TTA Signs Agreement with Nishiwaki City in Preparation for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

After many months of fruitful negotiations, TTA and Nishiwaki City have formed an agreement that will see the Australian National Team undertake a final preparation training camp immediately prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Nishiwaki City, which is 1.5 hours from Osaka in Japan. Nishiwaki City will generously cover all on ground hospitality and training costs for the team, plus provide training partners. 

On Sunday 22 July, TTA CEO Scott Houston formalised the agreement at a Signing Ceremony in Nishiwaki City, after which he commented ‘TTA is very pleased with this agreement. It's two years until the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and it’s reassuring to know that whoever qualifies from Australia will have access to fantastic training conditions as the team puts the finishing touches on its preparation. Nishiwaki City have shown great commitment to this agreement and are ready to embrace our National Team – at the Signing Ceremony there were more than 400 people in attendance, they arranged for the Australian National Anthem to be sung in English, flags and banners were on display throughout the whole city and extensive local media coverage was provided. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mayor Shozo Katayama, his Councillors and the people of Nishiwaki City for making this possible’. 

Nishiwaki City Mayor Shozo Katayama was equally pleased, ‘Nishiwaki City will put our utmost effort into supporting the Australian table tennis team with the aim of furthering not only sport but cultural and educational exchange’.