Last updated 11th May 2020 at 5.50pm
Please note, this is a fluid situation and our advice may change at short notice. We recommend that you check our website regularly for the latest advice.
Following publication of Government guidance on how England will begin to move out of lockdown, table tennis is permitted outdoors in certain areas, within guidance on safe travel and social distancing.
Click here to read our latest guidelines on where and how play is permitted.
The health and wellbeing of all our members, volunteers, suppliers and staff remain the key priority for the Board of Table Tennis England at this time of great uncertainty.
Following the Government lockdown guidance issued in March, the Board initially cancelled all events until the end of May and all national events until the end of June.
In the light of the developing situation, this position was updated as follows:
All events, national and sanctioned, are cancelled until the end of July. These include the Cadet & Junior National Championships, the U10-13 National Championships, National Cups, Inter-Regional Finals, Grand Prix events, British League, NCL/NJL and County Championships, as well as all sanctioned events (i.e. tournaments on the Table Tennis England calendar, including 1*, 2* etc).
Further to this, the Board has suspended sanctioning for external events for the whole of August, on the basis that we will not reach Stage 4 of the return to play pathway until at least September 1st.
After investigating the potential for rescheduling outstanding rounds of British League, NCL/NJL and County Championships, it has now been decided to cancel all outstanding fixtures in national leagues and to finalise league tables finalised using a system of protocols. Click here to read more about this.
Click here to see a list of cancelled or postponed events
The latest rankings and ratings lists have been published, taking into account results in the first half of March. Any months in which sanctioned events are cancelled – including March – will not count towards player inactivity periods.
Previously, we had announced the cancellation of all sanctioned Table Tennis England events and the postponement of sanctioned Table Tennis England leagues until April 30th.
These included the Wolverhampton Grand Prix, Cadet National Cup and Under-12 National Cup, the Jack Petchey Individual Finals, the Butterfly Schools Individual Finals, the zonal round of the English Leagues Cup Competitions (ELCC) and, as a result, the ELCC finals.
Any entry fees we have received for national tournaments will be refunded.
Scheduled coach education courses in this period will be postponed with new dates identified as soon as possible.
We acknowledge that the cancellation of domestic competitions and gatherings will impact greatly on the table tennis community but we are all in uncertain times together and we must put the health and safety of our families and communities first.
We will continue to update this page as the situation progresses. You can also visit our coronavirus advice page for more information about how we are supporting the sport, how you can stay active while staying at home, and how to contact our staff.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
General Guidance
For general queries related to Coronavirus, please follow government guidance. The latest information can be found using the links below:
www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan
www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19
ITTF suspends all activities
The ITTF Executive Committee has extended its suspension of all activities until the end of July 2020. Activities had previously been suspended until April 30 and then until the end of June.
The ITTF says the situation is being monitored closely for an eventual restart of ITTF events in August. However, all World Veterans Tour events have been cancelled for the remainder of 2020.
A decision on the World Team Championships in Busan, South Korea, will be made in June. The event was provisionally postponed from March until June 21-28 and has now been further postponed to a date to be confirmed.
The ITTF is looking at adjustments to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games qualification pathways now that the Games have been postponed until 2021.
The ranking lists have been frozen as at April 2020.
Table Tennis England will continue to liaise with the ITTF on this situation.