For the first time ever, the international governing body of table tennis, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) will be organizing the World Hopes Week, featuring players born in 1999 through 2001.

 

Hosting this event is the Werner Schlager Academy in the Multiversum in Schwechat.

 

 

For the 19 – 26 June event, the original estimate of 20 to 30 players was surpassed by miles, as 78 youngsters from 32 countries coming from all the continents, plus approximately 60 trainers, guest and officials from the ITTF will be in attendance, including the Federation's President Adham Sharara from Canada.

 

And so it will go in (according to China's men's head coach, Liu Guoliang) “the best table tennis training center in Europe.”

 

In the WSA training hall will be 36 beautiful Butterfly tables, with 15 additional tables in the Event Hall of the Multiversum.  Kids from Hong Kong, Peru, Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka, Thailand, France, Hungary, the United States, and elsewhere will provide all the excitement the kids are known for.

 

Right in the middle of the center named after him, Werner Schlager will have a “meet and greet” with all the children from around the world, accompanied by Denmark's 2009 European men's champion Michael Maze.

In this most distinctive of training camps, coaching activities will be led by WSA Head Coach Mario Amizic and Dirk Wagner, as well as WSA-trainer Provas Mondal.

 

The “Hope's Week” will conclude with a tournament on 25 – 26 June.  For many, this will be the first time their skills are on display to the world, and the first time they have experienced the stress of international competition.

 

All of this is for these players' future well-being and it is always “With the Future in Mind,” as ITTF Education Director and “Hope's Week” creator Mikael Andersson prescribed by this motto.