The ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals Astana 2027 will take place in Kazakhstan’s capital from May 22 to May 30, 2027, becoming the first world table tennis championship ever held in Central Asia.
The tournament was officially presented at the ADD Table Tennis Center Astana.
According to Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Tourism and Sports Serik Zharasbayev, the country will host seven international Olympic sports tournaments in 2027, with the World Table Tennis Championships expected to become one of the year’s largest sporting events.
Representatives from more than 100 countries are expected to participate. The main venue will be Barys Arena, which has a capacity of approximately 8,000 spectators. Additional matches will be hosted at the Qazaqstan Athletics Sports Complex, which can accommodate around 6,800 people.
“Our capital was selected to host the World Championships for several reasons, one of the main ones being the availability of major sports facilities that fully meet international requirements,” Zharasbayev told journalists during a briefing.
According to the vice minister, a technical delegation from the International Table Tennis Federation has already inspected the venues and gave the tournament infrastructure high marks.
“The entire infrastructure is being evaluated from the airport to the sports facilities. At this point, Kazakhstan, and Astana in particular, possess all the necessary resources to host competitions of this level,” he said.
Zharasbayev also noted that table tennis remains one of the fastest-growing sports in Kazakhstan.
Organizers expect approximately 1,000 athletes to take part in the championships. The tournament will also serve as one of the key ranking qualification stages for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. Medals will be awarded in five categories: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
Asiya Ilyasova, the tournament’s marketing and commercial director, said organizers are hopeful for a strong performance by Kazakhstan’s national team.
“We have a strong national team that has consistently delivered high-level results in recent years. For example, Kirill Gerassimenko and Alan Kurmangaliyev are ranked among the world’s top 30 players. They will represent Kazakhstan at the World Championships, and we have high expectations for them,” Ilyasova said.
According to organizers, Astana is expected to welcome large numbers of foreign visitors, including fans and official delegations, particularly from Southeast Asian countries where table tennis enjoys enormous popularity.
In the coming months, organizers plan to launch competitions among souvenir manufacturers to create products featuring Kazakh national motifs, as well as contests for fashion designers to develop uniforms for volunteers, staff, and official tournament merchandise. An open competition will also be announced to design the official mascot of the championships.
The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Astana will also host the 2026 Future Games, an international tournament combining traditional sports and esports disciplines.
