London in England is bidding against Bangkok for the rights to host the 2026 Finals, which fall 100 years on from the first ever edition of the Championships, also held in London.

The decision will be taken during the ITTF Annual General Meeting, scheduled for the final day of the Summit on Thursday (August 24), which is being held at the Grand Fourwings Convention Hotel.

Tomorrow the ITTF Council are due to meet, while the ITTF Executive Board and Athletes’ Commission are also due to hold meetings throughout the Summit.

The first day of proceedings today was opened by President of the Table Tennis Association of Thailand Nattavuth Ruengves.

The focus of the day was workshops covering the themes of growth, innovation and collaboration.

It included the unveiling of a roadmap for the sport’s future by ITTF President Petra Sörling and ITTF Group chief executive Steve Dainton.

The three main points on the roadmap were Governance and Sustainability, Business Growth and Society and Health.

Among the areas addressed during the following workshops and discussions were charting a path to sustainable growth, which included a talk by the International Olympic Committee’s corporate and sustainable development director Marie Sallos-Dembreville.

Later in the day French Table Tennis Federation President Gilles Erb spoke about outdoor table tennis, while director of the ITTF Foundation Leandro Ovlech took to the stage to highlight the emerging discipline of Parkinson’s table tennis.

Tomorrow’s schedule is due to include the Council Board meeting, as well as a discussion and presentation on the future of World Championship events.

This is due to include a presentation by the Korea Table Tennis Association about their vision for the 2024 World Team Championships Finals, which are due to be staged in Busan in South Korea.