Coronavirus update

Last updated July 30 at 9:00am

Please note, this is an ever-changing situation and our advice may change at short notice. We recommend that you check our website regularly for the latest advice.

Following the successful re-opening of indoor sports facilities last Saturday 25 July, Table Tennis England is moving from the 27th of July into Stage 3 of our return to play roadmap – with a target date of September 1st to resume local league competition.

Clubs across the country undertook extensive work to prepare for last Saturday’s return, and their diligent response has enabled us to move into Stage 3 – preparing for localised competition. As part of this phase we will be preparing further guidance and advice for leagues to support a return to local league play.

That opens the way for Stage 4 – local competition resumption – on September 1st, with social distancing and hygiene restrictions continuing to be in place.

A basic guidance document for local leagues to consider is already available and we are currently advising that local leagues and local or national competitions do not currently recommence and we anticipate that we will be in a position to move into stage 4 (local leagues able to re-start) from September 1, 2020.

We will be looking to share more detailed guidance for leagues by mid-August. Please see the current guidelines and timescales connected to the return of local and national competitions by clicking here.

Find out more on our Ready to Return guidance on our website.

When any updated Government guidance is published, we will move as soon as we can to consider what it means for table tennis across the country. We will aim to respond to any changes promptly but we may have to wait for the Government to provide the precise details of their guidance and advice.

Our series of stages through which we anticipate table tennis activity outside of the home resuming are below:

• Stage 1 – Play and exercise at home and limited outdoor play
• Stage 2 – Limited club activity
• Stage 3 – Preparing for localised competition (where we are now)
• Stage 4 – Local competition resumption
• Stage 5 – Full play and spectating in place

In preparing for Stage 3, we have prepared a series of guidance documents, including risk assessment templates, to help clubs and leagues to plan for a resumption.

These documents, plus more information on the path to resumption, can be found by clicking here.

We have also been announced a framework for confirming national events and leagues, plus a refund policy, as we continue to plan for the 2020/21 season. For more information on this, click here.

In all matters, the health and wellbeing of all our members, volunteers, suppliers and staff remain the key priority for the Board of Table Tennis England at this time of uncertainty and change.

Our previous statements

Following the Government lockdown guidance issued in March, the Board initially cancelled all events until the end of May and all national events until the end of June. This position was later updated so that all events, national and sanctioned, were cancelled until the end of July.

For more information on this, how we finalised league tables, a list of cancelled events and how the international game has been affected, click here to read our previous coronavirus updates.