Out goes speedskating and in comes table tennis.
Saturday will be the official opening of the Table Tennis Centre of Excellence at the Richmond Oval.
Members of the Chinese Canadian Table Tennis Federation, along with John Mills, the general manager of the Richmond Oval, introduced the facility yesterday as the new hub of table tennis at a memorandum of understanding signing in Richmond.
Table tennis players will finally have a place to play where they can be seen, said Khen Ng, CCTTF member and table tennis coach. Ng said he hoped the move would make what he calls an underrepresented and overshadowed sport more visible.
The Oval will house 30 new table tennis tables by the end of September. There will also be three table tennis coaches who will work alongside chief coach Y.J. Liu, an international table tennis champion.
Johnny Fong, an honorary vice-president of CCTTF, said he hopes this centre will help “build a strong relationship between Canada and China.”
The Oval hopes to become a national training centre for table tennis.
