Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Jeon Ji-hee of South Korea in action against Ding Ning of China during the women's singles table tennis quarterfinals match at the Seamaster 2019 International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Shinhan Korea Open at Sajik Gym in Busan, South Korea, July 6, 2019. EPA-Yonhap |
The world's top table tennis tournament set to take place in South Korea this year has been postponed to February 2021, due to lingering concerns over the novel coronavirus.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced Monday that the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will run from Feb. 28 to March 7 next year.
It was originally set for March 22-29 this year in the southeastern metropolitan city but was pushed back to June 21-28 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Then in late March, the ITTF decided to shelve all international competitions and activities until June 30. It was then determined on April 7 that the world championships would be played from Sept. 27-Oct. 4.
The ITTF's Executive Committee then asked Busan's organizers on June 5 to move the tournament even further back to the early part of 2021, citing the unlikelihood that many teams would be able to travel to South Korea in September this year during the pandemic.
And the ITTF Executive Committee determined last Friday that the competition will open in February next year. (Yonhap)
