privilege and honor for Kenya to be selected to be the center point of the WTTD celebration this year,” said Mudibo who is contesting for National Olympic Committee of Kenya’s (NOC-K) Secretary General post.

For the past three years, ITTF Foundation has collaborated with Vision Changers Kenya through it's DBF programme, supporting their impactful "Hope kwa Vijana Mtaani" (swahili for Hope for Youth in the Community) project.

This initiative has been instrumental in using table tennis as a tool for crime prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration, significantly reducing juvenile offenses in local communities.

The success of this project speaks volumes: over 880 youth directly benefited, with noticeable reductions in youth crime rates through prevention strategies that engage young people in constructive activities.

By establishing six table tennis facilities within informal settlements in Mukuru Kwa Njenga and Kariobangi, Vision Changers Kenya has demonstrated how table tennis can transform lives and communities.

Highlighting these achievements, the WTTD 2025 main celebration in Nairobi, Kenya is reinforcing the message that table tennis is more than just a sport—a bridge towards community cohesion that connects people of different abilities, backgrounds, ages, and gender identities.