Peace and Sport Table tennis Tournament will be bringing countries together – Table Tennis News
The Peace and Sport Table Tennis Tournament will be held in November this year and feature countries having political tensions with each other.
The event is being held jointly by the Monaco-based Peace and Sport Foundation, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the Peace and Sport Table Tennis Tournament. The most prominent teams of the tournament will be the featuring of South Korea and North Korea, together.
The tournament which will be staged at Qatar, will invite ten countries. Players from these countries will partner with each other for the Doubles events. There will be Men’s and Women’s singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles category in the tournament. The teams from China, Japan and Russia have already been invited.
Adham Sharara, president of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), made the announcement at Rotterdam, Netherland. Meanwhile, the GAC Group World Table Tennis Championship is in progress at Rotterdam.
Sharara, said, “Organised by the Qatar National Olympic Committee and the Qatar Tennis Table Association, under the leadership of the ITTF and the guidance of Peace and Sport, this is an unprecedented sports event that will break political tensions and unite nations in a way that only table tennis can.”
The president is hoping that table tennis and the sports’ players become, “genuine ambassadors of global peace.”
There will be players from India, Pakistan, United States of America and Iran playing together in the Doubles category. The main focus is on the countries which have political and strategic problems with each.
The organisers have also invited government officials and diplomats from the participating countries, to solve their issues by dialogues. This will help in fostering political communication and strengthen the diplomatic relations also.
President of ITTF will be visiting North Korea in June in an attempt to convince the country to play in the Doubles matches, with South Korea. The two Korean regions were in a state of war in 1950-53. The Korean War did end, but it did not bring peace in the region. Last year, the North Koreans attacked South Korea which claimed 50 lives at the border, between the two regions.
The peace championship is a valuable event, to bring countries having differences with each other under one platform. All is left to see, whether the move becomes successful or not.
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