Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) and European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) during the Olympic Games held in Beijing came into a five-year agreement to jointly sanction the "Asia-Europe All Stars Series" a new yearly series consisting of two tournaments, one to be held in the People's Republic of China and the other in a European country to be selected. The agreement was signed in Beijing by ATTU President LI Furong and ETTU President Stefano BOSI. Also attending the signature's ceremony were ATTU Secretary General Tony YUE and ETTU Vice President Jean-Francois KAHN.
"As president of the ATTU, I felt very happy that a cooperative agreement with ETTU was reached", ATTU President LI Furong stated. "With the joint effort of our two parties, the table tennis fans worldwide will be able to enjoy an extremely high-level contest between Asian and European all-stars. The players from Asia and Europe are the world leading force of our sport, so the challenge between the two continental teams formed by the best players of the world will be undoubtedly exciting and thrilling".
"The common project we shared with the ATTU is something going beyond a new and glamorous event that will effectively promote table tennis sport worldwide", ETTU President Stefano BOSI said. "Our aim is also to develop and facilitate technical exchanges between Asian and European Table Tennis by encouraging member Associations to organize technical meetings among coaches both in Europe and in Asia. This cooperation is totally fitting with the European coaching project we've just launched in Istanbul".
Each "Asia-Europe All Stars Series" event shall be a two-day team competition between the Asian and the European all star team. Each team competition shall consist of five single's matches per day. Each match shall be best of three out of five games.
The winner of the Series shall be determined by combining the results of both Events. Each event's prize money will be 152.000€ and gradually increase up to 180.000€ in 2013.
