The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced on Monday that Chinese and US players will team up in the mixed doubles competition at the 2021 Houston World Table Tennis Championships.

Chinese player Lin Gaoyuan will partner US player Zhang An, and US player Kanak Jha will partner Chinese player Wang Manyu.

This is the first time in history that Chinese and US players will team up to compete in mixed doubles at the World Table Tennis Championships.

"It's a great honor to participate in the Sino-US mixed doubles match. It's great that the World Table Tennis Championships are held in the United States for the first time and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of 'Ping Pong Diplomacy'! I think it will be a historic moment and I'm glad that our two countries can cooperate well together through sports. I'm excited to play with Lin Gaoyuan. It's wonderful to pair with a Chinese national team player. They are the best in the world," repeated Zhang An for emphasis.

"I am very happy to be paired with Zhang An … I hope we can get into shape quickly, cooperate well together and achieve good results through hard work,” said Lin Gaoyuan.

The mixed doubles match of the Houston World Table Tennis Championships will be held in the early morning of November 24, Beijing time.

In April 1971, the U.S. table tennis team, which was attending the 31st World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, paid a visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese table tennis team. One year later, the Chinese team made a return visit to the United States. During the visits, both teams were warmly welcomed and received by each other's country and people. The two sides enabled the little ball to move the big ball, thus thawing the ice of over two decades of estrangement between the two countries.