International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has announced that there will be colourful racket coverings arriving later this year. There will be four new colours to choose from: pink, violet, green and blue. The choice of colours had two limitations from the very beginning: the colour of the balls and the black covering are remaining unchanged so the colour needed to be distinguishable from these. Tests and trials were completed by athletes with various different colours, and the ones that were unpopular and not easy to distinguish were removed from the options. Therefore, the options that were left with Pink, Violet, Green and Blue. There will still be the classic red and black rubber combination for those who prefer the classic look.
The ITTF are of the opinion that table tennis is colourful because it is such a diverse sport. It is a sport played by many different personalities globally. Many players find it important to customise their material and coloured rubbers will offer another opportunity to do so in the future.
When the ITTF analysed reactions to the topic on social media over the past few months, the mood was mixed: one third were very happy, one third were totally against and the rest simply didn’t mind.
We at Table Tennis Ireland would like to know your thoughts – reply to our tweet on @TableTennisIRE, check out our poll and use the following hashtags to join in the conversation #ITTF #TableTennisIreland #TableTennis #LoveSport! Let us know your thoughts on this change and get involved on our posts on social media!