2022 IU Examination Preparatory Course: Online – (10-12 September)

As part of the 2022 ITTF Education Program and in line with the strategic priorities of the ITTF Strategic Plan to be continuously investing, promoting, and developing in the area of Education, the ITTF Umpires and Referees Committee (URC) in cooperation with ITTF High Performance and Development organized a Preparatory Course for the 2022 IU Examination candidates.

The 4-hour course was held online between 10-12 September 2022 and was available in 7 languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian). The 8 separate sessions were conducted by 6 URC experts (Chan CK, Merheb Imad, ZHANG Yingqiu, DEMARIO Leonor, SEMENOVA Elena, and Kirill Mazaev). More than 800 candidates attended the course online, which was recorded and shared with all IU Exam candidates.

The preparatory course is not the only educational activity focused on match officials taking place in recent months.

“ITTF High Performance and Development and ITTF Umpires and Referee Committee are working close together to offer educational opportunities for the match officials worldwide. The last months have been extremely busy and we are proud to announce that in 2022, we will have at the end:

• 10 Advanced Umpires Training Courses
• 15 Advanced Rules Exams
• 12 events with evaluations
• At least 5 events with assessments
• And 2 International Referee Schools
• International Umpire Exam – online Preparatory course in seven languages available for more than 1000 participants

This is an impressive number and is only possible, because of the excellent work of our experienced trainers worldwide, our motivated and fully engaged URC members and the really close cooperation with High Performance Development and especially with Polona, Omar, Katarzyna and Dora.

Our aim is to continue also 2023 with the same energy to ensure the best conditions for our match officials.” Werner Thury, URC Chair

International Referee School (IR) 2022 – Helsinki – Finland (13-16 October 2022) and International Referee School (IR) 2022 – Singapore (18-21 November 2022)

The International Referee school is a four-day seminar, which includes an end-of-course written examination in English. Alongside the written examination, qualification will depend on an interview and refereeing experience at the international level. The next edition will take place in Helsinki (FIN) from 13-16 October 2022, where 13 participants (5 women, 8 men) from Finland and Singapore will be guided by experts Peter Bohumsky (CZE) and Michael Zwipp (GER), while in November, the International Referee School will be held in Singapore (18-21 November).

“The educational activities running in 2022 are supporting the growth and development of match officials in all continents and are helping them to reach the next level of their career. especially after the long break of the Pandemic.” Omar Refaat, ITTF Development Manager

 AUT/ARE + BB evaluations

Umpires seeking qualification as a Blue Badge (BB) umpire are required to undergo Advanced Umpire Training (AUT) and pass the Advanced Rules Examination (ARE). At least three different trainers then evaluate their practical performance during two separate competitions. Existing Blue Badge umpires are required to undergo evaluation periodically to retain their status. Throughout 2022, umpires have been evaluated during the following activities:

Africa

1. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – ITTF Africa Cup Lagos – Nigeria (25 – 28 May 2022)

• 10 Participants (8 male and 2 female)
• 5 MAs (NGR, CIV, GHA, RSA, and TOG)
• Expert: Wolfgang Wulz (AUT)

2. ARE + BB Evaluation – Africa Senior CC – Algeria (3-9 Sep 2022)

• 8 Participants in ARE and 10 BB Evaluations
• Experts: Wolfgang Wulz (AUT) and Katja Brand (SUI)

Upcoming:

1. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Cairo – Egypt (24 – 30 October 2022)

Asia

1. AUT/ARE/BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Sulaymaniyah – Iraq (13 – 20 March 2022)

• 17 Participants (11 male and 6 female)
• 6 MAs (IRQ, IRI, EGY, OMA, LBN, and JOR)
• Expert: Paul Shiltz (LUX)

2. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – Asian Junior & Cadet CC – Laos (1-6 September 2022)

• 16 Participants (8 male and 8 female) in the AUT/ARE
• 26 (12 male and 14 female) BB Evaluations
• 9 MAs participated in total (BRN, IND, IRI, KOR, MAS, MDV, NEP, SGP, THA)
• Experts: Cyril Sen (MAS) and Joseph Lau (SGP)

Americas

1. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – Pan American Youth – Argentina (2-7 August 2022)

• 11 Participants in the AUT/ARE.
• 18 BB Evaluation
• Leonor Demario (BRA), Christian David (FRA)

Upcoming:

• AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – Pan American – Santiago – Chile (17-23 October 2022)
• AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – US Open – USA

Europe

1. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Metz – France (14-20 February 2022)

• 10 Participants (7 male and 3 female)
• 6 MAs (GER, ROU, ITA, SUI, FRA, and BEL)
• Paul Schiltz (LUX) and Matijevic Spasoje (CRO)

2. AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Linz – Austria (26 April – 3 May 2022)

• 19 Participants (17 male and 3 female)
• 14 MAs (AUT, GER, USA, POR, POL, GER, FRA, UGA, HUN, FIN, KOR, CRO, SVK and TUN)
• Matijevic Spasoje (SUI) and Hans-Peter Woerner (GER)

3. ARE + BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Berlin – Germany (16 – 22 May 2022)

• 26 Umpires were evaluated during the tournament and 8 candidates (6 male and 2 female) from 2 MAs (GER & TUN) undertook the Advanced Rules Exam (ARE).
• Experts: Wolfgang Wulz (AUT) and Ronald Wee (AUS)

Oceania:

AUT/ARE + BB Evaluation – WTT Youth Contender Darwin – Australia (24-26 September 2022)