Victoria group hosting free World Table Tennis Day event

Youngsik Jeoung, of South Korea, serves to Ma Long, of China, during a table tennis match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 8, 2016. (Jae C. Hong / AP)

Table tennis players from up and down southern Vancouver Island will be picking up their paddles Sunday to showcase the sport.

The South Island Table Tennis Club is celebrating World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) to promote the sport that first became an Olympic event in 1988. It is one of more than 35 WTTD events to be held around the world and the only one in Canada.

“It is and annual celebration of table tennis and is sponsored by the International Table Tennis Federation,” said South Island Table Tennis Club member Tat Ma. “It's an event where people from around the world play table tennis, and for those that don’t have access to the sport, we give them a chance to learn and play.”

Ma says that WTTD has been celebrated internationally since 2015 and gives the sport’s enthusiasts an opportunity to showcase the game they love. He says there are more than 100 table tennis athletes in Greater Victoria who regularly play the sport.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, the appeal of table tennis is not great because [people] are occupied by other sports,” said Ma. “It has been an Olympic sport since 1988, so we have to expose [people] to it to get them interested and then they stay with it.”

The theme of this year’s event is the United Nations' call for sustainable growth. Participants are asked to travel to the event at the Silver Threads Centre at 286 Hampton Rd. in Saanich by bike, carpool or public transit.

“It's an opportunity to give people who have never played before a chance to observe and try it out,” said Ma. “It’s a fun activity, once you get in to it, some people start when they are eight and some people play until their 90s.”

The South Island Table Tennis Club will host both singles and doubles tournaments, in addition to demonstrations of the sport, including a ping pong robot.

The family-friendly event begins at 2:30 p.m. and runs until 5:30 p.m. and admission is free.

“It's very easy to learn, just pick up a paddle and learn a few strokes,” said Ma. “It's for all ages and all abilities and it's fun.”