even weeks after the historic unification of the North and South Korean women’s team at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships, table tennis was again used as a vehicle for peace with friendly matches featuring players from North Korea, South Korea, China and Japan on June 22, 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to celebrate Olympic Day
2018.
The North and South Korean women’s team, competed against each other in the quarter-final stage at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships in Halmstad, shook hands and greeted each other with broad smiles in an atmosphere of friendship and solidarity in an historic move to form a unified Korean
team.
The power of sport in bonding divided nations transcended all as the two Korean teams competed as one in their semi-final clash against Japan.
The eventual result was not the important factor; the important factor was that table tennis brought unity and showed the positive face of mankind.
ITTF CEO Steve Dainton stated: “After the historic unification of the Korean teams at the 2018 World Table Tennis Championships, it is great to see that table tennis will again be used as a tool for peace between nations. Table tennis has a rich history in diplomacy, so we are happy that the IOC is using table tennis on Olympic Day to show the world how table tennis can be used as tool to promote peace.”
Gold medallists at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Ma Long and Ding Ning were present in Lausanne, together with South Korea’s Athens 2004 medallists Ryu Seungmin and Kim Kyungah, and North Korean superstars Kim Song I and Pak Sin Hyok. Ai Fukuhara and Tomokazu Harimoto from Japan rounded out the star-studded cast at the event.
ITTF President Thomas Weikert, ITTF CEO Steve Dainton and ITTF Secretary General Raul Calin were also in attendance to witness the historic moment of peace playing out.
The players present in Lausanne were also accompanied by the Presidents of their respective National Olympic Committees.
