“We want to make sure we’re the best World Championships we can possibly be and hopefully the best ever.”

Those are the words of Event Director John Timms, whose company MLS is responsible for delivering the ITTF World Team Championships in London next year.

Today, we launch our video series counting down to London 2026 with a wide-ranging interview with John – the man ultimately responsible for making sure the event happens.

He talks about MLS’ 30-year history of delivering major events, to which they are now adding the WTT Star Contender London in October, the Worlds next year and future major table tennis events in this country.

John shines a light at what is going on behind the scenes, the challenges and opportunities presented by the events and how they will deliver unrivalled experiences for athletes, spectators and volunteers.

And he talks about how sport presentation, sustainability, community impact and legacy, people, partnerships and profile will all combine to make London 2026 an incredible event.

John said: “London is an amazing city, we should be so proud of inviting people into London and the experience they’re going to get when they go to Wembley and when they go to the Olympic Park.

“We’ve got a winning start there and now we’ve got to make sure we deliver that whole in-venue experience to the levels that people are going to expect.

“One of the things that I’m most proud of from working with the partners involved in this project is how community impact, sustainability is at the forefront of what we’re doing.

“Table Tennis England is driving the community impact process through these championships and they’re really targeting how it’s not just about what happens inside those competition arenas, it’s about what happens in the communities building up to those events and it’s about what happens afterwards as well. It’s about how can table tennis improve lives, how can it impact people in a positive way.”

Watch the interview in full below.