| The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has signed a ground breaking Strategic Investment Agreement with ITTF-Oceania. The deal, which was signed today, involves the ITTF investing significant financial and human resources into the region to assist its commercial growth, and the popularity of the sport. Apart from through the award winning ITTF Development Program, ITTF-Oceania has not had full-time staff previously, and this investment will provide significant opportunities to grow the sport throughout the region. ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: "Since taking back the marketing rights in house and doing a strategic overview of the current table tennis commercial state, we concluded that working closer with the continents is vital for the overall commercial growth within table tennis. Oceania is the first contract of this nature, and we aim to have more exciting announcements with other continents in the coming months!" The ITTF will work very closely with ITTF-Oceania to develop and implement their 2017-2020 Strategic Plan, with the goal of improving their Continental events, to have them all meet the quality and presentation standards set by the ITTF-Oceania Cup. Also making the sport more popular in the region through an increased push in communications overall, especially through media and social media, and ultimately to create table tennis stars from Oceania who can compete on the world stage. ITTF-Oceania President James MORRIS added: "I am very excited with this new Strategic Investment Agreement with the ITTF. This agreement will allow more resources for our Continental Federation and our National Associations so we can all become even more capable and sustainable. I am very pleased to see the opportunity to have more full-time staff on the ground and I applaud our President Thomas WEIKERT and his ITTF team for understanding our commitment to best practice with our soon to be adopted Strategic Plan, which aligns to this Investment very well and will have many benefits moving forward." ITTF & Africa-Oceania Development Co-ordinator Michael BROWN, who was instrumental in making this deal happen concluded: "In recent years ITTF-Oceania has been putting a lot of hard work into developing the ITTF-Oceania Cup, which has seen considerable improvements within its commercial viability. It was evident that the improvements to these major events have assisted in building the profile of table tennis within Oceania. Through the new investment made by ITTF, these improvements will be seen across more ITTF-Oceania events, including the Championships, as well as establishing the ITTF-Oceania Tour." This is a milestone moment in the history of table tennis within Oceania, that will create opportunities and benefits for both ITTF-Oceania, ITTF and table tennis in general. | 