During China's week-long National Day holiday, Shougang Park in Beijing has surprisingly emerged as a new favorite among tourists. Just shy of two months after the Paris Olympics, the park hosted the 2024 WTT China Smash, a prestigious event in the WTT series featuring the world's top table tennis players. It marked the largest international table tennis competition held in the Chinese capital since the 1961 World Championships.
With tickets for the tournament in high demand, World Table Tennis CEO Steve Dainton was visibly pleased. "We are very proud and very happy that we can come back to the capital of China, Beijing," Dainton shared in an interview with Sports Scene's Zhu Mandan. "In 1961, we held the first ever ITTF Table Tennis World Championships in Beijing, China and we are now holding the first ever WTT Grand Smash in Beijing. It will be a wonderful and historic moment, and we are very happy to be here in the most important city in this wonderful country."
China's Lin Shidong (L) and Sun Yingsha pose on the podium during the award ceremony for the women's singles final at the China Smash table tennis tournament in Beijing, October 6, 2024. /CFP
Dainton emphasized his vision for WTT to blend the essence of the past and the future, much like that which is embodied in Shougang Park. "Shougang is really interesting as it is where the past meets the future," he said.
"We can see this old industrial factory that has been turned into a wonderful, modern place. And it's infused with a lot of green, modern and innovative ideas. We think table tennis is a little bit of the same. It is a very traditional sport and it's been around for almost a hundred years. WTT is also trying to be modern and innovative, so as to show the world a different form of table tennis. So combining the two, Shougang and table tennis, WTT is in a perfect place."
Dainton noted how table tennis has evolved to a higher level, inspired by the reception of the sport at the Paris Olympics. He explained: "The Olympic Games is a wonderful barometer for us to see where the sport is. We could really feel in Paris this time not only top players from different parts of the world doing well, but also the fans, the spectators and heightened media interest."
"We've seen excellent TV ratings after Paris Games in parts of the world where normally we don't get such big results in this sport," he added. "In the USA, and even in some countries like Kazakhstan, we saw massive improvements. That gives us the feeling that the sport is at a much higher level. And now we are here in Beijing and having the Grand Smash, we'll make sure that the attention paid to our sport remains at a very high level."