The showcase event was staged at the "Obelisco", the most iconic monument in Argentina, which is located on what is considered the world's widest street, "9 de Julio Avenue", in Buenos Aires. 

The street was closed off, with a sea of table tennis tables assembled for thousands of people to play and celebrate the sport.

Major cities such as Amman, Berlin, Mumbai, London, Manchester, New York City, Paris, Tehran and Zurich also hosted events, as did Suzhou, the city due to host this year's World Table Tennis Championships from April 26 to May 3. 

"The response has been amazing," Leandro Olvech, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) development programme director, said. 

"Being the first year, we were expecting between 20 and 40 events but there are currently more than 100 in around 50 countries."

The showcase event of World Table Tennis Day was staged at the "Obelisco" in Buenos Aires, the most iconic monument in Argentina ©ITTF




In New York City, teachers were trained in order for them to be able to coach their students, while entrepreneurs were involved in a special event in Mumbai, and a gathering to integrate immigrant families from the suburbs was staged in Manchester. 

Likewise in Paris, Ping Sans Frontieres, an organisation that collects equipment to donate to African countries, organised a coach education day.

San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, continued the principles of its Nittaku Dream Building Project in an attempt to involve young people in sport as opposed to being drawn into the gang culture.

Meanwhile in Brighton, on the South Coast of England, an attempt was made to break the current global record of 139 players competing in a table tennis rally and thus gain a place in the Guinness World Records book.

"The idea behind this day is to gather table tennis enthusiasts, attract people who usually don't play table tennis, promote the love for our sport and ideally engage new players to the practice in the long term" said ITTF President Thomas Weikert.

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