揭祕：拯救乒乓球的TTX項目

I almost never watch table tennis. But when I sat down to watch the Rio Olympics women's finals happen in front of me, I was drawn in. Swoosh, spin, smash, and swing. Oh, you thought she was going to hit it this way? Nope, it's a smash to the other side. What is she thinking of next?
我幾乎從來不觀看乒乓球。但當我在決賽現場坐下觀看里約奧運會女子乒乓球決賽，比賽就發生在我眼前的時候，我立刻被吸引住了。嗖地一拉！旋球，扣球，弧旋球，讓人眼花繚亂。親，你以爲她要往桌這邊打麼？那你上當了！她一下就把球扣到了另一邊。她下一招又是什麼呢？

While I was captivated by the fast-paced match, I couldn't help but notice the age of my fellow audience members. A look around the arena told me they ranged from mid-30s to graying hair. Where are the young people?
我完全被快節奏的比賽迷住了，不禁注意到我周圍觀衆的年齡分佈。一眼望去，觀衆的年齡層基本都是35歲向上到頭髮花白的老人。我們這羣年輕人在哪兒呢？

Organizations from across the spectrum are trying hard to appeal to the younger generation. The International Table Tennis Federation is no exception. To find out more about the lack of youth interest, I talked to the ITTF marketing director Steve Dainton.
其實，各行各業的公司都在爲吸引年輕的人羣而努力。國際乒聯也不例外。爲了弄明白爲什麼年輕人缺乏興趣，我和國際乒聯市場總監史蒂夫丹頓聊了起來。

I wonder why millennials like me don't keep up with table tennis. He thinks it's because professional table tennis is too complicated. The format is too formal and the technicalities aren't exactly easy to understand.
我想知道爲什麼像我這樣的青少年對乒乓球不感冒。他覺得是因爲專業乒乓球技術層面上太複雜，比賽形式太正式，技術性的細節也不太容易讓人理解。

"The IOC was telling us we need to appeal to the youth," Dainton said, "But we can't just expect young people to like what we're doing. We have to do what young people like."
"國際奧委會叫我們吸引更多的年輕人，"丹頓說，"但我們不能坐等年輕人們喜歡我們的東西。我們必須用年輕人喜歡的東西去吸引他們"。

The ITTF are planning on something quite different to lure young people in. It's called Table Tennis X or just TTX. With DJs and maybe alcohol, TTX plans to host lively social events. It can be a night out with your squad on the beach or in a downtown bar. People will basically play amateur table tennis with fewer rules, easier equipment, and more color. You get a bigger ball and a personalized paddle, so no more just black or red.
國際乒聯正計劃嘗試一些從未有過的做法去吸引年輕人。該計劃被稱爲乒乓球X項目或簡稱TTX。TTX計劃舉辦熱鬧的社區活動，比如邀請DJ，把年輕人聚在一起把酒言歡，相邀小夥伴們一起在海灘或市中心酒吧裏共度浪漫一夜。大家聚在一起可以打業餘的乒乓球，較少的限制、更隨意的裝備，會添加更多色彩。你將使用一個稍大的乒乓球和你的個性球拍，再也不用爲是紅色還是黑色而困擾啦。

I must say, traditional table tennis does not have the most pleasing aesthetics. Even though I suck at table tennis and would never make it to the top in TTX, I'll just design a paddle prettier than my opponents and beat their sense of style. Plus, participation is key.
我不得不承認，傳統的乒乓球對於美感上賞心悅目的追求真的太少了。雖然我乒乓球打的一塌糊塗絕對沒可能在這個TTX中打出名次，但我絕對會設計一個比我對手更漂亮的球拍，在時尚感上面擊敗他們。另外，參與纔是關鍵。

"This is not for the table tennis people," Dainton added, "This is for the outsiders—people who are playing in the basement, the champion of the street, or people who think they are the best."
丹頓補充說:"這不是面向乒乓球選手的"，"是面向那些圈子外面的人！像是地下室球手，街頭冠軍和那些自認爲他們是最棒的人。"

