EXCLUSIVE: The newly elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation Petra Sörling told CGTN that she is committed to promoting Ping Pong around the world by working with the Chinese Table Tennis Association.

Sörling said it’s important to use sports as a tool for peace, as she comments on the importance of continued China-U.S. Ping Pong diplomacy.

“Let’s write new history here,” Sörling said, commenting on the first time that China and U.S. Ping Pong teams joined forces to compete at Houston’s World Table Tennis Championships.

She said it was a last-minute decision, but she is pleased that this work can potentially become a new era for China-U.S. Ping Pong diplomacy.

“The deadline was only in 20 minutes” for the submissions of the competing teams, said Sörling.

This is the first time the U.S. has ever hosted the World Table Tennis Championship.

Sörling said she will promote Ping Pong in the U.S. market. “We see it’s a big market and it’s part of our vision.” She said the U.S. is not a big country for Ping Pong yet, but the fact that Houston, Texas is hosting the World Table Tennis Championship is a good start.

“It’s good to have more events here (in the U.S.).” Sörling said

This is the first interview Sörling took after she was elected as the ITTF president on Wednesday.

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