Chinese shipping company Seamaster have secured a naming sponsor deal together with Qatar for the 2016 ITTF Star Awards & 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals to be held in Doha, Qatar.
The premier year-ending events will now be called the Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF Star Awards which will be held on 8 December, and Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals which will take place from 8-11 December.
Commenting on the deal, ITTF President Thomas WEIKERT stated: “The ITTF is very happy that Seamaster has come on board for our two prestigious end-of-year events. Seamaster is becoming a very valuable partner for the ITTF after also sponsoring the successful Women’s World Cup earlier this year in USA.”
In addition to being the title sponsor at the 2016 ITTF Star Awards, Seamaster is also sponsoring the ITTF Star Point award and Breakthrough Star at the table tennis’ night of nights which celebrates the world’s best table tennis players for their achievements in 2016.
Seamaster Chairman Frank JI stated: “Being the title sponsor of these massive events is a fantastic opportunity for not only Seamaster to promote its brand internally, but also my other investments, the T2 Asia-Pacific Table Tennis League, Table Tennis X (TTX) and the Monday Club. I look forward to working with the ITTF to build further opportunities for table tennis business in the future.”
Qatar Table Tennis Association President & ITTF Deputy President Khalil AL MOHANNADI added: “We are thrilled to have such a big company like Seamaster to be involved with our two events in Doha. It’s with great pleasure that for Qatar we are able to secure some support, and also to secure such high level events with the long term and massive support of our Olympic Committee and government.”
The Seamaster Qatar 2016 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals is the season ending finale of the 2016 ITTF World Tour, which had 20 stops in 2016. Only the top 16 men and women with the most points from the 20 World Tour events qualify for the $500,000 event, ensuring only the best table tennis players will be making the trip to Qatar.
