Swaythling No.108 (April 2020) On-Line Version

SWAYTHLINGIssue No.108 April 2020
Governance with a smile
Eight decades now nine
A desire to live
Never a cross word, harmony in Westchester
Guest in the home of the polar bears
Men’s World Cup, 40 years on
Beautiful adventure
Aim for the Stars
First step on ladder
Mysteries
Paul Davies retires

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SWAYTHLING
Issue No.108 April 2020
Editor
Ian Marshall
Sub Editor
Richard Scruton
Statistician
Matt Solt
Cover: Thomas Weikert, the sixth President of
the International Table Tennis Federation
Contributors
Nelson Ayres, Nenad Bach, Claude
Bergeret, Francesca Bullock, David
Davidsohn, Per Hällström, Chuck Hoey,
Pierre Juliens, Anton Lehmann, Mike
Loveder, Olalekan Okusan, Nils-Erik
Sandberg, Diane Schöler, Ebby Schöler,
Will Shortz, Matt Solt, Paul Stimpson,
Glenn Tepper, Alan Tomlinson, Karen
Tonge, Gloria Wagener, Diane Webb,
Harvey Webb, Thomas Weikert
Photographers
Patrick Abergel, J.L. Adams, Mohammed
Al Hassani, Antonio Alvarez Luego,
Malcolm Anderson, Asian Table Tennis
Union, Thorsten Gohl, Rémy Gros, Per
Hällström, Hastings and St Leonards Observer,
International Table Tennis Federation,
Ireneusz Kanabrodzki, Rich London,
Mike Loveder, Alan Man, Christian Neuville,
Martin Novosel, Isabella Park, Glenn
Randmer, Warren Rosenberg, Nils-Erik
Sandberg, Masaki Sano, Rinna Sansotta,
Hussein Sayed, Manfred Schillings, Sport
& General, Stockport Express, Marc Sylvain,
Table Tennis Legends, Derek Tyler
Collection, Diane Webb
Designer
Jeff Tokaz
NEXT
Closing date for contributions for the next issue (no.109) is Tuesday 1st September
2020. Kindly send to: claude.bergeret@fftt.email or rcsettu@pt.lu
CONTENTS
Swaythling club news........................................................................................4
Governance with a smile...................................................................................8
Eight decades now nine..................................................................................12
A desire to live................................................................................................18
Never a cross word, harmony in Westchester................................................24
Guest in the home of the polar bears..............................................................26
Men’s World Cup, 40 years on .........................................................................28
Beautiful adventure.........................................................................................38
Aim for the Stars.............................................................................................42
First step on ladder.........................................................................................44
Mysteries........................................................................................................46
Paul Davies retires..........................................................................................48
We remember.................................................................................................50
Hitting the headlines.......................................................................................54
Out and about .................................................................................................63
Mr Weikert, oh for those halcyon days
Thomas Weikert is the sixth President of
the International Table Tennis Federation
and how times have changed.
Pensively, having been a teacher for
some 26 years; in September 1995, I
walked down London Road in the southern
English resort of St Leonards-on-Sea
to start a totally new career as an employee
of the International Table Tennis
Federation.
A three storey building with a basement
where the smell of damp was rife, the
dungeon being full of minutes, bulletins,
magazines and whatever.
There was no internet, the telephone
was connected by a chord; the mobile
phone was science fiction. The ultimate in
technology was a desk top computer and
the roller fax machine; neither in the main
office.
two years and the annual Men’s World
Cup. Otherwise, it was publishing bulletins
when in the mood plus producing
fact sheets on tables, bats, balls, shirts
or anything that moved or for that matter
remained stationary.
Five staff and when 1996 started really
less than four and a half, the late Albert
Shipley, the Secretary-General, only
worked two days a week, his task to
prepare the necessary for the Atlanta
Olympic Games. Now there are over 70
such members in various guises.
One Friday afternoon Albert and myself
sat in the main office, he looked around,
thought for a while and then uttered the
words that still ring in my ears “Ian, you
can go home; we get times like this when
there is nothing to do!”
Oh Mr Weikert for those halcyon days!
The ITTF Offices in St Leonards on Sea (1976-1997)
Equally just three tournaments to
oversee, the Olympic Games every four
years, the World Championships every
Ian Marshall, Editor
3

Swaythling Club News
Email addresses
Kindly note the email addresses of Swaythling
Club International members are as
follows:
Claude Bergeret:
claude.bergeret@fftt.email
Jean Devys:
jean.devys@orange.fr
Colin Clemett:
colin.clemett@gmail.com
Sandor Varga:
varga.sandor661227@gmail.com
New telephone numbers
Eva Koczián: +36 30 3745574
Lászlo Pigniczki: +36 125 1408
New member:
Mr. Lars Hauth
Ravnevej 4, DK – 2970 Hörsholm, Denmark
Tel: +45 40350153
Email: hauth@privat.dk
Returning member
Björne Mellström
Romansvägen 44, SE -131 53 Nacka,
Sweden
Tel: +46 87154565
Award at NSDF 2019 World Junior Championships
Shunsuke Togami received the Swaythling Club award for his splendid attitude, the citation
read “for setting a good example and upholding the best interests of sport”.
On the fourth day of play at the semi-final stage of the boys’ team event, when facing
China, he had lost by the minimal two point margin in the decisive fifth game of the
crucial fifth match against Xiang Peng. On the concluding day, Sunday 1st December,
once again he suffered against Xiang Peng; in both instances he behaved impeccably, a
credit Japan.
Change of address
The address for Alan Tomlinson is:
3/22 Curran Street, Herne Bay, Auckland
1011, New Zealand
Change of email address
Increasingly in the modern world communication
is by email; members are kindly
requested to advise Gloria Wagener, Special
Advisor to the Membership Committee,
of any email address changes in order
to facilitate communication.
Contact: gloriawagsci67@web.de
4
Website
Matters are in planning stages for a new
Swaythling Club website to be launched
in July; members will be advised by email
when on-line.
Priceless photographs
Thanks are extended to Malcolm
Anderson and Marc Sylvain for the
priceless photographs made available
to the Swaythling Club International.
Inspection visit to Oman
On Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th November, on behalf of the International Table
Tennis Federation, Gordon Kaye, Reto Bazzi, Hans Westling and Jordi Serra visited
Muscat, the capital of Oman, to conduct an inspection visit as a prelude to the 2022
World Veteran Championships.
The group met Sajad Al-Lawati, member of the Oman Table Tennis Federation and
Mohammed Atoum, National Team Head Coach, as well as Abdullah Mohamed Bamakhalef,
Chair of the Oman Table Tennis Federation and Troy Reynolds, Head of Events
at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Venue for the tournament will be the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, a world
class facility that has an auditorium which seats 3,200 delegates, includes over 55
meeting areas plus possessing 22,000 square metres of flooring for competition.
Additionally, the JW Marriott five star hotel is linked to the Centre plus the four star
Crowne Plaza and Ibis Styles hotels are nearby; in addition there are several three star
hotels within walking distance.
Notably, you can go bird watching, caving, camping, diving, dolphin and whale watching;
if you are brave enough you can also ride a camel!

