(By ITTF)
Set to be the biggest in history, with more prize money, more fan engagement and a better television spectacle for the worldwide audience; the International Table Tennis Federation announces the 12 cities that will host the 2018 ITTF World Tour events.
The 2018 World Tour will be split into two tiers, six ITTF World Tour Platinum events, which is the new top tier of the World Tour and six regular ITTF World Tour events.
Notably, the six ITTF World Tour Platinum events will have higher prize money and will be of a higher organisation level to ensure the attendance of the world’s best players; thus resulting in more international exposure for the hosts.
“In 2017 we relaunched the ITTF World Tour with a new logo, new branding, new competition structure and better conditions for the players. This has resulted in record prize money for 2017 and we hope to break this record again in 2018 and to keep moving the ITTF World Tour forward to make it the best product possible for our players, fans and members.” Karl Jindrak, ITTF Director -Competitions
The six cities that have won the rights to host a 2018 ITTF World Tour Platinum event are:
……………Doha, Qatar: Thursday 8th – Sunday 11th March
……………Bremen, Germany: Friday 23rd – Sunday 25 March
……………Shenzhen, China: Thursday 31st – Sunday 3rd June
……………Incheon, Korea: Thursday 19th – Sunday 22nd July
……………Linz, Austria: Thursday 4th – Sunday 7th October
……………Gold Coast, Australia: Thursday 8th – Sunday 11th November
The regular ITTF World Tour events are:
……………Budapest, Hungary: Thursday 18th – Sunday 21 January
……………Hong Kong: Thursday 24th – Sunday 27th May
……………Fukuoka, Japan: Thursday 7th – Sunday 10th June
……………Panagyurishte, Bulgaria: Thursday 16th – Sunday 19th August
……………Olomouc, Czech Republic: Thursday 23rd – Sunday 26th August
……………Stockholm, Sweden: Thursday 1st – Sunday 4thNovember
Korea moves back up to the top World Tour tier for the first time and replaced Japan who moves down a tier. Hong Kong is back hosting a World Tour event for the first time since 2006, when it was home to the World Tour Grand Finals.
All 12 events offer World Tour Standings points, which will be used to determine the top 16 players who will qualify for the World Tour Grand Finals, to be held from Thursday 13th to Sunday 16th December at a location to be determined.
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