Bidding is now open for the 2019 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships ©Getty Images

The bidding process for the 2019 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Championships is now open, the sport’s governing body has announced.

Applicants who want to host the event, which continually attracts larger audiences with every passing year, particularly in Asia, have until October 31 to submit their bid.

The host city of the tournament is due to be chosen at next year's ITTF Annual General Meeting in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The 2019 World Championships will offer players ideal preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

The Championships will be comprised of men’s and women’s individual singles, men’s and women’s doubles and also mixed doubles.

“We look forward and expect strong interest from National Associations and cities to host our showcase event,” ITTF chief executive Judit Farago said.

“After successful world championships in recent years, we believe that stakeholders are aware of the benefits the organisation of the event could bring them.

“There is always big media attention on who is crowned as world champion, but it is even more attractive in the year before the Olympic Games, the winner in 2019 will be surely considered as favourite in 2020 in Tokyo.”

The 2015 event took place in Suzhou, China and attracted players from over 100 countries
The 2015 event took place in Suzhou, China and attracted players from over 100 countries ©Getty Images

The World Championships are table tennis’ main showcase event in their calendar and the 2015 edition, held in Suzhou, China, attracted a worldwide audience of more than 450 million people, including 330 million watching on television across 170 countries.

It has also been reported that the 2015 tournament brought Suzhou around $156 million (£100 million/€138 million) to the host city in revenue alone.

Kuala Lumpur is set to stage the 2016 event before it moves to German city Dusseldorf the following year.

Halmstad in Sweden is due to host the competition in 2018.



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