The first-ever WTT Feeder Series events will take place in December in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Originally scheduled to be launched in 2022, World Table Tennis decided to bring forward the start of the WTT Feeder Series to December 2021 in order to provide more players with an opportunity to compete internationally in 2021 and stay active, which has not always been possible during the pandemic.
The two inaugural events are split into WTT Feeder Düsseldorf I and WTT Feeder Düsseldorf II.
WTT Feeder Düsseldorf I will serve-off from Monday 6 to Saturday 11 December 2021, while WTT Feeder Düsseldorf II will commence from Monday 20 to Thursday 23 December 2021.
Organised by WTT in collaboration with the German Table Tennis Federation and hosted by Borussia Düsseldorf Club, the events will feature all Singles and Doubles competitions.
They will be open to all Member Associations and more than 256 players are expected to participate. For each of the events, WTT will be offering $20,000 in prize money.
“We are delighted to launch the newest tier of the WTT events’ structure in Germany.
“And I would like to extend my gratitude to DTTB and to Andreas Preuss, the Managing Director of Borussia Düsseldorf Club. It is crucial that we support our players in these uncertain times, and that we give the opportunity to play, earn prize money and accrue World Ranking points to all of them,” said Jonny Cowan, WTT Europe General Manager.
WTT has developed and released earlier a modern and new event structure establishing a clear journey from Day 1 to World Number 1. The WTT Feeder Series is an important part of the pyramid of new events, as a tier designed for elevating grass-roots talent to global stars.
The most elite young players can graduate directly from the WTT Youth Series to the WTT Contender Series.
However, many young players will finish their youth journey requiring a little more time to develop and hone their skills before they qualify for this level.
The WTT Feeder Series is designed to ensure that young players showing high potential, but still maturing, can still continue on their international table tennis journey.
The WTT Feeder Series also provides a “safety net” for those players formerly of the upper echelons who fall out of form, are returning from career breaks or recovering from injury. It also provides an additional and valuable opportunity for Member Associations to host events and assist the transition of their players to elite levels.
