WORLD TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP 2004

THE 2004 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN QATAR

New standards for the opening event of the World Table Tennis Championship.

The German Table Tennis Federation, who took the silver medal in the men's team event, were not the only ones for whom the 2004 Liebherr World Table Tennis Championship in Qatar proved a resounding success. Laserland/Emotion Media Factory was commissioned by Qvision, the best-known local promoter, to stage the opening event, and the unanimous verdict of the national press on the resulting show was that it was "one of the most spectacular events in the history of Qatar". The opening event lasted forty minutes, and Laserland/Emotion Media Factory pulled out all the stops with a whole rack of the most elaborate of multimedia elements: laser graphics, animation, and laser beams were fully synchronized with a complete multimedia show and a spectacular firework display. The theme of the opening event was the history and culture of Qatar, tied in with the history of table tennis, all rounded off with folk dancing, complete with traditional instruments. The 1500 invited guests, including celebrities from across the globe were enthralled by the performance and even the functionaries who attended confirmed that they had just seen "by far the most elaborate, spectacular and successful opening event in the history of the sport."