Table tennis tournament at Australian Parliament helps promote cultural diversity

An annual table tennis event was held Thursday at the Great Hall of the Australian Parliament House, aiming to promote cultural diversity in local communities and also celebrating Australia's sports diplomacy.

The Hyundai Bennelong Cup International Table Tennis Competition for 2016 was kicked off in style by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Tournament founder, the Member of Parliament for Bennelong John Alexander, invited sponsors, players and diplomats from the eight participating countries to join him for an exhibition match in Parliament' s Great Hall. China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Tahiti and Vanuatu provided players to challenge Australia' s best.

China is represented by players from Shandong Lu Neng Table Tennis club.

"The Cup was first started in 2010 as a way of bringing students together from many different backgrounds through sport. Since then it has grown to the point that we have hundreds of students from all corners of the electorate (but with backgrounds from all corners of the world) playing, competing and making friends through this competition," Alexander said.

From these humble beginnings, the event now runs for three days, including ceremonial opening and exhibition matches in Parliament House, school's competition and world-class international tournament.

This year, the competition will move to Bennelong in Sydney on Friday, and continue through to Sunday. Endit