(ATR) Budapest is all but guaranteed to host the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships.
The ITTF, the sport’s governing body, revealed on Friday that the Hungarian capital was the only bidder for the event.
ITTF CEO Judit Farago said in a statement that though there were "inquiries from different countries from four continents, by the deadline Budapest was the only valid bid received."
The announcement came after ITTF officials visited the SYMA Sport and Events Centre in Budapest, the venue proposed for the Championships to determine that it was suitable to host the world's biggest table tennis event.
Officially, Budapest must still present their bid to the ITTF at the annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Mar. 1. At that time, the delegates will decide if they approve the bid.
Hungary, with more World Championship gold medals than any nation except China, has not hosted the sport’s marquee event since 1950. But Hungary does host an ITTF World Tour and World Junior Circuit event every year, and Budapest will be the home for this year's ITTF-European Championships.
Landing the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships should help Budapest in its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The city faces some tough competition for the event with Los Angeles, Paris and Rome also in the running.
2023 World Ski Championships
In other federation bidding news, the French Skiing Federation (FFS) has selected a joint bid of Courcheval and Maribel to represent France in the race to host the 2023 World Alpine Ski Championships.
The FFS says the plan calls for Courchevel to be the venue for the men’s downhill, super-G and super-combined as well as the women’s giant slalom.
Meribel would be the host for women’s downhill, super G and super combined and the men’s giant slalom as well as team events.
France has hosted the event only once since 1968 with Val d’Isere doing the honors in 2009.
The deadline to submit a bid to FIS is May 2017. Austria is the only other country to be considering a bid, with Saalbach or St. Anton in the mix. The winning candidate will be decided in June 2018.
Written by Gerard Farek
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