
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with World Table Tennis By Heather McLean
Thursday, April 4, 2024 - 15:23
Print This Story
Stunning light shows at the WTT's Singapore Smash 2024 are reminiscent of an esports arena
Table tennis, ping pong and whiff whaff These are the names that this well-known sport, famed for its popularity in China, is known as. Table tennis is starting to evolve towards a broader fan base thanks to World Table Tennis (WTT), which is the commercial arm of governing body, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). It was created just three years ago to grow the sport globally.
Explains Melissa Soobratty, senior media director at WTT: We realised that if we didn't do something, we were in danger of the sport stagnating. This was an opportunity for us to take a moment and think, okay, what could we do? How can we change things to make it more relatable, more entertaining, more innovative, more exciting? .
WTT recently renewed and expanded its partnership with global sports video production and distribution agency, Story10 - part of SNTV to promote the sport in key territories and engage new audiences worldwide. Now in the relationship's second year, Story10 is tasked with amplifying game highlights from the 2024 Championships and WTT's marquee Grand Smash, Finals and Champions events, across its network of 8,500 digital and social channels and 700 broadcast partners.
Read more: Smashing padel: Inside Aurora's innovative production of the inaugural Hexagon Cup
SNTV is a joint venture between The Associated Press and IMG. Story10 was launched by SNTV in 2021, supported by SNTV's global distribution network. Meanwhile, IMG is the WTT's production partner for the series.
Story10 puts out anything between two and six video news releases every day of a WTT event. Comments Zoe Duffelen, global head of revenue at SNTV's Story10: It was the perfect partnership for us, just because WTT were in the place where it was almost like a blank canvas. We were learning as we were going, so we were able to develop what our offering was going to be to our news wires, across the SNTV news wires.
Also, for the first time the expanded partnership will see Story10 and WTT develop a pilot project to create authentic influencer collaborations that increase the sport's exposure and engagement with new audiences across social platforms, utilising Story10's network of 7.5 million influencers worldwide.
At the WTT Singapore Smash 2024, players step out of the octagon and take a long walk down the catwalk and into the Infinity Arena. Sports presentations with lights, LEDs, and original composed signature music help with the atmospheric build up
Pushing ping pong
Soobratty explains how WTT is helping to push table tennis as a popular sport outside of China: In China it's more than just a sport. It's really embedded within the culture. So it's bigger, I guess even bigger than how football is in the UK, and they're pretty good at it. To become a table tennis player for China, you are really, really tested from a very young age in terms of spotted and then trained. The resources that they have and that they invest in training the players are second to none.
Now we're seeing things grow [globally]. WTT was created in 2021 when there was a realisation that we really needed to do something to continue the growth of the sport and to change the perception that it was an Asian or Chinese sport.
There are a lot of players from all over the world, whether it's Hugo Calderano from Brazil, Patrick Franziska and Dima Ovtcharov from Germany, Bruna Takahashi, also from Brazil, Adriana D az, Puerto Rico, Kamal Achanta from India. So it's a lot more global than people realise. It's just the fact that China's really good at winning that means they always hit the main headlines, continues Soobratty.
She goes on: Over the last 12 months we've seen the rise of France and the Lebrun brothers come up. As a result of that, and also as a result of the wider coverage that.
Crew from IMG working hard to broadcast the Singapore Smash 2024
Aims of whiff whaff
On the goals and aims of the WTT, Soobratty says: We really want to change how the sport is seen and perceived because traditionally it's a load of tables in a sport hall, and you see how other sports have been moving, especially towards embracing entertainment. So it's not just the action that's taking place on court, on the table, it's giving your fans and the public value for money, because these days when you buy a ticket for a sports event, it's not cheap, so we wanted to make sure that we were giving value, but also bridging that gap from participation to actually watching the pro's and growing the sport from a grassroots level, all the way up to the top.