New dates for 2020 World Veteran
Championships
Owing to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic, it proved necessary to
postpone the 2020 World Veteran
Championships.
Staged, as originally planned in the
French city of Bordeaux, the new
dates are Monday 26th April to Sunday
2nd May 2021.
The decision was approved by the
International Table Tennis Federation
following extensive discussions
between the Swaythling Club International,
the Local Organising Committee
and the French Table Tennis
Federation.
A chat over a cup of tea for Hans Lingen and Paul Gimbel
Notably the same two venues as in
the initial proposal, will be used. The
Velodrome will host 36 tables, the Exhibition
Centre 152 tables; in addition
40 tables will be available for practice
with some five kilometres of court
surrounds being erected.
Additionally, the schedule is in line
with the original; the premises will be
available for practice on Saturday 24th
and Sunday 25th April, Wednesday
28th April is the free day.
Unless a player cancels, all entries
received for 2020 are automatically
entered for 2021; the age groups relevant
to 2020 are maintained.
Gewo is the official equipment sponsor;
Stag is the official flooring partner.
Further information will be advised in
due course; keep up to date by visiting
www.wvc2020.com.
Members invited to the Liebherr
2020 ITTF European Championships
Staged in Warsaw from Tuesday 15th
to Sunday 20th September, invitations
are extended to three Swaythling Club
members to attend the Liebherr ITTF
2020 European Championships .
If wishing to accept, kindly inform
Ebby Schöler, President and Claude
Bergeret, Secretary, by Monday 1st
June.
Contact:
Ebby Schöler
e.d.schoeler@unitybox.de
Claude Bergeret
claude.bergeret@fftt.email
The 2020 European Table Tennis Union’s
Ordinary Congress will be held
on Wednesday 16th September.
Carel Deken savoured the occasion
Netherlands Swaythling Club
A splendid initiative and perhaps one that
sets an example for others to follow; on
Sunday 24th November, several Dutch
members of the Swaythling Club held their
yearly tournament. Once again Brabant in
the south of the country, thanks to an invitation
from Hans Gootzen, was the host.
Perhaps the playing level in some matches
was not that high but a most notable
name emerged the winner, a certain Paul
Haldan, who during his career competed
at the very highest levels. He proved a
step ahead of his opponents overcoming
Hans Gootzen, Anne Vlieg, Hans Lingen,
Nico van Slobbe, Herman Hopman and
Bert van der Helm.
It was an event enjoyed by everyone
present; all Swaythling Club members,
notable spectators were 87 year old Dusan
Tigerman and 81 years of age Ursula
Stulemeijer-Artz. They attended alongside
78 year old Paul Gimbel and still wielding
his racket, 73 years of age Ria Bogmans.
Likewise, Irene Louwers, Carel Deken and
Milan Stencel were present.
Play completed, it was time to reflect, a
visit to the bar and dinner concluded a
most convivial occasion.
Opponents but the best of friends Bert van der Helm
and Paul Haldan
Hans Lingen and Ursula Stulemeijer, all smiles
Milan Stencel, Dusan Tigerman and Jan Vlieg reminisce
5

Returning to roots
Alan Hydes, for many years resident in
Littlehampton in the south of England, on
his way to the English National Championships
in Nottingham in late February
returned to Yorkshire, to his home town of
Barnsley.
In addition to meeting members of the
local club, the starting point of his career,
also he renewed acquaintances with one
of England’s most respected celebrities.
He is a long-time friend of Harold Dennis
Bird OBE, always known a Dickie Bird; in
Yorkshire, a bird is always a “dickie bird”.
He played first class cricket for Yorkshire
and then later for Leicestershire but it
was when playing days were over that
he made his mark; he became the most
famous umpire in the world. In fact, in his
local village of Stainton there is a statue in
his honour; quite incredibly his autobiography
sold more than a million copies.
Alan Hydes with members of Barnsley Table Tennis Club
Later in Nottingham he met the two most
successful ever players at the English National
Championships, Desmond Douglas
MBE, no less 11 times the men’s singles
winner between 1976 and 1990 and Jill
Parker MBE, the women’s singles winner
on seven occasions between 1973 and
1981.
Prior to the trip north, in December, Alan
Hydes had travelled south to Tenerife for
a holiday with wife June, son Paul and
girlfriend Zoe.
Alan married June in 1977 in Barnsley;
prior to the wedding he had received a
request from Roy Evans, ITTF President
at the time, to conduct a coach education
course in Cairo, the dates clashed with
the honeymoon. Roy Evans solved the
problem “bring your wife”. The couple
flew immediately to the Egyptian capital;
Saturday in Barnsley, Sunday in Cairo and
a honeymoon alongside 12 coaches from
the Middle East!
Alan Hydes and Desmond Douglas
Alan Hydes and Dickie Bird
Alan Hydes and family on holiday in Tenerife
6
Jill Parker and Alan Hydes

English Swaythling Club
The English branch held its annual meeting
on Sunday 1st March on the final day
of the Mark Bates Insurance Ltd English
National Championships. Once again
members were indebted to Table Tennis
England for supporting the meeting with
the provision of a room and light refreshments.
The meeting started with a moment’s
quiet reflection to mark the life of Jeff
Ingber, who passed away on Sunday 7th
July. Members shared memories of Jeff’s
infectious personality and incredible capacity
to remember the details of many of
his triumphs. He is sadly missed.
A very convivial atmosphere, enlivened
by the inevitable tales of hip replacements
and other health issues but most of all
by anecdotes from Alan Hydes and Don
Parker of training camps and matches in
which they played many years ago!
A convivial meeting (back row) Don Parker, Stuart Sherlock, Harvey Webb, Alan Ransome, Alan Hydes (front
row) Karen Tonge, Jill Parker, Jose Ransome
Belgium Swaythling Club
On Sunday 1st March at the national championships, members of the Belgian Swaythling
Club met in Spa, star names to the fore.
Former men’s singles national champions, Jean-Michel Saive (25 times 1985-2014),
Norbert Van de Walle (six times 1964-1972) and Pierre Juliens (three times 1962-1965)
were present alongside Romain Schalley (three times 1973-1977), Philppe Saive (twice
in 1993 and 2003) and Frans Lanckman (1971).
Also former women’s singles national champions enjoyed the occasions, Marie France
Germiat (five times 1974-1980), Cécile Ozer (five times 1991-2003), Sophie Thirion
(1988) and Laurence Junker (2009).
Champions (left to right) Jean-Michel Saive, Pierre Juliens, Laurence Junker, Frans Lanckman, Sophie Thirion,
Cécile Ozer, Marie France Germiat, Philppe Saive, Romain Schalley, Norbert Van de Walle.
7

Governance
with a smile
The year was 2010, the venue was Berlin,
the occasion the German Open, a member
of what in those days was known as the
ITTF Pro Tour, now the ITTF World Tour;
proceedings underway, a most welcome
visitor arrived in the hall, courteously guided
to a front row seat to witness the early
rounds of the men’s singles and women’s
singles events unfold.
8
Croatia’s Sandra Paovic was the guest
in question, the young lady who just
over one year earlier had experienced
life threatening injuries as a result of an
horrific car accident in Paris on Friday
30th January. Seeing her arrival, true to
his nature, the President of the Deutscher
Tischtennis-Bund (DTTB - German Table
Tennis Association), immediately walked
with a purposeful stride to bid welcome;
the gesture underlined the character,
the personality of Thomas Weikert, now
President of the International Table Tennis
Federation.
It was under his instigation that Sandra
Paovic had been invited; for him her presence
was just as important as the likes of

