The stakes could hardly be any higher. For players, the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Zhengzhou, China is the culmination of a year's work, a recognition of their consistent excellence and a chance to win a lot of money and world ranking points. While the players undoubtedly face the most pressure, that which rests on the shoulders of umpires and other tournament officials certainly merits consideration. With so much on the line, any disputed call potentially has enormous consequences on the outcome of the tournament, even the players' careers. That is why officials face such enormous pressure to get every call right. For its nearly century-long history, international table tennis competition has relied on highly fallible systems, such as the players' integrity and the officials' powers of perception, to ensure that the game is played within the rules. Every major professional sport in the world now uses some form of instant replay. Whether you associate "football" with FIFA or the NFL, or prefer other offerings like baseball, basketball, hockey or tennis, you will see some degree of technologically supported officiating. Now, table tennis has officially gotten with the times. The ITTF has announced a partnership with Chinese tech company RigourTech, which offers video playback and analysis called Table Tennis Review (TTR). RigourTech has already tested these capabilities at the recent ITTF Men's World Cup, apparently to the satisfaction of both themselves and the ITTF. With all systems go, TTR will make its official debut at the aforementioned World Tour Grand Finals, starting December 12. Players competing in the Grand Finals will have the option to challenge up to two of the umpires' calls per match. Any disputes over the legality of serves or whether the ball strikes the playing surface of the table can now be settled with a high degree of finality, thanks to the use of the available technology. With stakes so high, mistakes won't fly.

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