Umpires:
Since 2004 the standard of umpiring skills brought to a higher level by introducing Blue Badge Umpires. No doubt that this has improved the quality of umpiring at the top end. It is felt that the entry level to the International Umpiring should be improved as well.

A New Level for Umpires Changes a Lot. Umpires are mainly responsible for watching the games with eagle eyes and deciding to whom a point belongs. The situation of umpires education, however, was difficult for everyone coming from a lower developed table tennis area.

While the requirements for becoming International Umpire (IU) are very high, some nearly had no chance to ever become an impartial man next to the table, due to the fact that there was no URC structure within their country. This is why the URC recently introduced so-called Basic Certificate Umpires courses, actually a level beneath the IU. This simplifies the access for participants from all over the world to become umpires.

As the Chairman of URC, Albert Rooijmans, tries to explain “On the one hand, the best players want top umpires”, “on the other hand developing countries also want to have umpires too”.