We have a programme called From Day One to World Number One, and that's reflected in the series of events that we have. So the series that sold for commercial rights is the WTT series, but then we have two tiers below that as well: you have the feeder series and then the youth series, which is under 11 to under 19.
Adds Soobratty: The grassroots side is so important for us. India is going great guns; on the youth side they have a cracking team. And results-wise, the team is just getting stronger and stronger. So I predict in the next five years there will be other challenges to China outside of Japan and Korea and France, etc. It's one of those sports that you can play for life.
Smashing times
Soobratty comments that with Story10, that fan base and the reach of WTT content is expanding rapidly. This is the third year we've done the Smash, and from having started last year with Story10, we have seen the increase in numb
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
22/04/2026
Solid State Logic is advancing its System T platform with a stronger focus on IP...
22/04/2026
From immersive audio to live streaming, Dolby Laboratories is focused on the fut...
22/04/2026
Shallow depth-of-field cameras have taken the industry by storm. Its debut a han...
22/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) announced that Eastern Kentucky University (...
22/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
22/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine 12K LF 100G, a new model in the URSA Cine family adding 100G Ethernet for SMPTE 2110 live production output up to ...
22/04/2026
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, NEP is leaning into hybrid production with the...
22/04/2026
NEP VP, Platform Dan Murphy sits down at the 2026 NAB Show to unpack what NEP P...
22/04/2026
Spotify and the New York Liberty are teaming up to give music and basketball fan...
22/04/2026
New 20-minute documentary explores iconic design The Focusrite Room in Mesa, Arizona, where John Aquilino hosts the Studio Console 005.
In 2025, Focusrite co...
22/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
22/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
22/04/2026
Combines three distinct analogue EQ emulations
The latest addition to Acustica Audio's ever-expanding collection of analogue-emulation plug-ins combines...
22/04/2026
Final instalment in vintage-inspired instrument series
Analog Empire: Bass & Lead marks the final instalment in Melda Production's vintage hardware-insp...
22/04/2026
Fuzz pedal joins all-analogue Series A line
Given that Strymons reputation was built on unapologetically digital pedals, it was a little surprising to see t...
22/04/2026
SBS names shortlisted brands for 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge
22 April, 2026
Media releases
National broadcaster also releases its second annual...
22/04/2026
Why Low Band Electronic Warfare Matters...
22/04/2026
The nation unites around football team's World Cup dream
Warsaw, Poland, 20.04.26: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and media intell...
22/04/2026
Warsaw, Poland, 22.04.26: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data...
22/04/2026
New market intelligence offering gives businesses a clearer view of local consum...
22/04/2026
Glookast Unveils New UX, YouTube and Social Media Connectors, Premiere Panel, Ci...
22/04/2026
Lightcraft Technology to Preview Spark Story at NAB 2026 with Interactive Previs...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/04/2026
22 Apr 2026
VEON's Banglalink to Bring Starlink Mobile to Customers in Bangladesh Bangladesh becomes the third market where VEON and Starlink Mobile partne...
22/04/2026
U have unveiled exclusive first-look images for their six-part police thriller Hit Point, starring Nick Blood (Day of the Jackal) and BAFTA nominee Saffron Hock...
22/04/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
22/04/2026
Wednesday 22 April 2026
Sky announces fifth year of WNT Fund with 30,000 bursa...
22/04/2026
Back to All News
This Earth Day, Discover the Sustainable Productions Behind Our Films and Series
Emma Stewart, Ph.D.
Netflix Sustainability Officer
Enterta...
22/04/2026
The move from Retail Media to Commerce Media is about broadening the scope of th...
22/04/2026
April 22 2026, 07:00 (PDT) Dolby and BMW Bring Dolby Atmos to the BMW 7 Series,...
22/04/2026
RT Documentary On One 7-part series breaks US market for first time
RT Programme Sales has announced its first deal with a US distribution partner for its 7-...
22/04/2026
NVIDIA and Google Cloud have collaborated for more than a decade, co engineering a full stack AI platform that spans every technology layer - from performance o...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...