27 Jun T2CAVERN UNVEILED IN TRUE HOLLYWOOD FASHION AT STAR-STUDDED AFFAIR IN JOHOR’S PINEWOOD STUDIOS

Johor, 27 June 2017 – The ground-breaking T2 Asia-Pacific Table Tennis League (T2APAC) is set to premiere tomorrow, broadcasting ‘live’ direct from T2Cavern, a purpose-built arena that integrates competition and practice areas, sponsors lounges, hospitality suites into one production set, specially constructed at the Asian location of Hollywood’s iconic Pinewood Studios, situated in Johor, Malaysia.

At this morning’s glitzy opening ceremony attended by a star-studded guest list from around the world, the T2Cavern was officially launched in spectacular fashion after Founder and Chairman of T2APAC Frank Ji shared a moving story of his lifelong ambition to evolve the sport of table tennis and turn a dream into reality. The four teams competing in the inaugural season of T2APAC were then introduced in a runway presentation with each player appearing in fashionable and elegant luxury wear from Ralph Lauren for an added touch of glamour.

The founder and chairman of T2 Asia-Pacific (T2APAC) Table Tennis League, Frank Ji (sixth from left) leading a bow of respect during the T2APAC press launch at the Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Johor earlier today.

The T2APAC, supported by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU), features 24 of the world’s most highest profile men’s and women’s players from Belarus, China, England, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden and Thailand. Divided into six-member teams led by four legendary champions Jiang Jialiang, Jörgen Persson, Jörg Rosskof and Michael Maze, the four sides will battle for an unprecedented prize pool of USD 1.75 million in this mixed team competition.

Competing across men’s, women’s and mixed-doubles, season one of T2APAC will include 228 matches played entirely at the T2CAVERN housed at Pinewood Studios in Iskandar, Johor Bahru. All seven rounds in the first season of T2APAC will be played and televised live in front of an invite-only studio audience inside the T2CAVERN.

Invited guests to the grand opening ceremony had the exclusive chance to be the first to check out the state of the art competition and practice areas, the exclusive hospitality areas like the TTX lounge, while enjoying table tennis themed food and refreshments. Among the invites-only guest list were T2APAC ambassador and German car driver Carrier Schrenier, world-famous karting queen Vivien Dingert, top executives from T2APAC’s global sponsors and stakeholders and friends and families of the players.

(Top row from left) Joo Saehyuk, Jorgen Persson, Mattias Karlsson, (Bottom row from left) Jun Mizutani, Bernadette Szocs, Suthasini Sawettabut and Ding Ning posing for a team photo during the T2APAC press launch earlier today at the Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Johor. The team will be spearheaded by team captain, Persson.

T2APAC is the first in the history of sport to televise and stream a world-class professional league entirely from an iconic Hollywood style studio sound stage and this ground-breaking format aims to further the global development of table tennis as well as elevate the game in emerging territories.

“This tournament sets out to revolutionise the global game of table tennis by making household names out of this select stable of elite players. We are immensely proud to have so many legends of the game today competing in the first-ever T2APAC. It’s been my life-long dream to do something for a sport that is loved and played by over 300 million people around the world and I believe T2APAC will be able to reveal the true beauty of an unpolished diamond that is table-tennis,” said Frank Ji, Founder and Chairman of T2APAC.

“In addition to 228 world-class and never seen before time-based matches, fans around the world can look forward to over 100 hours of adaptive programming and over 120 hours of lifestyle content from T2APAC in the next few months, ” added Jeff Chue, CEO and commissioner of T2APAC. “At T2, we aim to reveal the beautiful truth of the game by delivering next generation multi-media content for fans and create an immersive in-venue experience that enables audiences to get up close and personal to the biggest names in table tennis.”

T2APAC is touted as the richest event in the global table tennis calendar, strategically taking place during breaks in the current international and domestic table tennis calendar.