The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is set to announce the hosts for its three World Cup events in 2027, including the inaugural Doubles World Cup, with one of the events to be held in Europe.
With the doubles being a part of the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 program, the ITTF had announced launching a World Cup in this category earlier this year in March.
“The ITTF is developing its 2027 World Cup programme, comprising three events: singles, doubles, and mixed team. We haven’t made the formal announcement yet, but we will take one of them to Europe,” the ITTF president Petra Sorling told PTI on Sunday.
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Sorling had earlier said that the introduction of the Doubles World Cup would encourage to play more in the category.
“When an event becomes an Olympic event, such as the doubles now are coming back, then of course the players want to play more doubles and doubles become more important,” Sorling said.
“That’s the reason why we added one World Cup. There was a demand for it, driven by the fact that we are now having doubles back in the Olympic programme in 2028.
“When it comes to the World Cups, we are adding one World Cup so we are keeping the other World Cups, but we are adding the double,” she added.
Sorling said the format of the UTT, which consists of matches in men’s and women’s singles as well as mixed doubles, is “really attractive”.
“It goes fast and you also mix the team, boys and girls, and with mixed doubles and singles,” Sorling said.
“I also think it’s a very good format because you’re also mixing players from India with international players and I do believe that this is a good way to not only educate your own players, but also make table tennis attractive for the young fans,” she added.
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Published on Jul 12, 2026