Ma Long and company. In fact the smile
and warm welcome remains stronger in
my memory than the fact Feng Yalan won
both the under 21 women’s singles and
women’s singles events, the first player to
achieve the feat in the history of the ITTF
World Tour. The decisive response, not a
second of hesitation, reflects the respect
Thomas Weikert holds for his fellow man,
a trait that has grown stronger since ascending
to the ITTF Presidency.
“You learn to respect everyone,” said
Thomas Weikert. “You learn to respect
members of staff, committee members and
especially different cultures.”
Respect is a key feature in his mandate
for office; it is pivotal to that of creating an
harmonious organisation, promoting sound
management. Thomas Weikert, whether in
his previous role as the president of a national
association or now an international
federation, places faith in members of the
professional staff; he trusts the experts in
their own field. He allows decision making
to take place, as well as well reasoned
arguments to be presented.
Thomas Weikert receives a plaque from Ryu Seungmin at the 2018 Star Awards evening in recognition of the
efforts made to improve relations between Korea Republic and DRP Korea
The regard for all is witnessed in the
recent establishment of the ITTF Foundation;
in a very short time it has proved
a most worthy innovation. It is a move
that again underlines for Thomas Weikert
every player is important and a major task
is to increase participation in the sport
of table tennis far and wide. In no way
whatsoever does it mean he does not pay
attention to the elite level, he follows avidly
the progress of major international tournaments
by whatever modern day media
means possible. He is well aware of the
successes and shortcomings of the world’s
leading names and is tuned to the fact it is
vital to raise their profiles.
Now at the helm of the sport but as with
all, for the now 58 year old, the interest in
table tennis started as a player. Thomas
Weikert hails from Hadamar, a small town
in the Limburg-Weilburg district in Hessen,
some 70 kilometres north west of Frankfurt;
the first interest in sport being football,
a discipline in which he was no mean performer;
at 12 years of age he represented
the regional team.
In 2018 Thomas Weikert received the Federal Cross of Merit from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Federal
President
However, in the living room was a table
tennis table, he practised, went to the local
club, he improved and discovered that he
could beat older players. Interest increasing,
in the early 1970s he watched on
television a tournament in which Hungary’s
Istvan Jonyer played, later the 1975 world
champion in Calcutta.
Motivated, the bug biting ever deeper,
he visited TTC 1958 Herbornseelbach to
watch his first Bundesliga match; it was
to prove the first club he represented, his
debut being in 1984. Later he donned the
colours of TTC Grünweiss Bad Hamm,
Über die Stationen, TTSG 76 Wittlich,
Promoting the Liebherr 2017 World Championships (left to right) Martin Ammerman, Michael Geiger, Patrick Franziska,
Frank Schrader, Thomas Weikert and Thomas Geisel
9

Rückkehr, TV Bergnassau and TTC Elz for
whom he is still an active player. Notably
during his career he competed in the top
division and opposed some most celebrated
names.
“I played Dragutin Surbek, Milan Orlowski,
Jindrich Pansky and Mikael Appelgren”,
explained Thomas Weikert. “Shall we say
it was a good experience!”
Win or come second, the quality of the
opponents endorses the level at which
Thomas Weikert played and that is
surely an important factor for anyone who
assumes an administrative role in sport.
Moreover, the desire to close the laptop
and pick up the cudgels is unwavering.
At the inaugural 2019 Parkinson’s World
Championships at the Westchester Club
in Pleasantville, a suburb to the north of
New York; when the chance arose, to the
delight of all concerned, Thomas Weikert
did not hesitate to accept the invitation
to display his skills. Again, in a different
scenario, he underlined respect for the
fellow man; he may hold the highest office
in the sport but table tennis is for all, there
is no peerage. He demonstrated the fact
that those who cannot quite return the ball
performing a Chen Xinhua cartwheel, are
just as meritorious opponents and valuable
to the sport of table tennis.
Playing still at the heart, gradually Thomas
Weikert became involved in organisational
aspects; encouraged by Norbert
Englisch, he managed youth teams in the
Hessen region before joining the national
association as a member of the Kontrollausschus,
the disciplinary committee.
Appropriately, having attended Giessen
University from 1987 to 1991, nowadays
a partner in a law company in Limburg
which specialises in family and sports law,
Thomas Weikert became the legal adviser,
before in 2005, succeeding Walter Gründhall,
as president.
Walter Gründhall and Norbert Englisch
alongside Hans Gäb are officials for whom
Thomas Weikert has the highest respect.
It is in their footsteps he trod. Notably,
Walter Gründhall, likewise a lawyer by
profession, was the DTTB President from
1994 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2005. In
the intervening years he was the General
Secretary, the position Norbert Englisch,
a graduate with a doctorate in Ethnology
and Teaching, held during Walter Gründhall’s
second term in office. Similarly, Hans
Gäb, held the office of DTTB President,
the term being 1981 to 1994, the year
he underwent a liver transplant. Later he
became the Honorary DTTB President,
having during his working life when located
in Switzerland, been the General Motors
Vice-President for Europe and towards
the end of his career the Chief Executive
Officer for Opel.
Major figures in the growth of table tennis
10
Welcome to Guinea Bissau Mohamed Itikamaram, Thomas Weikert and Avelina Jandi thus every possible
territory an ITTF member
Uniting nations, Thomas Weikert and Ryu Seungmin, alongside Jang Woojin, at the ITTF 2018 Shinan Korea
Open with members of DPR Korea Team
in Germany, personalities who very much
worked backstage; Thomas Weikert
has the same admiration for those who
appeared centre stage, their contribution
in bringing the sport to the attention of the
general public immense. In particular Ebby
Schöler, the men’s singles silver medallist
at the Munich 1969 World Championships
and later from 1981 to 2007, DTTB Vice
President Sport, is a name which Thomas
Weikert holds in esteem, as are those
of Jörg “Rossi” Rosskopf and Steffen
“Speedy” Fetzner, winners of the men’s
doubles title at the 1989 World Championships
in Dortmund.
“Hans Gäb was very much my mentor
and I have always had good relations with
Ebby Schöler,” stressed Thomas Weikert.
“Always I have appreciated their advice.”
The feeling is clearly mutual. “I first met
him in some disciplinary matters when he
was Chair of the DTTB legal department,”
responded Ebby Schöler. “He was honest,
capable and trustworthy; therefore he had
support for higher positions.”
Accession to the presidency of the national
association but then most daunting
tasks awaited; events agreed prior to
Thomas Weikert gaining the celebrated
office. He was dropped firmly in the cart!
In 2006 two major global tournaments
were organised in Bremen in a period
of 27 days! In the splendid premises the
AWD-Dome, nowadays the ÖVB-Arena;
from Monday 24th April to Monday 1st
May, the Liebherr World Team Championships
were staged, followed two weeks
later by the 13th World Veteran Championships
from Sunday 15th to Friday 20th
May, an event which, in terms of numbers
set new records. No less than 3,650 players
from 59 countries competed.
“Whenever any of my colleagues or
volunteers see me, they walk in the other
direction!” was the phrase that sticks my
mind at the time from Thomas Weikert.
The situation was the quite opposite,
always smiling, treating everyone as a
long-time friend, Thomas Weikert engendered
a feeling of unity, a sense of belief
that the prodigious task could be achieved
to the satisfaction of all. A key trait was
illustrated, when he speaks, he smiles, it
puts those whom he addresses at ease. If
he can meet challenges with a smile; then

