Three years ago, the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) heavily criticized a then new global tournament series called “World Table Tennis” (WTT), questioned its legality and thereby provoked a dispute with the world association ITTF. After the DTTB has since reconciled with the ITTF, it is now hosting such a top-class tournament itself.
From Sunday, the 32 best players in the world will play in a multi-purpose arena in Frankfurt’s Unterliederbach district. With $500,000 in prize money, the WTT Champions tournament in the “Ballsporthalle” is the most valuable table tennis tournament that has ever taken place on German soil. Each participant is guaranteed $4,250 in prize money, and the winners receive $30,000 each.
In the men’s category, the Chinese world champion Fan Zhendong, the Chinese Olympic champion Ma Long and the German European champion Dang Qiu are starting, along with the other Germans Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Patrick Franziska, Benedikt Duda, Timo Boll and Ruwen Filus. Among the women, the Chinese world champion Sun Yingsha, the Chinese Olympic champion Chen Meng and the German European Championship runner-up Nina Mittelham can be seen alongside the other Germans Han Ying, Shan Xiaona, Sabine Winter and Annett Kaufmann.
DTTB sports director Richard Prause calls the top-class field of participants “the essence” of table tennis. “This tournament is as difficult to win as the Olympics or a World Cup,” says Dang Qiu, 26, currently the second best German player behind Ovtcharov according to the world rankings.
Open detailed view
He also agreed: Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who many Germans know from his performances at the Olympics.
(Photo: Kin Cheung/AP)
The “WTT Champions” tournament format has exclusive characteristics: exclusively singles for men and women, as an eye-catcher and only a single table on the center court the whole week, the interior is dark, four winning sets only from the semi-finals onwards. “I like playing tournaments like this at just one table in a huge hall,” says Han Ying, “I also like the lighting effects in the otherwise pitch-dark hall, it’s a real show.”
When the world association launched its WTT format for tournaments with such a show in 2019, the DTTB initially reacted sniffily. They feared that too many competitions would overload the players and saw the German Bundesliga as at risk as well as their own international influence. In autumn 2020, he wrote an outraged open letter and had the legality of WTT’s activities legally examined.
Two presidents are reconciling – that’s why it’s working in Frankfurt
It was only two years later that the DTTB reconciled with the ITTF, namely the new DTTB President Claudia Herweg with the new ITTF President, the Swede Petra Sörling. Germany was awarded the contract for a WTT tournament and awarded it to Frankfurt. In return, a planned application for the 2025 Individual World Cup was abandoned. This will now take place in Qatar.
The DTTB has the option of another Champions tournament, but would like to play an even larger role in the extensive WTT calendar. The DTTB is also interested in the highest tournament category “Grand Smash”, which, like the Grand Slam in tennis, is to take place four times a year at fixed locations and is therefore well received by the world association.
President Herweg recently said about applicants for this series: “Singapore, definitely a Chinese city, possibly Melbourne and we also want to be there – with Berlin or Munich.” On Thursday she confirmed this intention: “We plan to host the ‘Champions’ again – then even a little better – and check whether the highest level ‘Grand Smash’ would also be possible.”
