Auction at ITTF Dream Building Fundraiser Dinner

The Double Happiness table tennis table that will be used for all the gold medal matches at the LIEBHERR 2013 World Table Tennis Championships in Paris, France will headline the auction items at the inaugural ITTF Dream Building Dinner, on 17 May 2013.

One lucky person will walk away with this awesome table tennis table that will be seen by millions across the world on TV and will also be signed by the two men’s finalists.

This will be one of four items that will go under the hammer at the Marriot Rive Gauche Hotel to raise money for the ITTF Dream Building program, which supports the highly successful ITTF Para Table Tennis Program, ITTF International Development Program and ITTF Global Junior Programs that uses the power of table tennis to change and enrich thousands lives of across the globe.

For those of you wanting to play table tennis with a living legend, the next item on auction is for you. On offer is a once in a lifetime 30-minute training session with Jean-Michel Saive (BEL), who will be playing in his 22nd World Table Tennis Championships in Paris and has played in all 7 Olympic Games since Table Tennis was introduced in 1988. The training has to be redeemed before 20 May 2013 in Paris.

The third item is a framed signed shirt worn by the World no. 5 Timo Boll of Germany at the London 2012 Olympic Games. This top European player and Olympic medallist also supported ITTF’s development initiative, “Ping Pong Paix” (Ping Pong for Peace), when he met the beneficiaries of the program in Dortmund last year during the 2012 World Table Tennis Championships.

The final auction item at the inaugural fundraising dinner is a historic, 111 year old table tennis racket donated by the ITTF Museum.

The racket has a leather “collar” at the top of the handle, leather trim around the racket head, and a flared bottom of the handle. The distinct sound when you hit a table tennis ball with this racket is where the name “ping pong” came from, so this is a very special piece of history.

To be in the running to bid for these amazing prizes, you must be present at the Dream Building Fundraising Dinner on 17 May 2013. There are limited spots still available, so if you would like to be a part of history and have a chance to win these auction items, please contact Kimberly Koh at contact@ittfdream.com to get more information and reserve your place. —- ITTF