London’s OVO Arena, Wembley has been awarded hosting rights to the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships, which will mark 100 years since the first edition of the event in the English capital.
The arena will host the competition in May 2026, with the nearby Wembley Stadium to provide practice facilities. It will mark the first time that England has hosted the World Championships since 1997, and the first time since 1954 that the event has been staged in London.
London was selected as the host today (Thursday) during the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)’s annual meeting. London was selected ahead of a bid from Bangkok.
London’s bid focused on bringing the centenary championships back to the capital but also proposed the most environmentally sustainable event to date. Both OVO Arena, Wembley and Wembley Stadium are located as little as 20 metres from the main Championship hotel, and no more than 600 metres from all other hotels.
Table Tennis England said that the whole event is based on public transport and the ease of accessibility, with the centre of London less than 20 minutes away on the London Underground.
A new company will now be set up to manage the event budget and delivery. The company will recruit key positions and draw on expertise from within Table Tennis England the wider table tennis community.
Adrian Christy, chief executive of Table Tennis England, said: “To bring the centenary World Championships back to the city where it all began is a huge honour and a massive boost for the sport in this country.
“It’s been a monumental team effort to get us this far and we are hugely grateful for the support of the Mayor of London, UK Sport, our venue partners at OVO Arena, Wembley and Wembley Stadium, our consultant partner, Onside, and the team at Table Tennis England.
“But the hard work begins now, and we can’t wait to get started on delivering the greatest table tennis show on earth, alongside the exciting impact projects we have planned.”