others are encouraged to do the same.
Obstacles overcome the goal was
achieved and in some style but there was
a problem. Several African countries had
not been able gain visas to enter Germany
for the World Championships; that matter
concerned Thomas Weikert. Immediately
via the DTTB, he set up equipment aid for
African countries. Once again the sense of
respect for the fellow man shone through,
a person with a lesser character would
have let matters rest.
“We learnt a great deal from 2006; we had
underestimated the situation”, explained
Thomas Weikert. “Therefore, for Dortmund
in 2012 we were ready, we appointed one
person six months before, whose sole task
was to deal with visas and to deal directly
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; basically
to talk to the government office and to
find solutions.”
Problems solved, no barriers, Dortmund
was a great success, as five years later
was Düsseldorf, the home for the Liebherr
2017 World Championships; moreover for
Thomas Weikert it was to prove a personal
triumph. Elected to the ITTF Executive
Committee in 2009 in Yokohama but never
a member of the ITTF Board of Directors,
he became Deputy President in 2013,
before succeeding Adham Sharara in the
role of President; during this period he
maintained the role of DTTB President,
resigning from that office in March 2015.
He was succeeded by Michael Geiger.
“I was to become ITTF President on 1st
January 2014 but it was too soon,” explained
Thomas Weikert. “We agreed 1st
September 2014; Adham had done a good
job but I felt much better when I gained the
mandate.”
On Wednesday 31st May 2017 that vote
of confidence was gained. At the Annual
General Meeting staged in Düsseldorf,
Thomas Weikert received 118 votes as
opposed to his rival for office, Belgium’s
Jean-Michel Saive, who polled 90 votes.
The four year term of office commenced;
his profession, his legal background in
fulfilling the position is undoubtedly an
invaluable asset.
Thomas Weikert (far right front row) and brother Peter (far left standing) members of TTC Staffel in 1982
“You learn so much from the different
cultures; it is a very satisfactory experience”,
said Thomas Weikert. “It is important
to work with continents, to improve
their potential, to help them progress; it is
now most pleasing that we have the full
226 members and that in both the Olympic
Games and Paralympic Games we are
now one of the core sports.”
Equally, within the principles of Thomas
Weikert is that of fair play. Consistently,
he campaigned for a German anti-doping
law. In 2018, Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
the German Federal President honoured
Thomas Weikert with the Federal Cross of
Merit; more recently in October 2019, he
addressed the Sports Committee at the
German Parliament.
Attending major events, meeting distinguished
personalities, hosting dinners with
colleagues and guests; without a shadow
of a doubt being the president is life on
easy street! Not so, it’s not always a bed
of roses! If the live streaming from a tournament
on distant shores does no quite
meet the high definition of 24 inch wide
screen television in technicolour, or the
lights went out owing to a power failure, of
course it’s the president’s fault.
One wonders if he is not tempted to throw
his mobile phone into the depths of the
Baltic Sea; yet such comments are met
with a rueful smile and perhaps just a grain
of esteem, at least the correspondent in
question has shown a concern for the
sport.
Does than not sum up Thomas Weikert?
Respect and concern, for him every
person who contributes in any manner
whatsoever to our sport is valued; it is an
element that describes the qualities of a
president. Most certainly it describes the
attributes of President of the International
Table Tennis Federation, good governance
with a smile.
“A new task, I was responsible for
everything, discussion is vital in the role; it
is very similar to law, you must be prepared
to make compromises.” stressed
Thomas Weikert. “In family law when there
is a divorce case you try to achieve a conclusion
where both parties can continue
their lives; sport is similar.”
Heeding advice, making valued judgements
but because the sport of table
tennis is truly global there is also gaining
knowledge, appreciating the needs of
the quite prodigious number of different
societies.
Above all else table tennis player
11

Front cover of Table Tennis in December 1962
decades now
12
A total of eight decades completed, a
career starting in the 1940s, now in 2020
New Zealand’s Alan Tomlinson commences
his ninth decade of play!
He progressed to international status in
an era that witnessed television becoming
the norm in the household, the plastic bottle
appearing; rock and roll transforming
the music scene, the first passenger jets
entering service.
Recovering from the effects of World War
Two, the 1950s was an era of immense
change. Arguably, in the sport of table
tennis, the greatest of changes; it was an
age that witnessed the most significant impacts
on the history of the sport, a period
that formulated the modern day game.
At the start of the decade, Europe dominated
the international scene, by the end
of the period Japan and then China had
world titles in their lockers. Moreover, the
racket had changed from a blade covered
with layer of pimpled rubber to the principle
of the modern day racket that added a
layer of sponge. The so-called sandwich
bat was born.
Starting to play in those days meant
adapting quickly; especially adjusting techniques,
experimenting with new materials
was rampant as the sport moved into the
unknown.
Born on Tuesday 27th March 1934 in
Auckland in the North Island, the city in
which he has always lived, either in St
Mary’s Bay or Herne Bay; Alan Tomlinson
is a family man. He is married to Maureen,
has a married daughter Larissa Park and
a son, James; his grandchildren are Emily
and Isabella Park. During his working life
he was a distribution agent for the New
Zealand Herald, supervising boys and
later girls to make home deliveries.
Table tennis for Alan Tomlinson began in
1948, the pimpled rubber racket the only
option for the serious player.
“I started playing in a room off All Saints
Anglican Church where I had earlier
attended Sunday school”, reminisced Alan
Tomlinson. “I was 14 years old and would

have been at Auckland Grammar School,
which had some top juniors. I did not start
interclub competition until I was 16; my
claim to fame is that I never won a junior
title of any description!”
No junior title but in 1959 there was a
major breakthrough; at the New Zealand
Open, the tournament held annually, he
won the men’s singles title beating Bob
Jackson in the final, the winner in 1950 as
well as on the six previous occasions from
1953 to 1958.
Later Alan Tomlinson was to win again
in 1964, 1969 and 1972; additionally he
claimed the men’s doubles ten times but
the mixed only once.
“Probably I won the mixed on just one
occasion because I was a steady attacker
rather than a big hitter”, explained Alan
Tomlinson.
Internationally, he travelled widely; in
1971 he competed in the first ever Commonwealth
Championships, the tournament
staged in Singapore; later he was
on duty in veteran tournaments here there
and everywhere. He was present at the
2014 World Veteran Championships in
Auckland.
The result at the time, he surpassed all
others and gained a place in the New
Zealand edition of the Guinness Book of
Records, a total 54 international appearances,
the most of any table tennis player.
He was named New Zealand Player of
the Year in 1959, 1966 and 1967; additionally
he fulfilled several administrative roles
including writing newspaper articles and
editing magazines. In 1999 he was inducted
into the Table Tennis New Zealand Hall
of Fame, for the next three years being a
national team selector.
However, when considering the changes
in his table tennis career; his debut in the
1961 World Championships in Beijing is
arguably one the greatest significance.
“I think we were able to go to China because
they paid half our fares,” explained
Alan Tomlinson. “To nobody’s surprise we
didn’t do very well.”
Three groups in the men’s team event;
they finished in eighth place in a group of
nine; their only success being a 5-0 win
against Cuba; however, they did cause
England problems.
“We led England 2-1, before losing 5-2,
Ian Harrison in fine form”, explained Alan
Tomlinson. “Murray Dunn beat Jeff Ingber
and I beat Brian Merrett 18-14 in the third,
on the time limit rule, a feat which remains
unique in our table tennis annals.”
The “time limit rule” reflects a major
change in the era; in fact Alan Tomlinson
was quite possibly the last player to win a
match under the rule! In 1937 a time limit
of 20 minutes for each game had been
imposed; at the 1961 Congress in Beijing,
it was agreed to introduce the American
innovation, the “expedite rule” as an experiment,
the principle of the rule applies
today.
For the records, in the contest against
England, Ian Harrison remained unbeaten.
The further English wins came from
Jeff Ingber against Alan Tomlinson, Brian
Merrett in opposition to Bryan Foster.
Also, at the 1961 World Championships
New Zealand faced Japan.
“The Japanese had a player called
Nobuya Hoshino; when I played him he
lobbed a lot in the first game, which I
won”, said Alan Tomlinson. “After that he
played more aggressively and beat me.
It was suggested Ichiro Ogimura may
initially have told him that I didn’t like lobs.
He was a tragicomic figure as he shuffled
off after he and his team had lost to China
The backhand potent, ready for a ninth decade
but he did win the doubles later.”
China progressed to win the men’s team
title. Zhuang Zedong was crowned men’s
singles champion. Japan emerged the
women’s team winners, Nobuya Hoshino
and Koji Kimura clinched the men’s doubles
top prize; Ichiro Ogimura and Kimiyo
Matsuzaki reserved the top step of the
mixed doubles podium. The only title for
Europe was claimed by Romania. Maria
Alexandru and Georgeta Pita secured
women’s doubles gold.
Most significantly, Qiu Zhonghui became
the first Chinese player to win a women’s
singles title at a World Championships.
Ten years earlier in Vienna all seven
titles had finished in European hands, ten
years on it was very different; the headline
written following the 1961 World Championships
by Peter Wilson, a Daily Mirror
reporter, summed up the decade: “China
takes over from Japan”, his words proved
prophetic.
13

