The eagerly and much-anticipated LIEBHERR 2020 European table tennis championships, scheduled to be held next month in Poland has been postponed.
According to the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) website, the decision to postpone the September 15-20 tournament, which was to held in Warsaw, was because
of a spike in COVID-19 cases across Europe.
The decision to postpone the tournament was agreed by unanimous decision of the ETTU Executive Board, the website stated.
The ETTU decision-making body however acknowledged the hard work of the Polish Table Tennis Federation under the leadership of Dariusz Szumacher.
“The safety of players, coaches, officials, volunteers, staff and partners has been a priority for all organisations involved. A lot of work has taken place over the last six months in preparation for the event. We thank the President of the Polish Table Tennis Federation, Mr Dariusz Szumacher, the Board, staff and partners in Warsaw for trying everything possible to deliver the event. In particular upcoming travel restrictions played an important role in the unanimous but sad Executive Board decision; with not all member associations being able to participate, the event would not be a fair European Championships.” Ronald Kramer, European Table tennis Union (ETTU) president said.
Kramer said the safety of players, coaches and officials remains the priority of the continental body.
President of the Polish Table Tennis Federation, Szumacher, said that he was disappointed with the news and expressed his thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of the event:
“Due to Covid-19, we are hugely disappointed that the European table tennis family will not be able to come to beautiful Warsaw in September. I would like to thank the ETTU and ITTF for all the support over these weeks and months. We had prepared a very special event despite the circumstances during the last five months. Nevertheless, my colleagues and I, the city of Warsaw and our partners look forward to welcoming everyone on another date for the European Championships,” he said.
The ETTU said that a future date for the championships will be confirmed later.
