ITTF annual general meeting opens in Suzhou

The annual general meeting of the International Table Tennis Federation started at the Suzhou International Expo Centre on Tuesday with updates onthe organisation of upcoming competitions and the final presentation of Dusseldorf's bid tohost the 2017 World Table Tennis Championships.

The meeting opened with remarks by ITTF president Thomas Weikert from Germany who congratulated the Chinese organizers of the 2015 Qoros World Table Tennis Championships for providing "fantastic conditions for table tennis" and expressed hiscondolences for the people of Nepal.

"Our hearts are with our friends from Nepal because of this devastating earthquake,"Weikert said. "I spoke with the coach of the team of Nepal and again, there is full support from the ITTF to our friends in Nepal. We are hoping all is getting better and there are nomore deaths in Nepal."

Merit awards were presented to the Chinese Table Tennis Association, host cityrepresentatives, and the organizers of other ITTF events over the past year.

The federation members of the ITTF then heard presentations from future events -- the 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the table tennis competitions of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The German Table Tennis Association made their final bid presentation for hosting the2017 World Table Tennis Championship in Dusseldorf, which is also the city of the leading German player Timo Boll's home club.

If the bid is successful, the event will be held from May 29 to June 5, 2017. The competition will be staged in two halls with a total of 32 courts.

The final decision will be announced at a press conference after the conclusion of the annual general meeting.