Adapting to sponge
by Alan Tomlinson
After the Japanese success at the 1952
World Championships in Bombay some
brief experiments were made with sponge
in New Zealand but it was the reports
coming from the London 1954 World
Championships that had some of us heading
for various stores to buy anything that
could be called sponge.
Notably in 1953, Japan had not played at
the World Championships in Bucharest; I
think the reason was owing to the American
occupation treaty following the end of
World War Two, they were not allowed to
go behind the Iron Curtain.
National champion Bob Jackson came
14
back from London with a Flisberg bat and
managed to find some rubber locally that
was thick, fast and grey in colour. It looked
like the Flisberg because similarly it was
partly cut in squares.
He used it alongside my discovery, a
black, hard industrial sponge on the backhand.
I found I couldn’t play defenders
with that stuff on my forehand so I took
a slice of sandwich rubber off a bat I had
purchased in 1956; notably, it was slower
than the Flisberg. On the backhand we
used the black stuff to block or counter
and found that it applied considerable
backspin for over the table pushes.
I tried a bat like Bob’s and nearly beat
him once but I wasn’t comfortable against
Ready for yet another year
chop. I reverted to traditional pimpled rubber
for a while before discovering a Tomita
bat and used a slice taken from that. It
was pimples out sandwich, unquestionably
thicker than allowed now. Yoshio Tomita
was about number four in Japan.
The Japanese champions, Ichiro Ogimura
and Toshiaki Tanaka arrived in 1957 to
show us how to play. Before their exhibition,
they were scheduled to play Jackson
and myself in a Corbillon Cup style match,
in the doubles each of them with a junior
player. They said that they were tired after
playing the night before in Whangarei,
about 100 miles distant, some two hours
north of Auckland. They would play only
one singles each. I was our second string I
played Ogimura, who had narrowly lost his

world title to Tanaka.
We played in the Peter Pan Ballroom, a
popular place for dancers, the night was
truly amazing. The ticket price was raised
considerably to 10 shillings (taking into account
inflation in modern day terms £25.00
or US$32.00); some people were almost
literally hanging from the rafters. Those at
the very back clung precariously to anything
that would keep them from disaster.
I have no idea of the exact numbers but
visiting champions could sometimes attract
1,000 spectators.
Ogimura used a rubber called felt, which
was fast, hard with a roughened surface
providing very little spin, despite what you
may read, Ogi had great trouble trying
to hit my backhand pushes and when I
blocked to his backhand he usually went
back and lobbed. I had never seen lob
defence before but it was love at first sight,
especially as I was then seven centimetres
taller than I am now! I won 21-15, 21-16.
Jackson then narrowly beat Tanaka,
prompting a friend to tell me that I had
been world champion for half an hour. The
next night Jackson played by invitation
in Hamilton and beat Ogimura but lost to
Tanaka; that was the extent of our wins.
Afterwards they gave us a Butterfly
brochure and I loved the description of
felt, though incorrect “elasticity of sponge
bestows speeds, featuring moreover intensified
spinning of the beaten ball”. Tanaka
used the first reverse sandwich we had
seen, much thicker than is allowed now.
When I used it for a while I was said to be
using Tanaka and black.
Later they saw my strip of sandwich and
Ogi was offended that it carried the name
of a leading Japanese player. Ogi seemed
to want him deprived of his amateur
status.
We had read that Ogi was a great softball
player but that was a popular fallacy. The
players explained that Japan had two
forms of table tennis, hardball which we
know and softball. Ogi was champion in
both.
Sponge may have been my saviour
because through 1952 and 1953 I made
the suicidal decision to play forehand only,
like Richard Bergmann and Bohumil Vana.
They were small and fast, I was tall and
not very fast. I should have been trying to
emulate Ferenc Sido and Ivan Andreadis.
I may have been unlucky. The English
coach Ken Stanley came to New Zealand
in 1952, I had exactly one class lesson,
the only coaching I ever had. If I had been
selected for personal coaching he might
have sorted me out in no time because in
the previous year, my second, I had developed
quite a reasonable backhand.
Perhaps I might have made the team for
the London 1954 World Championships,
I didn’t but I was part of a 12 man training
squad.
Six years later I made my debut, the 1961
World Championships in Beijing. At the
time I was using pimples out sandwich but
on our first stop in Manila we saw the loop
drive; on our return I used reversed rubber
and developed a loop. On arrival in England
I bought a Stiga bat with reverse and
used it for the whole of that season.
Many changes in less than ten years,
finally a solution: the basis of the modern
day racket. Ever since, it has been
that type of racket I have used, now it is
Butterfly Super Anti on the backhand, I
play about twice a week at the wonderful
purpose built Auckland Stadium where I
am a lifetime member.
Times have changed.
The splendid Auckland Stadium
15

Visitor to the British Isles
Alan Tomlinson was a most welcome
visitor to the shores of the British Isles and
attracted the attention; not only by the way
he played but also by his attire. True to his
country, he dressed in all black. However,
contrary to his rugby union compatriots
he did not perform the Haka before every
match.
In 1962 he arrived in England, having
enjoyed notable success on home soil.
Additional to having won the men’s singles
title at the New Zealand Open in 1959, he
had also emerged successful at tournaments
in North Island, North Shore, Auckland,
Franklin, Thames Valley, Waikato,
Bay of Plenty and North Taranaki. He was
no stranger to travel but England was a
little further!
A long journey today, even longer in those
days; it was by sea, not the modern day
experience where, if you can afford the
flight, the journey can be made by air in
just over 24 hours.
Arriving in England, he practised in London
at Harry Venner’s Putney Club; the
first tournament of note in which he played
was the Sussex Open at the White Rock
Pavilion in Brighton, held on the weekend
of Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October.
It was not the best of fortunes; he was
beaten in the qualification stage by Arun
Khanna from Willesden in west London.
The loss was no great surprise, earlier in
the year in April Arun Khanna had won the
Essex Open.
“I arrived in England on October 6th; I
failed at Hastings, the weekend that the
clocks went back but unlike Harold I lived
to fight another day,” smiled Alan Tomlinson,
somewhat a historian. In 1066 at
the Battle of Hastings, Harold, the King of
England had been defeated by William the
Conqueror.
Disappointment on the south coast of
England, Alan Tomlinson headed north.
On Saturday 3rd November he played in
the Hull and East Riding Open, a tournament
with a traditional home of Madeley
Street Baths, a temporary wooden floor
being laid over the swimming pool. It was
also the home for roller skating and in the
winter, cricket nets.
Again in the men’s singles, he departed
proceedings in the early rounds. He was
beaten by 18 year old Denis Neale, as in
Hastings it was no great loss; Denis Neale
won the event and later, commencing in
1966, was English national champion an
overall six occasions.
Next on the itinerary was a journey across
the Pennines to the other side of the country,
staying with relatives in Royton, near
Manchester, on Saturday 10th November
he played in the Merseyside Open staged
16
Always enthusiastic
at the Dunlop factory in Speke.
In Speke, it was somewhat different to
Hastings and Hull. He attracted the attention
of George Yates, the local reporter
at the time, later to be the editor of Table
Tennis News, the official journal of the
English Table Tennis Association.
“Fresher than the wind that whipped over
the Mersey Bar was the impact of New
Zealand’s no.2, Alan Tomlinson, making
his third appearance in this country since
arriving five weeks previously. Tall and
rangy, this 28 year old Auckland newspaper
agent commanded all eyes in bringing
about the downfall of the no.1 seed, Jeff
Ingber in the quarters. Having previously
disposed of Mike Creamer, Roy Morley
and Derek Baddeley, the traveller was
finally halted by Symonds in a swashbuckling
semi that had the crowd thundering
their applause.”
Matches best of three games, each game
to 21 points, five serves before change; a
closely contested straight games defeat
was the outcome against Mick Symonds
(21-17, 21-19), a player of sublime talent
and raconteur par excellence but on this
occasion had to settle for runners up spot.
He was beaten by Brian Wright of Middlesex
in a quite epic final (13-21, 21-16,
21-19).
“Yes, I had a couple of good wins there
before losing to Mick Symonds”, said Alan
Tomlinson. “I was disappointed because
I had been practising at the Manchester
YMCA with him, Jeff Ingber, George Livesey,
Jack Clayton and others and had usually
beaten Mick. He later became a good
squash player and moved to South Africa.”
The win against Jeff Ingber (21-18, 21-
16), a player who stuck to tradition using
the pimpled rubber racket with no sponge,
was a major upset; they were to become
close friends. Sadly last year on Sunday
7th July, Jeff Ingber passed away.
“I was saddened to read of the death of
Jeff Ingber,” reminisced Alan Tomlinson. “I
first met him in Beijing in 1961 and used to
practise with him at the Manchester YMCA
in 1962 and 1963. We were both spectators
at the World Team Championships in
A consistent forehand top spin was developed
Bremen in 2006, enjoyed catching up.”
A semi-final defeat in Speke but there
was success; he partnered Yorkshire’s
Mick Dainty to the men’s doubles title; the
pair accounting for Lancashire’s Kevin
Forshaw and Roy Crusham in the final
(21-17, 14-21, 21-15). At the time they
were a most prominent force in tournaments
held in the north of England; Roy
Hinchcliffe, one of the leading players
in Hull aptly named them “forehand and
crush ‘em”.
Impressive on Merseyside, the following
week he was on duty in the midlands. On
Saturday 17th November at the Friends
Institute, he won the men’s singles title at
the Birmingham Open. He beat renowned
Englishmen Laurie Landry, David Bevan
and Terry Densham to reach the final
where he accounted for the host city’s
Ralph Gunnion.
Closest contest was at the quarter-final
stage where he overcame David Bevan
by the very narrowest of margins in the
decider (13-21, 21-12, 21-19). The final
was less dramatic, he beat Ralph Gunnion
in straight games (21-16, 21-9).
Success against Kevin Forshaw, one
week later in the York Railway Institute it
was success in partnership with the Lancastrian;
at the Yorkshire Open, the duo
won the men’s doubles event. In the final
they overcame Scotland’s Ian Barclay and
Bertie Kerr (21-14, 21-10).
Throughout the later months of 1962
and the early part of 1963, Alan Tomlinson
travelled far and wide; he won the
men’s singles title at the Bath Open and
partnered Roy Morley to men’s doubles
success. Meanwhile, he journeyed to Ireland
where he secured three titles at the
Munster Open. He beat England’s Johnny
Leach followed by success against South
Africa’s Derek Wall to win the men’s
singles event; he partnered Derek Wall to
men’s doubles success, Violet Lambert to
mixed doubles gold.

