The new form of table table - Table Tennis X (TTX) has been launched in style today on the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
TTX is fun, cool, youthful, edgy, and can be played on top of a building, on the beach, in the city centre, a nightclub or literally anywhere with a table!This fits in perfectly with IOC President Thomas BACH’s statement yesterday that the IOC wants to take sport to the youth and not wait for them to come to the sport.
The TTX ball is bigger and heavier to suit outdoor play, simplified rackets with less spin, matches will be played in three 2 minute sets instead of first 11 and you can even score more points with ‘winners’ and ‘wild cards’. This is TTX, this is a sport for all ages to be played anytime anywhere.
The exciting new time-bound format that will amplify the excitement of conventional table tennis by reducing the skills gap between participants and increasing the level of variety and unpredictability to gameplay. Events in the future will be created to appeal to the ever changing lifestyles of the modern era.
ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: “This is the table tennis revolution that the world has been waiting for. TTX is for the young and young at heart and takes table tennis to you, instead of you having to come to table tennis. The ITTF believes that this can perfectly complement our professional table tennis game, as it connects the hobby player that plays with their mates at home to a viable competition format which is designed around having fun. Pick up your bat and go play some TTX.”
“It was also a perfect moment for our sport which has been internally criticized for too many changes in recent years. Here we can do many new things, experiment with cool new ideas and at the same time, allow some time for our professional game to adapt to the recent changes.”
The TTX event series will be announced in the coming months, with this new exciting brand of table tennis coming to a city near you very shortly.
Some basic rules to get you started:
Matches are the best of 3 sets, 2 minutes each. If the set ends with a tie, there is a sudden death point to determine the winner!
No restrictions on the serve, serve it anyway you like!
2 extra points for a winner (opponent does not touch the ball with their racket)
1 wildcard per player per set! The player must call wildcard before they serve and if the person who calls the wildcard wins that point they gain 2 points. If they hit a winner on a wildcard point you get 4!
Have fun and stay cool
Be part of the Xcitement! Check out TTX.world for more information!
Check out all the photos from the launch here:http://bit.ly/TTXRioLaunch.
