by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

Notably, he took the opportunity to visit the ITTF Offices; his first such visit.

During his visit, on Thursday 9th November, he met Steve Dainton, ITTF Chief Executive Officer and Raul Calin and ITTF Secretary-General.

“It was wonderful to exchange ideas with Mr. Levitin a long-time supporter of table tennis. He has many interesting ideas that could benefit the sport and we will now look at ways in which we can work more closely together for the future development of table tennis.” Steve Dainton

“It is always a pleasure to meet Mr Levitin. We all remember his excellent management of the 2010 World Championships in Moscow; most notably, how he ensured all participants could acquire their visas to attend the event. During our meeting on Thursday, Mr Levitin shared many ideas with us. He has a broad business vision and is certainly an important asset to the International Table Tennis Federation.” Raul Calin

Later on Saturday 11th November, Igor Levitin visited the ITTF Headquarters in Lausanne where he was received by Raul Calin.

He was positively impressed by the ITTF property and after a tour around the facilities, talks continued about how the ITTF could develop further to become a more important sport in the international scene. Such items as eligibility, increasing the number of international competitions in Russia and the possibility to replicate a “Board of Trustees” model, successfully implemented in Russia were topics of discussion.

“On behalf of the ITTF, despite his busy agenda of meetings in Switzerland I thank Mr Levitin for taking the time to visit the Office.” Raul Calin

It was agreed universally to work more closely for the benefit of our sport.