Table tennis federation proposes schedule changes for London 2012

Table tennis wants revised schedule for 2012 Games

YOKOHAMA, Japan — The International Table Tennis Federation wants to alter the schedule for the 2012 London Olympics so that singles matches are played ahead of the team events.

Team events were played before the singles competition at the Beijing Games, but the ITTF will propose to the International Olympic Committee that singles matches be staged first in London.

“The reason behind this is that it is fairer to the players who do not take part in the team event,” the ITTF said in statement from the World Championships, which started Tuesday.

China is reportedly opposed to the proposal as many of its players will now have to unite for team events after playing against each other in singles.

For London 2012, the ITTF will propose a simple knockout competition among the 16 teams, the statement said. In Beijing, the teams started in four groups with a round-robin format used to decide the places in each group for the second round.