The Global Festival, 'BNK Busan Bank 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships' Held

From 16th to 25th, 10 Days at BEXCO... Over 2,000 Athletes from 47 Countries Participating

Opening Ceremony on 17th at 4 PM, 'One Table One World (ONE TABLE ONE WORLD)'

Park Hyung-jun, Yoo Seung-min Joint Organizing Committee Chairs, ITTF Pr

The 'BNK Busan Bank 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships,' the most prestigious tournament in the sport of table tennis, will be held at BEXCO in Haeundae from the 16th to the 25th.

BNK Busan Bank 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships Poster.

The World Table Tennis Championships were first held in 1926 in London, England, and have been held a total of 65 times to date.

This event is hosted by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and organized by the 2024 Busan World Table Tennis Championships Organizing Committee, with about 2,000 players from 47 countries participating.

This is the first time that South Korea, a powerhouse in table tennis, has hosted the World Table Tennis Championships domestically.

The city had succeeded in bidding for the 2020 World Table Tennis Championships, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, it challenged to re-bid for the 2024 World Table Tennis Championships and succeeded.

At the ITTF General Assembly held in Houston, USA, in November 2021, Busan was finally confirmed as the host city for the 2024 World Table Tennis Championships.

Under the slogan "ONE TABLE ONE WORLD," the tournament will be held with men's and women's team events, and 16 qualification spots (8 each for men and women) for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be awarded to the top players, making it a pre-Olympic event.

Forty countries each for men and women are divided into eight groups of five teams each, where they compete in group stage leagues. The top three teams from each group advance to the round of 24 knockout stage to compete for rankings.

The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held on the 17th at 4 p.m. under the theme "Bringing Dreams to Busan" at BEXCO's First Exhibition Hall.

Attendees will include Park Hyung-jun, the co-chairman of the organizing committee and mayor of Busan; Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korea Table Tennis Association; Petra S?rling, ITTF president; and Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The opening ceremony will feature diverse media performances and fusion gugak (traditional Korean music) performances that highlight Korea's unique characteristics and the value of table tennis. Following the ceremony, the South Korean team’s match will take place.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, "As this is the first time the tournament is held in South Korea and it is hosted in Busan, our city will make every effort together with the host and related organizations to successfully hold this event until the very end." He added, "Through this tournament, we will promote Busan as a true 'global sports city' and further as a 'global hub city' to the world, along with attracting various mega sports events."

As part of the related events, the ITTF SUMMIT and the ITTF President's Cup Youth and Recreational Sports Tournament will also be held simultaneously. With an expected daily attendance of over 10,000 visitors to the venue, Busan city plans to make utmost efforts in safety management, including controlling infectious diseases such as measles.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.