Busan to host 2024 table tennis world championships

All News 11:19 November 25, 2021

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- The southeastern metropolitan city of Busan will host the world table tennis championships in 2024 -- four years after losing the competition to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced Busan as the host of the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships during its annual general meeting in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday (local time).

Houston is currently staging the world championships with individual events -- singles, doubles and mixed doubles. In even-numbered years, the world championships feature men's and women's team events.

In this photo provided by the Busan Metropolitan Government, Petra Sorling (R), new president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), and her predecessor, Thomas Weikert, announce Busan as the host of the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships during the ITTF's general meeting in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 24, 2021. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Busan had been scheduled to host the team championships in 2020, but the event was postponed multiple times before being canceled altogether due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In May, Busan launched another bid for the 2024 event and defeated Buenos Aires in an ITTF vote, 97-46.

The 2024 championships will run from May 24 to June 2, with some 2,000 athletes and officials from about 100 nations on hand.

Ryu Seung-min, a member of the International Olympic Committee and president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, also served as the head of Busan's bidding committee.