I could think of a few people off the top of my head that think they're on fire at table tennis. Are they really? I know they would love the challenge to prove themselves.
這讓我立刻想起幾個自認乒乓球技高超的人。他們是真厲害嗎？我知道他們一定喜歡這樣的挑戰來證明自己。

To be honest, when I first heard Dainton talking about it, it sounded to me like some middle-aged people trying to sound hip and cool. Now I'm starting to picture TTX and I can see it as a something my friends and I would give a shot at. Maybe even an activity we look forward to.
老實說，我一開始聽到丹頓談論此事，聽起來就像是一箇中年人試圖表現得很潮很酷。現在我開始想象TTX的樣子，我把它看作是我和我們朋友會去嘗試一下的東西，甚至是一個我們期盼的活動。

The TTX project is still in its initial stages. The website and the idea are up, but not much more. The next step is for ITTF is to come up with the event structure.
TTX項目目前仍處於起步階段，網站和設想已經出來，暫時沒更多的了。國際乒聯的下一步就是弄出活動框架。

But something tells me that there needs to be more to it than just changing the format of table tennis if you want to appeal to millennials. There actually is interest in table tennis among us, but for some reason, it isn't carrying through beyond game rooms and basements. A lot of my friends love playing table tennis and watching other people play, but we've never followed the professional games. Furthermore, now fewer millennials are hoping to participate in table tennis, professionally or not. The decrease is especially noticeable in youth from China, the country that currently dominates table tennis. Why is that?
但是有些東西告訴我，如果你想要吸引青少年，只是改變兵乓球的推廣形式還遠遠不夠。其實在我們之中是有對乒乓球的興趣的，但出於某種原因，興趣無法帶到遊戲室和地下室之外。我很多的朋友愛打乒乓球，也愛看其他人打，但我們從來沒有關注過專業比賽。此外，現在越來越少的青少年希望參與乒乓球，無論是不是專業。這種減少的現象在中國青少年中體現尤爲明顯，中國是目前稱霸乒乓球的國家。這是爲什麼呢？

I also have a feeling the complexity of professional table tennis isn't the only problem. After watching the women's finals, I went to watch fencing, another one-on-one sport. Fencing is by no means easy to understand, and the technicalities are much more complicated than I have space here to explain. But fencing has been growing in popularity significantly, especially among young people. At fencing events, I often sit in the crowd among other young people, many of who don't really understand the rules but love to watch. We have heated discussions and it's always a blast.
我也有一種感覺，專業乒乓球的複雜性並不是唯一的問題。看完女子決賽後，我去觀看擊劍比賽，另一種一對一運動。擊劍無論用什麼表達方式都不容易理解，並且技術性細節比我用這裏所有篇幅來解釋還要更加複雜。但擊劍的受歡迎程度已經明顯地不斷增長，尤其是在年輕人當中。在擊劍賽事中，我常常坐在觀賽的年輕人羣之中，許多人不是很明白規則但是喜歡觀看，我們有過激烈的討論，爭得讓人心跳。

But this increase in popularity isn't happening with table tennis and some other sports that young people really should be interested in. How can you successfully appeal to my generation? I don't know, but a good place to start is keeping an open mind to new ideas and change.
但這一向上的流行趨勢並沒有發生在乒乓球和其它年輕人應該感興趣的一些體育運動上。你們該如何成功地吸引我們這一代呢？我不知道，但對新意和變革保持開放心態，是個好的起點。

To sustain the flame of the Olympic Movement, we will have to hand the torch on to the future generation. We can begin by kindling their passion for sports.
爲了支撐住奧林匹克運動的火焰，我們將不得不把火炬傳遞給下一代，點燃他們炙熱的體育激情，來邁出我們的第一步！