ITTF Foundation seeks support for 10 more World Table Tennis Day promoters

Backing 10 more local World Table Tennis Day promoters would do more than add names to a list. At €700 apiece, the ITTF Foundation says each supporter can help launch a new community activation, bringing table tennis to people who may never have picked up a racket before and turning one day of celebration into real local access.

World Table Tennis Day falls on April 23 and has been celebrated every April since 2015, honoring Ivor Montagu, the organizer of the first World Table Tennis Championships in 1926 and the founder and first president of the International Table Tennis Federation. The Foundation says inclusion is not something table tennis can assume on its own. It has to be built in, venue by venue and event by event, by promoters who handle the whole process, from securing space to gathering participants.

That is the point of the current fundraising push. The Foundation says it has already supported 36 promoters from 24 countries and territories this year and wants to expand that reach to 10 more communities by April 23, 2026. Smaller gifts are mapped to practical output: €25 can provide essential equipment, €100 can fund a local coaching session focused on health and well-being, and €300 can support a full community event. Those are the kinds of line items that determine whether an idea becomes a table, a net, a few paddles and a packed session, or just a post on social media.

The scale behind the ask is already there. The 2026 promoter class announced in January included 34 promoters from 24 countries and territories, drawn from 131 applications across 64 regions. Since 2021, more than 150 promoters from more than 55 countries and territories have helped shape the program. That makes the campaign less about charity in the abstract and more about extending a working grassroots model.

The results from 2025 show why the model matters. World Table Tennis Day generated 845 events across 146 countries and territories, with a record-high 67 ITTF Member Associations taking part. The Foundation’s 2026-2027 theme is Health & Well-Being, building on TT4Health and the World Table Tennis for Health Festival, and it links the day to physical activity, mental health, emotional well-being, social cohesion, healthy ageing and gender equality. The Foundation has also launched a Health & Well-being Handbook to help communities and organizers for 2026-2027, reinforcing the same message: the sport’s biggest gains often start with a small grant and one determined local promoter.