According to the ITTF announcement, the six channels are as follows:

• MAIN - for all the ITTF world events and the Pro Tour
• JUNIORS - for a selection of events from the Global Junior Programme
• EDUCATION & COACHING - to keep up with the news of the Programme (I think they mean the Global Junior Programme)
• DEVELOPMENT - to watch videos from the Programme (ditto)
• PRESIDENT INTERVIEWS - to stay tuned with the ITTF President opinions (although it could have been interesting if it had been the President interviewing other people, as I first thought...)
• WORLD OF TABLE TENNIS - to watch the ITTF highlights show and much more...

Apparently 16:9 HD streaming will be available, with streaming beginning on 19th March at 9.30 GMT, and with live streaming starting on the 20th March at 16.00 GMT with the German Open Women's Singles Quarterfinals.

Although the streaming hasn't started quite yet, you can check out the announcement at the ITTF website, and view the new itTV page here.

Only a couple of days to go - and all of the channels will be available for free (yay!), so warm up your Internet connections and put some bandwidth aside for the best of the ITTF!

2009 US Nationals Boycott

• Boycott or player extortion? You might be surprised which respected sports people have been involved in similar circumstances.
• Two of the boycotters managed to still compete in the Nationals trials - was this a Texas travesty?
• The first thread referring to the Hearing Panel's decision.

Elsewhere on the forum:

• Sneaky shenanigans regarding changing paddles during a match - beware of any player who puts his bag under the table!
• More debate on dodgy dealings due to the server catching the return of the receiver, then calling a let serve.
• A long but interesting thread sparked by a forum member looking to take his game to the next level.
• The return of the great momentum debate in a thread about what to do when you are 1 game to 0 up, but 0-8 down in the second game of a match.
• And finally, a ray of light for all us oldies with the news that a 44 year old Jan-Ove Waldner beat Par Gerell in the final of the Swedish Championships.

While both of these players deserve congratulations, I thought I would also extend a special mention to those responsible for the special mini-site dedicated to the tournament. They have done a fine job in including the draws, results, photo galleries, live streaming (at the time!), and video highlights of the tournament.

Wouldn't it be nice to see more of these style of mini-sites for tournaments around the world?