Int'l Sports Promoter Barry Hearn Wants To Turn Table Tennis Into a 'Glamour Sport'

Int'l sports promoter Barry Hearn "has challenged Hong Kong to become a major player in turning table tennis into a million-dollar glamour sport," according to Peter Simpson of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Hearn launched the World Championship of Ping Pong in London last weekend, aiming to make his version of table tennis more "rock and roll." He wants to "turn it into a global TV spectator event." He now "plans to construct a global ping pong qualifying infrastructure and then replicate the model as a franchise in selected territories around the world, and hopes Hong Kong is part of that." Hearn said that viewer figures from the two-day championship's live TV screening "trebled expected figures." Hearn: "The response I have had from TV companies and sponsors has been brilliant" (SCMP, 1/13).