With a firm governmental commitment to the sport of table tennis, Kazakhstan is witnessing a boom in not only the amount of people playing, but also in standards across the board (or across the table, more aptly).
260,000 are said to play the sport regularly, with the country’s national teams climbing the world rankings and some of the top players becoming household names, Kirill Gerassimenko the best known. He has featured in three Olympic Games and also plays the German Bundesliga. Sarvinoz Mirkadirova was also chosen to carry the Kazakhstan flag at the Asian Games, given her rise to prominence.
According to Table Tennis Media, Kazakhstan is seen as a potential growth area for the sport, not only because there are more players coming through, but also because coaches from China see its potential and are increasingly willing to bring their knowledge to the country, with a focus on developing young talent.
The site continued:
Former World Table Tennis Championships finalist, 34-year-old Fang Bo, announced that he will represent Kazakhstan in World Table Tennis tournaments as part of his collaboration with Nomad Table Tennis Academy in Astana.
Petra Sörling has also spoken about Kazakhstan becoming the home of future champions. The Swedish business executive has been the President of the International Table Tennis Federation since 2021, and recently visited the capital, Astana, where she was thanked by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and awarded the Order of Dostyk, II Degree, for her contribution to the development of the sport in this country.
Part of this contribution includes helping bring the 2027 World Championship to Kazakhstan, due to take place from 22 – 30 May 2027, in Astana. Petra Sörling said:
“I am honoured and grateful for this recognition. It belongs to everyone working to grow our sport in Kazakhstan. The ITTF World Championships Astana 2027 will be a landmark moment, and the support shown at the highest level of the state gives us real confidence in what we can build together.”
