Prof. Sun Qilin talks to Xinhua reporter Su Bin (Photo by Ji Yong)

BUDAPEST, April 21 (Xinhua) -- A renowned Chinese sports educator has caught attention with a research report on how to promote table tennis with a brand new grading system for players at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) science congress which concluded here on Sunday.

Sun Qilin, a former world championships chief umpire and professor from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, explained his rating system with the help of his student Chen Weiwei to fellow authors and ITTF officials.

Like rating systems in Go chess and martial arts, Sun's rankings are based on the skill and results of amateur players.

"A universal rating system will surely raise amature players' interest in the game," said Sun.

The 70-year-old Sun was the most known of about 100 attending sports researchers which included Miran Kondric, Chair of the ITTF Sport Science and Medical Committee, and Dr. David David Paar, senior lecturer at the University of Pecs, Faculty of Health Sciences.

The science congress is held every two years, usually ahead of the world individual championships.

Tunde Szabo, Hungarian Secretary of State for Sport, ITTF President Thomas Weikert and Hungarian table tennis chief Roland Natran also attended the congress.

"Numerous interesting lectures were provided by 100 authors personally from different countries and regions of the world. Scientific discussions were carried out in five different oral sessions and a poster session," said Parr.

"Many new scientific connections were established, the international network of table tennis sports scientists has been widened," he added.