Table tennis plans to allow Russians back, on IOC advice

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russian players are set to return to table tennis events after the sport’s governing body followed the International Olympic Committee’s advice to let them compete as neutrals. The decision by the International Table Tennis Federation paves the way for players from Russia and its ally Belarus to end a year-long exclusion from competitions during Russia’s war in Ukraine. The ITTF says they could resume competing from May at the earliest “under strict conditions of neutrality” and can’t enter the world championships in late May because they have missed the qualification events.