The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has provided financial support to the Table Tennis Association of Thailand (TTAT) for the ninth consecutive year, under the SET Star Table Tennis project, aiming to enhance the potential of athletes and Thai table tennis sport continuously to reach the international level. SET has also offered grants as motivation and moral support to the Thai national table tennis team who has made history at the 31st SEA Games. Moreover, SET has offered scholarships for the first year to "rising star youth table tennis athletes" so that the Thai players will progress in a sustainable path.
SET Senior Executive Vice President Rongrak Phanapavudhikul said that SET has promoted the Thai capital market in line with the vision 'To Make the Capital Market Work for Everyone'. In addition to promoting sustainable growth of the capital market, SET provides support to table tennis through the SET Star Table Tennis project with a THB 4.75 million grant this year as the sport has multiple benefits in strengthening both physical and mental aspects, including concentration and spending free time to the advantage. The project has become one of SET's prides for nine years starting from 2014 until now since table tennis players have kept developing, refining and advancing considerably and are capable of creating many success stories.
SET realizes that sustainable growth needs to have a strong and secure foundation. Therefore, SET places importance on taking care of the quality of life of table tennis players simultaneously with promoting sports excellence, by providing them with funding as motivation continuously, while also hiring four disabled table tennis players as SET's full-time employees since 2018 in order to create sustainable quality of life.
"Furthermore, this year SET has made another step forward in broadening the "opportunity" toward sustainability for table tennis athletes by initiating scholarships to be granted to rising table tennis players who are skillful, committed, determined, with outstanding performance. Education is believed to lead to further enhancement and advancement at international level. In consistent with the mission of TTAT to carry out intensive training and potential boosting in all forms and to participate in domestic and international tournaments, new generation of talented table tennis players will certainly be nurtured to become an important force to help build Thailand's table tennis reputation on the global stage in the future," added Rongrak.
TTAT President Nuttawut Ruangwes said that SET's continuous supports has contributed to TTAT's success in various aspects, particularly in organizing domestic and international competitions and sending athletes to compete at international events which will result in the athletes' ranking adjustments. Currently, the world ranking of Thai table tennis players has risen to top 25. Passage of Suthasini Sawettabut (Ying), an athlete under the SET Star Table Tennis project, to the round of 16 at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 marked performance milestone and considered the farthest in the history of Thai table tennis in the Olympic Games. Most recently, Thai table tennis players have made the reputation for Thailand with the highest success at the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, winning four gold medals from men's team, women's team, women's singles and women's doubles; two silver medals from men's singles and women's singles; and two bronze medals in mixed doubles, considered phenomenally the most unprecedented in SEA Games history organized 31 times in 63 years.
In addition, SET has enhanced Thai table tennis players to enter professional leagues via the TTAT Pro League project, namely Suthasini, and Orawan Paranang (Thip), who have already won the championships of the Austrian League and the Spanish League respectively. SET is confident that the Thai table tennis circle will move forward in a sustainable manner.