Alan Tomlinson, all smiles
A strong backhand, a major feature
“I won the mixed with Violet Lambert
because her usual partner Tommy Caffrey
was sick”, reflected Alan Tomlinson
Also in April 1963 there was success at
Govan Town Hall at the Scottish Open; a
tournament with a very Oceania feeling;
both from Australia, he beat Mike Wilcox
in the semi-final, Cliff McDonald in the
final. In addition he partnered England’s
Pam Mortimer to mixed doubles gold.
Four years later, in preparation for the
1967 World Championships, Alan Tomlinson
returned to British shores. In the
men’s team he lined up alongside Murray
Dunn and Bryan Foster; two younger players
completed the squad, Harrison Waterhouse
and Terry O’Carroll. Neti Traill,
Cath Johnson, Dawn Wade and a 15 year
old Yvonne Fogarty formed the women’s
team. Notably, at the Stag 2014 World Veteran
Championships in Auckland, Yvonne
Fogarty played a major administrative role.
An intense schedule, proceedings commencing
on the weekend of Saturday 18th
and Sunday 19th March, when the New
Zealanders competed in Edinburgh at the
Scottish Open; notably Alan Tomlinson
partnered Bryan Foster to men’s doubles
success, prior to losing to the host nation’s
Malcolm Sugden in the men’s singles final
(21-14, 12-21, 19-21, 21-18, 21-13).
“In the final I led Malcolm Sugden two
games to one; at 16-18 down in the fourth
I got him back lobbing”, reminisced Alan
Tomlinson. “I had won every point when
he had lobbed but he got an edge ball and
won that game. In the fifth he got a huge
lead, something like 10-2; I was never
going to catch him from there.”
Runners up spot for Alan Tomlinson but
overall for New Zealand it was success. In
addition to the men’s doubles, Neti Traill
won the women’s singles and the mixed
with Bryan Foster. Yvonne Fogarty partnered
Cath Johnson to women’s doubles
gold as well as claiming the junior girls’
singles title.
Immediately following, three international
fixtures, commencing on Tuesday 21st
March and completed on three consecutive
days, were played. The first two were
against Scotland in Wishaw and Glasgow
respectively, honours even, the outcome
being 5-5 on each occasion. The third was
in the capital city when opposing Edinburgh
Select, a 6-4 win for the hosts was
the end result.
Significantly, the New Zealanders took the
opportunity to field their younger players;
Alan Tomlinson only played in the second
fixture. He lost to Malcolm Sugden but
beat Brian Kean; in addition he partnered
Bryan Foster to doubles success when the
two Scots united.
Scottish adventures over, it was a journey
down the east coast to Scarborough for
the North East of England Open, played
over the Easter weekend, Friday 24th
March to Monday 27th March. Alas, success
for the visiting New Zealanders was
limited. Cath Johnson and Neti Traill won
the women’s doubles; Yvonne Fogarty
secured the junior girls’ singles title.
Immediately following, commencing on
Tuesday 28th March; just as in Scotland,
a series of three fixtures followed, the first
two against Yorkshire, the third in opposition
to Lancashire.
“We had too many players for the county
match system, we used three men and
one woman”, explained Alan Tomlinson
Against Yorkshire, Alan Tomlinson beat
Peter Duncombe in both fixtures, sharing
the honours when facing Denis Neale.
New Zealand secured a 7-3 win followed
by a 6-4 success; in the latter Alan Tomlinson
appeared in the doubles in harness
with Murray Dunn, the duo lost to Alan
Hydes and John Kedge.
“I played Denis Neale at least seven
times and beat him twice, in his home
town Middlesbrough and mine, Auckland,”
reflected Alan Tomlinson. “I first met him
at the Hull and East Riding Open in 1962,
shortly after I had arrived in England. He
was just out of juniors and beat me with
his close up pimples out style, reminding
me of the Chinese pen-holders. When
I beat him in 1967 he said: how could I
lose to you, I beat you all those years ago
and you have improved about 15 points
since?”
Two wins for New Zealand; against Lancashire,
it was a 5-5 draw. Alan Tomlinson
lost to Kevin Forshaw but beat John
Clarke; partnering Bryan Foster the pair
secured the doubles in opposition to Kevin
Forshaw and George Livesey.
A busy schedule to say the least, the
following week they travelled south to
compete in the Stevenage Open on Saturday
8th and Sunday 9th April.
“The top four Englishmen had left for
the World Championships in Stockholm
but there were several ranked players
present, including Brian Wright, the fifth
ranked,” explained Alan Tomlinson.
After overcoming Murray Dunn in the
semis, it was Brian Wright whom he beat
in the final. Next stop was Stockholm; in
the men’s team event it was 25th place,
for the women the 16th spot.
17

A desire to live
Brave decisions, some braver than others,
they are part of life but in 2019 if anyone
deserves the accolade for being the bravest
of them all, the award goes unquestionably
to Nenad Bach.
Having in 2018, also merited recognition
for fortitude by establishing Ping Pong
Parkinson; with the support of the ITTF
Foundation’s TT4Health Programme, he
was the instigator, driving force, director
and motivator for the inaugural Parkinson’s
World Championships.
Staged at the Westchester Table Tennis
Center in Pleasantville, New York, on
Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th October,
overall the entry read 49 men and 12
women, representing 12 countries. Understandably
being the hosts, the United
States with a total of 22 players had the
largest representation; from foreign shores
11 entrants was the very impressive
number from Sweden. In addition players,
coaches and supporters travelled from
Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark,
Germany, India, Japan, Portugal,
Singapore and Switzerland.
In itself that may seem no great achievement
but the 64 year old was treading in
totally unknown waters. He was out of his
comfort zone, never previously had he organised
a table tennis tournament. Yet he
was bold enough to organise an event that
had never been staged before; moreover
he chose a world championships!
18
Now has any other person ever in any
sport, organised an event and the first they
chose was a world championships? Nenad
Bach doff your trademark hat! You are the
first!

