USA Table Tennis

Last updated
USA Table Tennis
AbbreviationUSATT
Formation1933
Type NPO
Purpose Sport governing body
Headquarters Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Region served
United States
Fields Table tennis
Main organ
Board of Directors
Website usatt.org

USA Table Tennis, colloquially known as USATT, is the non-profit governing body for table tennis in the United States and is responsible for cataloging and sanctioning table tennis tournaments within the country. It was founded in 1933 as the United States Table Tennis Association. In addition to processing tournaments, USATT maintains a national rating and ranking system. It also oversees the USA National Teams. [1] In total, USATT has over 14,000 members. [2] [3] The headquarters of USA Table Tennis is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, [4] which is also home to the United States Olympic Training Center. USA Table Tennis offers a $100,000 incentive for American Olympic table tennis athletes, [5] though no American athlete has ever won a medal for table tennis. [6]

Contents

History

The United States Table Tennis Association was created in 1933. [1] The phrase "Table Tennis" was created because the name "Ping Pong" had already been trademarked by Parker Brothers. [7] Though the legal name of the USATT remains the "United States Table Tennis Association, Inc.", the non-profit corporation adopted "USA Table Tennis" as their d/b/a name effective 1994. [8]

Members

Although about 19 million Americans play for recreation, [9] USATT has only about 14,000 members, as of November 2024. [10] There are two main membership types, associate and general. General members can participate in USATT sanctioned events and leagues with no additional rating fees while associate members have no membership fee but may not participate in USATT sanctioned leagues and can pay per USATT sanctioned event. The pricing for a year for adults is $75 while for juniors and collegians is $45. [11] There are over 300 table tennis clubs affiliated with USATT, almost 50 of which are in California. [12] There are almost 450 USATT Certified Coaches in the United States. [13]

Major sanctioned tournaments

U.S. Open

Started in 1931, the annual U.S. Open is the oldest table tennis event in the United States. [14] It attracts over 600 athletes annually. [15] The U.S. Open has been previously held in various locations, including Anaheim, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois ; Las Vegas, Nevada and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. [16] Past Menʼs Singles champions include Chen Weixing and Aleksandar Karakašević. Past Womenʼs Singles champions include Zhang Mo and Li Jiawei. [17]

The 2010 U.S. Open was held at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, MI, between June 29 and July 3. [16] [18] The Men's Singles champion was Sharath Kamal of India and the Women's Singles champion was Georgina Pota of Hungary. [19]

The 2011 U.S. Open was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [20] The Men's Singles champion was Thomas Keinath of Slovakia. The Women's Singles Champion was Nai Hui Liu of New Jersey. [21]

U.S. Nationals

The U.S. Nationals have been held since 1976. [22] The tournament is closed to non-citizens of the United States. [23] In addition, the U.S. Nationals along with two other national ranking tournaments determine the members selected USA Table Tennis Adult, Cadet, and Junior Teams. Over 750 athletes registered for the 2017 U.S. Nationals, [24] which were held in Las Vegas, Nevada . [25] Past Men's Singles champions include Kanak Jha, Eric Owens and David Zhuang and past Women's Singles champions include Lily Zhang, Jasna Reed and Wang Chen. [22]

National Teams

As of 2021 World Championships [26] [27]

Coaches

TeamFirstSecondThirdFourth
National Team Coach Gao Jun
Men's Team Wenzhang Tao Cory Eider Samson Dubina Wei Qi
Women's Team Huijing Wang Yue Wu Yijun Feng

Players

TeamFirstSecondThirdFourth
Men's Team Kanak Jha Sharon Alguetti Nikhil Kumar Jishan Liang
Women's Team Lily Zhang Amy Wang Sarah Jalli Rachel Sung

Current sponsorships

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  3. Armour, Nancy (18 December 2001). "Technology changing way fans see game". USA Today. Retrieved 21 June 2010.
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  28. "Official Sponsors of USA Table Tennis". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.