Jeddah to Host Grand Smash 2024 World Table Tennis Championship

The event is organized by the Saudi Table Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the World Table Tennis Organization (WTT).
The event is organized by the Saudi Table Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the World Table Tennis Organization (WTT).
TT

Jeddah to Host Grand Smash 2024 World Table Tennis Championship

The event is organized by the Saudi Table Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the World Table Tennis Organization (WTT).
The event is organized by the Saudi Table Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the World Table Tennis Organization (WTT).

Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Governorate will host the Grand Smash 2024 World Table Tennis Championship for the first time under the theme "Saudi Smash" from May 1 to 11, with the participation of a group of elite international players in the game.

The event is organized by the Saudi Table Tennis Federation, supervised by the Ministry of Sport, in cooperation with the World Table Tennis Organization (WTT).
The championship, hosted by the Kingdom for the first time, will consist of two phases. The first phase is the preparatory stage, scheduled from May 1 to 3. During this stage, 64 players, including Saudis, will compete to advance to the second stage, known as the finals, which begins on May 4. Only 8 players will progress to the finals. The eight players will then compete alongside 56 other world-class players in the elimination rounds to vie for titles in the five tournaments: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
The event reflects the significant development of the sports sector in Saudi Arabia, aligning with the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 to make the sports sector a direct contributor to the progress, prosperity, and development of the Kingdom across all fields.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
TT

‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.