ITTF Parkinson's World Table Tennis Championships Kickoff in 1 day!
October 12th 2019 is the big day for the exciting and first ever ITTF Parkinson’s World Table Tennis Championships! Players have already started to arrive in New York where the games will be held, at the Westchester Table Tennis Centre. Player classification takes place on 11th October and the games officially start at 9:30am the next day.
“Our goal is to provide lots of good table tennis competition and make sure everyone has a good time” Will Shortz, Founder Westchester Table Tennis Centre
“With a simple ping pong ball we tackle complex issues from the neurological disorder to world peace. These are big words from a simple man, but I’m willing to say it.” Nenad Bach, Founder Ping Pong Parkinson
“I am really happy to be part of this historic event in New York, thanks for the hard work of Nenad Bach and the ITTF Foundation that trusted in this project, now it is like a dream come true..thank you also for the support of Will Shortz and all the staff.” Freddy Almendariz, ITTF PANAM Competition Manager
The Championships are an initiative of the ITTF Foundation’s Table Tennis for Health (TT4Health) program that aims to advance the psychological and physical benefits for all through play. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement. Today more than 10 million people all over the world have been diagnosed with PD. Alongside the International Table Tennis Federation and Ping Pong Parkinson, we are raising awareness and showcasing the strength, resilience and inspiration of the players as they PLAY FOR HISTORY!
A major highlight of this event will be to hear and learn of the benefits table tennis has had on the player’s lives.
“I’m 39 years old and have been living with PD for the past 5years. Learning from my own experience, when people sympathize you feel disabled and when people empathize you feel empowered – my medicine dosage hasn’t been increased in the past one year; table tennis can create magic in one’s life! I feel more confident and my movement has improved”. Sunil Raghavan, Singapore player
"I have Parkinson’s since seven years. Table Tennis is very important for our health, because it helps to lower the progression of the disease. Table Tennis is one of the best sports we can chose. It involves the brain, it involves your eye movements and it helps a lot to trigger your brain cells",.Jens Greve, Founder YUVEDO and German player.