London, 9th April 2026 - The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the World Sports Photography Awards have partnered on a centenary photography project. Set to run alongside the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 Presented by ACN, it will feature iconic modern images, archive discovery and global fan participation.
The ITTF Centenary Photography Awards combine a professional photography competition with a global search for historic images drawn from fans’, families’ and community archives across the sport.
Professional photographers will be invited to submit the table tennis images that best define each decade of the modern game, from the 1970s onwards. These images will help tell the story of the sport across the last half-century.
For the decades before the 1970s, fans, families, former players, ITTF’s member associations and clubs will be invited to contribute historic photographs from table tennis’s early years.
Together, the two strands will help build the most complete visual record yet of the sport’s first 100 years.
Petra Sörling, ITTF President, said: “Approaching our centenary gives us a chance not just to celebrate table tennis, but to recover and preserves memories and images from its history that might otherwise be lost. This project will honour the sport’s greatest photography while helping us discover unknown gems.”
The professional awards will be judged to World Sports Photography Awards standards by a panel assembled jointly by ITTF and WSPA. The archive drive will also encourage the discovery, digitisation and preservation of rare photographs from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Selected images from both strands will be brought together as part of the wider centenary programme.
Simon Burton, Co-Founder, World Sports Photography Awards, said: “Great sports photography does more than capture action. It preserves memory, emotion, style and cultural change. We are proud to help ITTF celebrate its visual history in its centenary year.”
The ITTF World Championships Finals 2026 Presented by ACN will take place in London, England, from 28 April to 10 May 2026. Entry into the awards will run in conjunction with the World Championships Finals via the World Sports Photography Awards website, and remain open until July 2026.
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