As the ETTA breaks up for Christmas festivities we look ahead to the coming year.
2012 is just around the corner but what can you expect from another (and if you believe the theorists, final) year of table tennis?
The year truly kicks-off on the week commencing January 14th when the ELCC Zonal rounds, ESTTA Zone Finals and British League all get underway again, while the World Tour 2012 starts in Budapest, Hungary.
The Hungarian Open is then quickly followed by the Slovenian Open as the World Tour charges out of the blocks in 2012. February also sees the first Grand Prix of the year begin in Doncaster as well as the ESTTA Regional Finals.
After that the National Championships take place in Sheffield in March once again with a whole host of top British talent expected to attend.
As the year progresses, the key events see the European Olympic Qualification tournament in Luxembourg in April, which is followed by the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha, Qatar – a last chance saloon for two players to win a place in London.
Then it arrives. The 2012 Olympic Games held at ExCeL in London’s Royal Docklands followed by the Paralympic Games just a month later.
It doesn’t end there though as the calendar then moves to the Men’s World Cup, which is being held in Liverpool in 2012 as England becomes the host for yet another large international event in a busy year for UK sport.
As 2012 winds down, and if we all survive the predicted apocalypse in October, there is the World Tour Grand Finals and the World Juniors, which next year is being held in Capetown.
With all that to look forward to; we hope you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year and we will all see you for the start of an exciting 12 months when January arrives in a couple of weeks – Happy Holidays!