At the Seamaster 2017 ITTF Czech Open, the ITTF tested a new multi ball system where players used multiple balls during a match.

The multi ball system allows an umpire to throw new balls to a player at the end of each point, to save time picking up the previous ball.

It is hoped that the new system could speed up play and make table tennis more appealing to TV viewers.

The multi ball method has been adopted in the Chinese Super league and the T2APAC tournament.