Ping Pong Gets Huge Boost in Singapore

Jul 18th, 20111 Comment

Singapore has historically been one of the better table tennis countries in the world with four players currently ranked in the men’s top 100 and five players currently ranked in the women’s top 100. Singapore has always aimed to compete with the Asian superpowers in the sport, such as South Korea and of course, China. A recent sponsorship deal should give them the necessary financial boost to help them to become one of the top table tennis countries in the world.

On July 14th, the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) signed its biggest ever sponsorship deal with menswear apparel manufacturer Crocodile International Ltd. (Americans know Crocodile as the group that manufactures the Lacoste brand). The sponsorship deal is reportedly worth about $820,000 U.S.D. ($82,000 annually) over a ten-year span. Its goal is to help the STTA support and develop the best young players in Singapore, in addition to creating the Crocodile Challenge Cup. The inaugural Crocodile Challenge Cup is set to begin this year on November 10th-13th in Singapore. The cup will only involve primary school students of Singaporean citizenship, as an attempt to showcase the country’s rising superstars, and will feature a total prize fund of $14,790 U.S.D.

Undoubtedly, sponsorship is key component in developing the sport of table tennis around the world. While Singapore may never be as good as China, this deal gives them the opportunity to compete with the likes of Germany and South Korea as the second best table tennis nation. We hope that they are successful, and that they inspire other countries to acquire sponsorship deals for youth programs of the same magnitude.