Busan hosts this year's World Table Tennis Championships from Feb. 16-25 at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) in Busan's Haeundae-gu District. Shown is a large sculpture of a paddle in front of BEXCO Plaza. (Yonhap News)

By Margareth Theresia

Busan on Feb. 16 opened the World Table Tennis Championships, the world's biggest tournament in the sport, at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) in the city's Haeundae-gu District.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the competition will run through Feb. 25 and is hosted by the International Table Tennis Federation and organized by the World Table Tennis Championships Busan 2024 Organizing Committee. About 2,000 players from 40 countries will take part.

The tournament alternates between individual and team events every other year, with this year's to have two events for both men's and women's squads. Sixteen qualifying spots for the Paris Summer Olympics later this year will be up for grabs.

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the sport's entry into Korea and the nation's first hosting of the competition. Both the men's and women's teams will each have five players including Shin Yubin and Jeon Ji-hee, the duo who won the women's doubles title at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

At the opening ceremony on the afternoon of Feb. 17, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon will congratulate Korea's hosting of the event and declare the tournament open.

The spectacular performances at the ceremony will include performances of traditional Korean culture, the chwitadae (traditional marching band) march and an electronic dance music laser show featuring table tennis images under the tournament's theme "One Table, One World."

"We hope that this tournament gives birth to the next generation of Korea's table tennis stars in Busan and that Korea will become an energetic sports power by expanding the foundation of table tennis, which is easily enjoyable as a daily sport," Minister Yu said. "Our hope is that this competition showcases K-culture's power to the world."

This is the official promotional poster of this year's World Table Tennis Championships in Busan. (Busan Metropolitan City)