Furthermore in June he travelled to Japan
to attend the World Parkinson Convention
in Kyoto where he actively promoted the
cause; the result being players from the
Land of the Rising Sun were present in
Westchester.
Born in 1954 in the Croatian capital city of
Zagreb but spending his youth in Rijeka on
the Adriatic Coast near the border of Slovenia,
as a boy he had played table tennis
for fun; nothing serious, the passion was
music. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, it
was not the career he chose to follow; he
gained a degree in civil engineering from
the local university, before from 1982 to
1983 following that profession.
However, engineering was work, music
was the passion. Alongside study in 1977
he formed a band Vrijeme i Zemlja (The
Time and The Earth). The result was that
after publishing his first song on vinyl,
“Nokturno”, soon after in 1979 in the country
then known as Yugoslavia, of which
Croatia was a state, the album “Vrijeme i
Zemlja 1” achieved number one spot in the
charts. Later in 1988 he was to achieve
the same with the “Greatest Hits”, his first
American album re-released in his country
of origin.
The fact that he was prepared to produce
the first album when a student, again
underlines the brave character of Nenad
Bach, as did the decision in 1984 to emigrate
to New York.
“I wanted to compare myself with the best
in the world”, said Nenad Bach. “Also, I
did not want my children to grow up in a
communist state.”
The move to New York meant that the
life of being a professional musician had
begun. Notably since that date, he has
performed with a wide range of artists,
the most celebrated of all being Luciano
Pavarotti. He appeared with Pavarotti
and Friends in 1995 at the humanitarian
concert for the children of Bosnia and
Herzegovina; a gathering which reflects
his view on life.
Performing at the Pavarotti and Friends concert in 1995
He is a peace activist, “World Peace in
One Hour” is his mandate; clear that if
every country in the world kept the military
budgets as they are but redirected 50
per cent into building an infrastructure,
rather than piling arms, the goal of peace
throughout the world could be achieved in
rapid time!
“Peace is here, we spoil peace with war;
war is profitable for 500 people”, stressed
Nenad Bach. “War is destruction, humanity
is important. There are some seven billion
people on planet earth, the vast majority
wants to live peacefully together; those
500 want war; a minute minority.”
Pertinently alongside Luciano Pavarotti,
he sang “Can We Go Higher?” the refrain
Nenad Bach bids welcome
19

A meeting with Sir Paul McCartney
Alongside Italian composer Ennio Morricone
a cry for peace in a time when there was
war in Croatia as well as in neighbouring
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Earlier he had
performed in 1994 on the south stage at
the celebrated Woodstock concert, the
theme of the festival being “2 More Days
of Peace and Music”, a thought very dear
to the Nenad Bach heart.
Renowned events, later in 1998 he collaborated
on a compilation album with such
world celebrated names as Bruce Springsteen,
Leonard Cohen and Allen Ginsberg,
before in March 1999 opening the Miss
Universe pageant in Europe.
Talking to Bono, best known as the
vocalist for the rock band U2
Exchanging views with Lady Diana
Additionally, he wrote the score for several
films, including in 1998 “Transatlantic”, the
initiative gaining four golden arena awards
for the Croatian entry as the best foreign
film at the 1999 Academy Awards. Later
he penned the score for “King of Cool” a
documentary on the life of Steve
McQueen, the film premiered in March
1998 on the American Movie Classics
television channel.
Successful, working alongside those of
celebrity status, in 2010 life changed.
Nenad Bach felt unwell, he started to
shake; he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,
the music career was on hold but
then came salvation. Five years passed
before in 2015, a friend, Bob Fuhrer encouraged
him to play table tennis.
“I went to the Westchester Table Tennis
Center, I really didn’t know what to expect;
immediately I was captivated by the sheer
joy of playing table tennis; it was so much
fun to hit the ball”, reminisced Nenad
Bach. “I felt much better the next day, I
went to play at least once a week, then
after two months twice a week and sometimes
three times a week; most importantly
I had a desire to live.”
Now that above all else is the striking
factor. Watching play unfold at the Parkin-
20
Recognition from Larry King, American television and radio host

Yurie Kato, the women’s singles runner up
Meeting Sunil Raghavan in Manhattan, the first player
to arrive for the Parkinson’s World Championships
Navin Kumar reached the men’s singles class 3
semi-finals
son’s World Championships, it was just
the same as at a Paralympic tournament;
when the match concluded the competitors
shook hands correctly, they hugged each
other and whether in victory or defeat, they
smiled. The respect shown for the fellow
man touched the heart; they sent the clear
message that life is precious, life is valuable;
life should not be taken for granted. It
is not a divine right.
Women’s singles bronze for Asako Katagiri
“I enjoy every day of my life regardless
of how difficult that might be”, stressed
Nenad Bach. “In 2015 I stopped playing
the guitar publicly, now I can play my
guitar, syncopation is possible, it’s been a
major breakthrough.”
Margie Alley, the women’s singles champion
Major progress but true to his nature that
was not enough for Nenad Bach, he cares
for others; he was determined to spread
the word!
“Playing table tennis helped me, so I
wanted to help other people, I wanted
others to enjoy the challenge of hitting the
spinning ball than flies through the air, added
Nenad Bach. “The reaction I received
was very positive, I was delighted.”
Soon he found an ally, he contacted
the most passionate Croatian of all; he
contacted Zoran Primorac, winner of the
Men’s World Cup in 1993 in Guangzhou
and 1997 in Nîmes.
“I did not personally know Zoran Primorac
but of course I knew of him; he suggested
that I go the World Championships in 2018
in Halmstad”, explained Nenad Bach.
“I flew to Copenhagen and borrowed a
guitar from Elizabeth Ildal, she drove me
to Halmstad; I took a chance, the hotels
were full, eventually I found a room where
I could stay.”
In Halmstad at the Liebherr World
Championships he met, sang and with
his guitar entertained Thomas Weikert,
the ITTF President and Steve Dainton,
Alan Abt partnered Nenad Bach in the men’s doubles
Harry Wissler, men’s singles class 1 bronze medallist
Bronze for Hiromichi Kawai in men’s singles class 3
Damasio Caerio was the runner in men’s singles
class 1
21

