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Table tennis will return to the iconic Royal Albert Hall for the first time in over 3 decades for the most exciting new event of modern times. The Dunlop Masters will be contested by the cream of the world's top players with a line-up boasting Jan-Ove Waldner, Chen Weixing, Kalinikos Kreanga, Jean Michel Saive, Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight. The return of table tennis to the majestic surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall will create excitement across Planet Table Tennis. The prestigious London venue, opposite Hyde Park’s Albert Memorial and just a stone’s throw from Harrods, is generally regarded as the world’s most atmospheric indoor arena and has tremendous historic significance for table tennis as the venue that played host to major events in the heyday of Richard Bergmann and Johnny Leach.
The Dunlop Masters is a six-man competition for huge prize money encompassing two quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a final. The event will begin at 7pm and will conclude around 10.30pm. But don’t just expect to see world-class table tennis: the organisers are planning features and special guests that, we are told, will take the breath away. Specially installed big screens, featuring action replays and interviews with the players as they happen on court, will add to the sense of occasion. For the hard-core table tennis aficionado, The Dunlop Masters will be the event that provides the ultimate test of form in the months leading in to the Olympic Games in Beijing in the summer of 2008. It will be fascinating to see how the world’s leading players cope with the unique atmosphere of the Royal Albert Hall and the pressure of a live audience expected to exceed 5,000 spectators. It will also be intriguing to see how Drinkhall, a youngster expected to challenge for gold in 2012, fares against the world’s best. All profits from The Dunlop Masters will be donated to TTK, the table tennis initiative of Greenhouse Schools Project Ltd -a registered charity (Registration number: 1098744) Alex Murdoch, Chairman of the ETTA, said: “We are delighted that the legacy of The Masters will be to provide new funds for the development of table tennis amongst young people. We look forward to working closely with Greenhouse to make this the most spectacular event of recent times.” The Royal Albert Hall is in the heart of
central London and offers excellent transport links by road,
rail, underground and bus. |
The
auditorium is quite unlike any other in the world and those
who have been for the initial site-visits have been abuzz
with excitement. The seats are “on the round”, completely
encircling the playing area and creating a gladiatorial
atmosphere with a tremendous sense of intimacy. The table
will be placed in the center of the live circular area in
the adjoining photograph. The Masters will be broadcast on
Sky Sports in the UK and will be beamed to dozens of nations
around the world.