Table Tennis club to host Olympic qualifier

AFTER a successful bid, Ballarat Table Tennis Association is set to host the 2024 Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The event is scheduled for Friday, 17 to Sunday, 19 May, and BTTA stadium manager Adam Pegg said about 35 elite table tennis players have been invited to compete.

“My idea behind getting this was to showcase table tennis in Ballarat, to generate more interest throughout our community, and to highlight table tennis as an Olympic top-level sport,” he said.

“This is an opportunity for us to show how fantastic the sport is and how fantastic the facility is that we have.

“We arguably have the top dedicated table tennis stadium in the country, and for us, this is a stepping stone to host bigger and better events.

“There’s a lot of other national level, and potentially international level, events if we can bring those to Ballarat. That’s the goal with this whole process.”

On the Friday, about 10 members of the national junior boys squad will be competing for a place in the main draw.

“Across Saturday and Sunday, the top 12 eligible male and top 12 eligible female players from across the country will be competing,” Mr Pegg said.

“We’ll have former Olympians and international players, including former Olympian and Paralympian Melissa Tapper from Hamilton, and Commonwealth Games athlete Dillon Chambers, who is originally from Mildura.”

Members of the public are encouraged to come along to check out the action as spectators, and to have a look around the stadium.

BTTA was one of many clubs across the state that applied to host the 2024 Australian Olympic Qualification Tournament.

“We threw our hat in the ring, and what our club or stadium is able to offer is better that what other clubs could offer,” Mr Pegg said.

“We’re a dedicated table tennis facility and we’re revamping our lighting to bring it up to scratch.

“We’re midway through the process of doing that now, and it’s all being funded by the association, with no help from the council or government.”

Table tennis has been popular in Ballarat since the early-1900s and the Ballarat Table Tennis organisation as it is in 2024 has been associated since 1947, just over 75 years.

BTTA’s stadium has been in its current location at Dowling Street, Wendouree for the last 45 years and held the Olympic qualifiers ahead of the Sydney 2000 games.