The World Championships, due to be held in South Korea next month, have been postponed because of the Coronavirus emergency.

A new date of June 21-28 has been pencilled in for the rescheduled tournament in Busan, the ITTF announced today.

The federation will monitor the situation in the coming weeks and will also find new dates for the World Tour events in Australia and Korea which were due to be held at the end of June.

An ITTF statement read: “Given the uncertainty and changing situation in Korea Republic amidst the outbreak of COVID-19 across the nation, the decision was made with the health and safety of players, officials and fans as the top priority.

“The ITTF places on record its thanks to the local organising committee in Busan and the KTTA . . . for their outstanding professionalism in dealing with this extraordinary situation. By continuing to work hard and in close co-operation with all stakeholders in Busan, the ITTF remains confident about putting on a great World Championships in June.”

The championships were originally scheduled for March 22-29.