A sample drawing of the future ITTF Museum and the China Table Tennis Museum (Photos: Qi Xijia/GT and courtesy of The International Table Tennis Federation Museum)
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Museum recently broke ground at the Shanghai Expo site near the Huangpu River, following ITTF's announcement to move the entire museum from Lausanne, Switzerland, to Shanghai.
It is also home to the new China Table Tennis Museum (CTTM), which is currently under construction. The two museums will be open to the public in October of 2017. Currently, the ITTF Museum has 7,000 exhibits and the CTTM features 5,000 exhibits.
Last week, ITTF president Thomas Weikert paid a visit to the Shanghai University of Sport to attend a panel discussion with the museum's designers, leaders from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film & TV, Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage, Shanghai Municipal Physical Culture Bureau and Shanghai University of Sport.
"China (is a) nation of world champions. I think it is the best place (to move the museum to). I am really happy that you have (brought) together international table tennis and the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) to show the world what is the history, what is the culture background," Weikert said at the discussion.
Experimental things
The World Table Tennis Exhibition Area displays approximately 3,000 treasures collected by the ITTF Museum to portray the birth and development of table tennis, with delicate cultural relics, important events, rules, equipment and the technical evolution at various periods.
The China Table Tennis Exhibition Area demonstrates the development course of Chinese "national ball" from weak to strong and lasting prosperity, and various major issues, important events, distinguished figures related to China's table tennis, to profoundly reveal the connotation of table tennis spirit.
After hearing the report Weikert gave some suggestions on the construction and the design of the museums. "Table tennis is an old sport but we want to be modern. We can do a lot of experimental things," Weikert said.
He pointed out that the museums can make their exhibitions more vivid and spectacular by applying such teleological means as augmented reality, virtual relation and scene reconstruction, and make it more experimental by making full use of multimedia to create digital visual effects so audiences can experience the game.
He also suggested making the museum more environmentally friendly. "As a modern museum we need to utilize environmental protection, energy saving technologies so as to make this museum a prominent green model among future culture facilities in Shanghai," said Weikert.
Screaming for the superstars
By next year, visitors to the museum will see history and technology and the development of the game, including antique rackets and old-fashioned clothes. Visitors will also be able to try their hands on Table Tennis X (TTX), a new form of table tennis which captured millions of players when it was launched by ITTF at the start of the Olympic Games in Rio.
TTX aims to reach more people with new rules, simpler equipment and bigger, heavier balls. "We made a big presentation in Rio. We have easy rules and easier equipment so that you can play table tennis without these complicated rules and in venues outside," said Weikert.
In addition to its increasing global popularity, Weikert also discovered a new future of table tennis in China, especially after the Rio Olympics where Chinese players had success with four gold medals.
"I think now table tennis has a bigger chance to get more attractive than ever. I was in Chengdu attending the 2016 ITTF World Tour China Open (Super). I saw for the first time in many years many young boys and girls screaming for the superstars. I think this is a very good sign for our sport. It is positive for the nation and for the culture here," Weikert said at the panel discussion.
