2022 World Table Tennis Day

06th April, 2022




About the Event

Join our various online events and celebrate the power of peace-making using table tennis!

In line with the biennial celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy, the 2022 World Table Tennis Day focuses on using table tennis for peace-making and conflict resolutions. Our interactive events including expert talks with table tennis celebrity Adam Bobrow, panel discussions featuring star player Kanak Jha, Lin Gaoyuan and Wang Manyu, home workouts, and celebration events around the globe will guarantee an exciting day full of fun and inspiration on the table tennis for diplomacy.


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Agenda

06-04-22 01:00 am

Welcome to World Table Tennis Day 2022

06-04-22 02:00 am

REWATCH: 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals

Round of 16

GNANASEKARAN Sathiyan/BATRA Manika v JHA Kanak/WANG Manyu

06-04-22 03:00 am

Tahiti - Happiness Through Diversity

06-04-22 04:00 am

Table tennis webinar: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

06-04-22 05:00 am

Smashing Teen Rivalry in Nabua, Fiji

06-04-22 06:00 am

REWATCH: 2011 Qatar Peace & Sport Cup

China/Qatar v Korea Republic/DPR Korea

CHEN Qi / AL-MOHANNADI Ahmad v
RYU Seung-Min / KIM Hyok-Bong
06-04-22 07:00 am

REWATCH: Unified Korea 2018 World Championships, Halmstad, Sweden

JEON Jihee / YANG Haeun v SUH Hyowon / KIM Song I

06-04-22 08:00 am

Pilates for Table Tennis with Rachael Milligan

Rachael Milligan

06-04-22 09:00 am

Panel Discussion: Reunite for Peace - 2011 Qatar Peace & Sport Cup

RYU Seung-Min

Wilfried Lemke

Joel Bouzou

Khalil Al-Mohannadi

Moderator: HRH Princess Zeina RASHID of Jordan

On the 40th anniversary of the Ping Pong Diplomacy, table tennis has once again made history in Qatar Peace & Sport Cup 2011. By playing together as doubles teams, the athletes have paved the way to ease political tensions, unite nations and promote peace.

 

Such historical events should be remembered and celebrated, and who would be better to pass down the stories than those who participated? In this get-together, the table tennis community would love to hear your thoughts about Qatar Peace & Sport Cup, and what it was like to be a part of a new Ping Pong Diplomacy legacy. 

06-04-22 10:00 am

Table Tennis Brings Yemen Together

06-04-22 11:00 am

Expert Talk: Including Everyone – Dealing With Bias and Discrimination in Daily Lives

Lisa Bendiek

Peace is more than the absence of war. It's rooted in respectful interaction with one another which is derived from mutual understanding and acceptance.  

 

In our increasingly diverse world, individuals must educate themselves about unconscious bias and discrimination, and how this may manifest in their daily interactions with the people around them to prevent potential tension and conflicts. This webinar looks to increase participants’ awareness of exclusion and bias, and how they reflect in every area of our lives. The participants will also learn how to talk to others, including children, about race and diversity. 

06-04-22 12:00 pm

Lebanon: Multicultural Table Tennis with Heart and Mind

06-04-22 01:00 pm

Panel Discussion: Sport as a Tool to Prevent Conflict and Build Peace

Dr. J Simon Rofe

Dr. Lars Bo Kaspersen

Connie Sweeris

Petra Sörling

This year on World Table Tennis Day, the ITTF Foundation would like to draw attention to the power of sport in peace-making. 

 

Not all conflict is national in scale. Many communities face more localized tensions and conflicts arising between different political ideologies, ethno-cultural groups, long-time residents and immigrants. While these may, or may not, involve into violence, they tear apart communities, foster distrust, and potentially jeopardise the collaboration needed to advance development initiatives. 

 

The table tennis community would like to hear your thoughts, on how sport can help to build friendship, create dialogues, and make peace.

06-04-22 02:00 pm

Expert Talk: Refugee & Trauma- Understand and Support Resilience

Corinna Klinger

Heleena Kakar

It is only human nature to fear the unknown and unfamiliar. People migrate every day in our increasingly diverse world and fleeing from one's homeland is, unfortunately, one of the most unsettling reasons behind the migration.

 

In this session, the participants will hear the true story of a refugee. Heleena Kakar, President of the Afghanistan Table Tennis Federation, who fled Afghanistan in 2021 will share with the audience the challenges and obstacles she faces before, during and after her journey from Afghanistan to the U.S. While Corinna Klinger, an expert in psychosocial training for refugees and host communities will share her point of few on how one can support the refugees and create a more inclusive, welcoming society for migrants.  

06-04-22 03:00 pm

Two Countries and One Table: North Macedonia and Kosovo

06-04-22 03:30 pm

Teenage Spirit: Table Tennis and Cultural Coexistence

06-04-22 04:00 pm

Meet & Greet: Houston 2021 - Table Tennis and Friends

LIN Gaoyuan

Kanak Jha

WANG Manyu

Many of us know Ping Pong Diplomacy as the USA-China table tennis exchange in 1971 and 1972. Table tennis has since then become one of the very first sports to have a direct impact on diplomatic affairs, breaking the ice between nations, creating dialogues and making peace.  

 

All this was 50 years ago. A new history has been made in Houston. Lin Gaoyuan, Lily Zhang, Wang Manyu and Kanak Jha joined forces at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals in the Mixed Doubles. 

Join this live session and find out what it was like for the players to play together. 

 

06-04-22 05:00 pm

Pilates for Table Tennis with Rachael Milligan

Rachael Milligan

06-04-22 06:00 pm

Anti-conflict in Calabar, Nigeria with Offiong Edem

06-04-22 07:00 pm

REWATCH: 2011 Qatar Peace & Sport Cup

USA/Russia v Korea Republic/DPR Korea

ZHANG Lily/TIKHOMIROVA Anna v
KIM Kyung-Ah/KIM Hye Song
06-04-22 08:00 pm

Meet & Greet: Around the World with Adam Bobrow

Adam Bobrow

06-04-22 09:00 pm

USA - No to Racism, Yes to Table Tennis

06-04-22 10:00 pm

Resolving Conflicts with Table Tennis with FUDELA

06-04-22 11:00 pm

REWATCH: 2021 World Championships

Semifinals

HARIMOTO Tomokazu/HAYATA Hina v LIN Gaoyuan/ZHANG Lily


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Frequently Asked Questions

World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) is celebrated annually on April 6 since 2015, also marking the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. It is the day we celebrate table tennis, its universality and the social inclusiveness the sport represents.

Every year on April 6, hundreds (sometimes thousands) of events take place all around the world to celebrate our favourite sport. We have seen some out-of-the-world creativity where people played table tennis in the most unimaginable locations, as well as the longest table tennis rally that lasted for almost 28 minutes.

In line with the biennial celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy, the 2022 World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) focuses on using table tennis for peace-making and conflict resolutions. Sparked by the original Ping Pong Diplomacy event in the Japanese city of Nagoya in 1971, 2022 WTTD seeks to create friendships and build bridges between conflicted parties on both, the state and grassroots level.
Ping Pong Diplomacy refers to the table tennis exchange between the United States (US) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the early 1970s. The event began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan as the US players Glenn Cowan missed his bus and ended up riding with the Chinese team. This friendly encounter led to President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972 and has been seen as a key turning point in relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

Inspired by the original event, the ITTF Foundation started a programme under the name of Ping Pong Diplomacy, bearing the spirit of the original incident and using table tennis as a tool to continue the peace-making legacy. All Ping Pong Diplomacy projects aim to build friendship, create dialogues, resolve conflicts on both state and the grassroots level.