"Without great solitude," said Pablo Picasso, "no serious work is possible." ITTF President Thomas Weikert has been charged with more than his usual share of serious work this year. The routine rigors of running the international governing body for the world's second-most popular sport (that's table tennis, by the way, trailing only soccer) are a given, given the job description. This year, however, nothing is routine. Weikert has not only been dealing with the logistical nightmare of rescheduling every major tournament of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also quietly trying to quell an insurrection among his top executives. Weikert must feel like he is trying to stomp out multiple fires in those round metal office wastebins, only to get his feet stuck in the burning cans. He could certainly be forgiven for muttering a few unprintable words in his native German these days. With two of his top executives, Deputy President Khalil Al-Mohannadi and Executive Vice President of Finance Petra Sorling, openly lobbying for his ouster, Weikert must also be feeling lonely at the top. Now, however, it looks like solitude is the only way the world's professional table tennis players will get to return to work. One of the biggest tournaments of the year, the 2020 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships, were originally to be held March 22-29 in Busan, South Korea. Due to the pandemic, they have been provisionally postponed until September 21-October 4. Now, it appears that the championships will be quite different, if they happen at all. "We have to respect social distancing norms as it is important to think about players’ health,” said Weikert. “In Germany, we are planning to have events without spectators and only in singles category. It’s going to be the same in international events as well." Yes, you read that right. Not only will the doubles event be scrapped, but the remaining singles events will be held in the safety of quarantine, without a fan to be seen. Weikert indicated this would be the way to move forward for the foreseeable future. "If we’re able to organize the World Team Table Tennis Championships in September, that will only be in singles and if we have the World Cups in October that, too, will also be only singles," Weikert announced. "It’s an unprecedented situation and the biggest crisis that sports has suffered in the last century," added Weikert, "but we have to deal with it without any excuse." For the embattled President Weikert, the isolation he must endure as a function of his coveted position is also a key component for moving our sport forward through these uncharted challenges. Now that is some serious work.

More at India.com