San Francisco to hold 3rd annual Ping Pong tournament in August

San Francisco, July 26 (People's Daily Online Han Shasha) San Francisco mayor Edwin M. Lee announced today that the city will host the Third Annual Ping Pong Tournament and Festival on August 18th in Chinatown as part of a two-day weekend Chinatown Summer Celebration.

"Through the sport of table tennis more than 40 years ago, Ping Pong Diplomacy provided a way to open the doors and connect two countries," said Mayor Lee. "Today ping pong is becoming integrated into the fabric of everyday life for many of our youth and families in San Francisco. As we continue these Citywide Ping Pong Tournaments, we activate one of our City's oldest and most dense neighborhoods – Chinatown – and showcase an active sport that is growing in popularity and a healthy option for residents."

According to the press release, the tournament will be held in Portsmouth Square starting at 9:30am. The Ping Pong Tournament and Festival is part of the two-day Summer Celebration in Chinatown.
This year's Ping Pong Tournament will expand to offer provide more teams an opportunity to participate and compete. The tournament has three levels of participation depending on skill: entry, intermediate, and advanced. Competition will be team-based with five members on each team regardless of gender or age.

In addition to individual Ping Pong players and community teams from various City neighborhoods, this year's participants include the Golden State Warriors, teams from technology companies including Weebly and teams from City Departments including the San Francisco Police Department.

The tournament started in 2011 as San Francisco celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy. The 1971 U.S. and Chinese ping pong tournament in Beijing marked a thaw in U.S.-China relations that paved the way to a visit to Beijing by President Richard Nixon.

Since 2011, San Francisco community has worked together to celebrate the iconic sport by organizing the annual Ping Pong Tournament event and inviting residents and visitors in the Bay Area to join, compete, and have fun.