ITTF to ensure table tennis team worlds take place

Table tennis' world governing body, the ITTF, tasked itself to ensure the 2020 world team table tennis championships will take place, "even if the event needs to be postponed again."

The ITTF Executive Committee met late on Wednesday to discuss the latest situation regarding COVID-19, and reached a couple of key outcomes, including an agreement between major stakeholders, in an effort to ensure the 2020 Busan team worlds are eventually held, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The ITTF is working closely with the [South] Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA), led by president Ryu Seung-min, and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in Busan to ensure that the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships take place, even if the event needs to be postponed again," read a statement released via the federation's website.

The table tennis team world championships, originally set to open on March 22 and already postponed to June 21-28, has now been postponed to September 27-October 4 over concerns around the coronavirus outbreak across the world.

The ITTF, having received a comprehensive update report from the COVID-19 Task Force which continues to monitor the global situation, also declared that no further decisions were made on extending the period of inactivity before the next Executive Committee meeting in May.

It also confirmed that the world rankings for April will be released by the end of this week and frozen until activities resume, and that the pending Olympic and Paralympic qualification events are likely to be scheduled in 2021.