It is very much a minor sport in this country, but the organisation wants out of garages and spare rooms and into stadiums.
The national body’s development manager Kaushik Patel is helping spearhead an ambitious plan to reshape the sport.
And he has drafted in some help from overseas. Canadian-based specialist Dejan Papic knows the sport inside-out but was a little stumped by the opening question.
What does Table Tennis New Zealand need to do differently?
"How long have you got," chipped in Patel after a pause from Papic.
"First we needed to identify where my time and energy was best spent," Papic said.
Translated, there was plenty to do.
Sustainability was at the top of the list. But the structure of the sport, the development pathways, the ranking system, training for officials and the competition structure were all in need of some fresh ideas as well.
Patel is leading the project and the work began last July.
"Ideally we want a new structure in place by the start of 2024," Patel said.
"It is a long-term plan and we’ve got three horizons in the mind. We’re looking at the 2028 Olympic Games, the 2032 Commonwealth Games and 2032 Olympic Games."
The pair were in Dunedin earlier this week to attend the southern region training camp, which involved 50 layers and eight coaches.
The camp preceded the Otago Open, which got under way yesterday.
Otago Open numbers are down from around 125 to 100 this year.
Otago Table Tennis president Ben Duffy said there were a couple of contributing factors for the disappointing turnout.
"The cost of living is certainly on of them. And the cost of flights to come down from the North Island are more than normal," Duffy said.
"Also the Australian Open is on at the same time, so some of the higher-level players may have chosen to go and play there."
The quality of the field is not as strong as it has been previously.
Nathan Xu shapes as one of the leading contenders. He is originally from Dunedin but moved away to study and will play under an Auckland banner.
His strongest competition is likely to come from Canterbury’s Jong Eub Han.
Duffy is the strongest of the local players entering. He described himself as "cannon fodder" and "there are a few sort of veteran players and some up-and-coming juniors".
"It is quite even after those two [Xu and Han]."
