China News Service, Shanghai, October 15 (Miao Lu) The 2026 World Table Tennis Health Carnival (Shanghai) press conference was held on the 15th at the Huo Yingdong Sports Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This year's World Table Tennis Health Carnival, with the theme of "Table Tennis Gathers the World, Health for the Future", will be held from October 20 to 25. This is also the first time the carnival has landed in Asia.
The World Table Tennis Health Carnival is an important platform for the ITTF Foundation to promote the integration of table tennis with health promotion and sports medicine in recent years. It is also a benchmark table tennis health event focusing on patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
The carnival will include two core events, the 2026 World Alzheimer Table Tennis Championships and the 2026 World Parkinson's Table Tennis Championships, and an academic seminar - the 2026 World Table Tennis Health Conference. A pre-match training camp will be held from October 17th to 18th. On October 20th, Petra Solin, President of the International Table Tennis Federation, will attend the opening ceremony of the Health Carnival in Shanghai and deliver a speech. Various main matches will be held from October 21st to 25th.
Different from previous table tennis events, the World Table Tennis Health Carnival has established a table tennis exchange platform for special groups around the world. The participants are a group of table tennis enthusiasts who bravely face the disease. 226 athletes from 24 countries and regions will appear in singles, doubles, mixed doubles and consolation events. The entire event takes into account both competitiveness and participation, allowing every participant to gain confidence in swinging the racket, connect with their peers, and demonstrate the spirit of patients with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases fighting to compete.
There will also be an interesting table tennis interactive area open to the public, a public welfare painting exhibition, and eight health-themed game stations outside the event, which will break down professional barriers to the event and allow citizens of different ages and physical conditions to experience the racket and feel the charm of "table tennis promoting health."
"Table tennis is not just a competitive sport, but also reaches ordinary people. Whether young people or middle-aged and elderly people, they can gain physical and mental health through this sport." As the carnival promotion ambassador, Olympic champion Yan Sen said.
As an extension of the ITTF Foundation's "Table Tennis for Health" theme exchange activities, the 2026 World Table Tennis Health Conference will set up four major theme sections: "Table Tennis for Health", "China Practice", "Table Tennis and Healthy Aging" and "From Intervention to Impact". Global experts and scholars gathered in Shanghai to deliver 14 keynote speeches and share cutting-edge scientific research results and front-line practical experience in the application of table tennis in the field of sports rehabilitation.
This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ITTF. At this milestone historical node, the World Table Tennis Health Carnival has landed in Asia and Shanghai for the first time. It not only highly recognizes Shanghai's table tennis heritage and city charm, but also injects new table tennis power into Shanghai's acceleration of building a world-famous sports city and in-depth implementation of the "Healthy China" strategy.
Prior to this, Shanghai had accumulated a solid practical foundation in the field of table tennis health. In August this year, the 2026 Shanghai Table Tennis Carnival "A Ping Pong Ring" came to a successful conclusion. The event extended from community alleys to business district scenic spots, covering senior golfers and young players, setting off an upsurge in the city's public participation in table tennis. The Shanghai "Table Tennis Match" Parkinson's table tennis charity project initiated by ITTF Lifetime Honorary Chairman Xu Yinsheng and advocated by Wang Liqin, Chairman of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, has continued to develop in Shanghai in recent years. From the local exploration of "table tennis par" to hosting the World Table Tennis Health Carnival, Shanghai is also using small silver balls to write a new chapter in the integrated development of "sports + health".