the ITTF Chief Executive Officer; the idea
of the World Parkinson’s Championships
was suggested, quickly agreement was
reached.
Promotion began; Nenad Bach visited
Japan and also held a news conference at
the Liebherr 2019 World Championships
in Budapest. Moreover, he wrote a song
for the occasion “I Love Ping Pong” before
one week prior to the tournament commencing,
the dream started to be realised.
Sunil Raghavan, of Indian descent but
living in Singapore arrived.
“It was a very pleasant surprise, I was in
Manhattan, by coincidence I met Sunil”,
smiled Nenad Bach. “I suddenly realised
the tournament was going to happen!”
The efforts had been rewarded, thanks
to the help of Will Shortz, the owner of the
Westchester Table Tennis Center and a
faithful band of dedicated supporters, the
foresight was to be realised.
“I am both thankful and impressed; I’m
thankful to the people who helped, I am
thankful to those who travelled to compete,
for them it was very expensive”, said
Nenad Bach. “My thanks to everyone who
made the tournament possible.”
Now Nenad Bach can sit back on his laurels,
reflect with pride; not so, that is not in
his character. He is action man, dedicated
to promoting the cause.
“I want to take the Ping Pong Parkinson
concept around the world; I want to
have representatives in each continent”,
concluded Nenad Bach. “Most importantly
I want to see the Parkinson’s World Championships
held every year!”
Motivated, not only is Nenad Bach eager
to promote the cause of Parkinson’s; he
has found premises and intends to open
his own table tennis club in Peekskill just
north of his New York home in Croton on
Hudson.
Be prepared, Ping Pong Parkinson’s
is established; get ready for Ping Pong
Peekskill!
Elisabeth Ildal and Vlatka Dragia women’s doubles
runners up and best of friends
Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi won men’s singles class 3
Ilya Rozenblat won men’s singles class 2
2019 ITTF Parkinson’s World
Championships
Westchester Table Tennis Club
Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th October
Men’s Singles Class 1
SF Holger Teppe (GER) bt Naomichi Saito (JPN)
11-2, 11-9
SF Damasio Caeiro (POR) bt Harry Wissler (GER)
11-7, 11-8
F Holger Teppe (GER) bt Damasio Caeiro (POR)
11-7, 12-10
Men’s Singles Class 2
SF Ilya Rozenblat (USA) bt Roberto Morand (BRA)
11-8, 11-5
SF Thorsten Boomhuis (GER) bt Kasturi Rangan
(USA) 11-4, 11-4
F Ilya Rozenblat (USA) bt Thorsten Boomhuis
(GER) 11-6, 11-2
Men’s Singles Class 3
SF Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi (USA) bt Navin Kumar
(USA) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7
SF Edmur Mesquita (BRA) bt Hiromichi Kawai
(JPN) 11-9, 11-4
F Hamid Ezzat-Ahmadi (USA) bt Edmur Mesquita
(BRA) 11-9, 11-13, 11-3
Women’s Singles
SF Margie Alley (USA) bt Vlatka Dragia (CRO)
11-8, 11-2
SF Yurie Kato (JPN) bt Asako Katagiri (JPN) 11-6,
11-6
F Margie Alley (USA) bt Yurie Kato (JPN) 11-1,
11-8
Men’s Doubles
SF Nevin Kumar / Ilya Rozenblat (USA) bt Jesper
Jerslind / Lars Bo Kaspersen (DEN) 11-2, 11-7
SF Thorsten Boomhuis / Holger Teppe (GER) bt
Edmur Mesquita / Roberto Morand (BRA) 11-5,
11-5
F Thorsten Boomhuis / Holger Teppe (GER) bt
Nevin Kumar / Ilya Rozenblat (USA) 11-9, 6-11,
11-5
Women’s Doubles
SF Vlatko Dragia / Elisabeth Ildal (CRO/DEN) bt
Angela Hagman / Maria Waneskog (SWE) 11-5,
11-4
SF Asako Katagiri / Yurie Kato (JPN) bt Margie
Alley / Maritha Juhun (USA/SWE) 3-11, 11-6, 11-5
F Asako Katagiri / Yurie Kato (JPN) bt Vlatko Dragia
/ Elisabeth Ildal (CRO/DEN) 11-8, 7-11, 11-8
Leandro Olvech, ITTF Foundation Director and Thomas Weikert, ITTF President, make the message clear.
22
Medallists - men’s singles class 3 with Nenad Bach

The song
I love Ping Pong (If I Had Another Life)
If I had another life,
I would never walk straight.
All the things I love to do
Other people love to hate.
Wear my shoes on my ears
And my hat on my feet,
Park the car in the kitchen
And take a bath in the street.
I love Ping Pong, I love bums. Love the Three Stooges,
And those crazy drums.
I like lovers who don’t vote the same.
And lying on my bed
In the stars and the rain, o yeah.
Medallists - men’s doubles, with (far right) Will Shortz, the Westchester Club owner
If I had another life, I would run, run, run have some
fun,
But seriously....
If I had another life,
If I had another life
I would run for president.
Feed the pigeons in the park,
Never pay the rent.
Jerry Garcia,
Secretary of State
Declares money illegal,
Now, wouldn’t that be great
I love Ping Pong, I love bums
Anchovy pizza,
And those crazy drums
I like lovers
Who don’t vote the same.
And lying on my bed
In the stars and the rain, o yeah.
Medallists - men’s singles class 1 with (far right) Leandro Olvech, ITTF Foundation Director
If I had another life,
I would do it all again.
Run a movie from the middle
Beginning at the end.
Try to miss the target,
And win the biggest score.
Tell my dad I love him
Like I never did before.
I love Ping Pong, I love bums
Love the Honeymooners,
And those crazy drums
I like lovers
Who don’t vote the same
And talking to my father
In the stars and the rain, o yeah.
Music by Nenad Bach, Lyrics by Nenad Bach &
John Timpane BMI2019©Nenad Bach Music Ltd
Medallists - men’s singles class 2, Roman Tinyszin, the referee, makes the presentation
Medallists - women’s doubles
23

Never
a cross word,
harmony in
Westchester
leap year.
It is the philosophy of Will
Shortz, the owner of the club,
that table tennis is for everyone.
It is very much through his
support that the groundbreaking
Parkinson’s tournament, which
brought players and coaches
from the four corners of the
world, was able to be staged.
The venue for the 2019 ITTF World
Parkinson’s Table Tennis Championships
was the Westchester Table Tennis Center
in Pleasantville, a suburb of New York City.
As the town’s name suggests, it’s a rather
comfortable area in which to live. Not far
distant is the home of a certain married
couple, Bill and Hillary Clinton. The
presence of such notables adds a certain
eminence to the environs, as does the club
to the sport of table tennis.
A total of 19 tables is available. For an annual
membership fee, or modest amounts
at the door, you can play table tennis
seven days a week, 365 days a year; add
one more for 2020 as it’s leap year.
It is the philosophy of Will Shortz, the
owner of the club, that table tennis is for
everyone. It is very much through his support
that the groundbreaking Parkinson’s
tournament, which brought players and
coaches from the four corners of the world,
was able to be staged.
Shortz’s partner at the club is Robert
Roberts, a former Barbadian, three-time
champion of the Caribbean and a competitor
at four World Championships. Roberts
manages the club; their facility is one of
the largest in the United States and for that
matter in the Western Hemisphere.
leap year.
It is the philosophy of Will
Shortz, the owner of the club,
that table tennis is for everyone.
It is very much through his
support that the groundbreaking
Parkinson’s tournament, which
brought players and coaches
from the four corners of the
world, was able to be staged.
Will Shortz all smiles in Westchester
The club is a hive of activity. In the weeks
prior to the Parkinson’s tournament, an
umpires’ course was held with the Parkinson’s
event in mind; also a USATT training
camp and national ranking tournament
for youth was staged. In addition, the club
organises a monthly USATT sanctioned
4-star tournament, with US$ 6,000 in prizes,
including US$ 2,000 for first. This event
has attracted the likes of Austria’s Robert
Gardos, Slovenia’s Bojan Tokic, Spain’s
He Zhiwen, Poland’s Lucjan Blaszczyk,
Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo, as well as
Croatia’s Andrej Gacina and Tomislav
Pucar. Since the first such tournament was
staged in 2011, more than US$ 500,000
has been awarded in prize money.
Quite simply, the facts reflect the enthusiasm
Shortz has for the sport of table
24
Every Wednesday in the adjoining hall a coaching session for players with Parkinson’s is held
Summer training camp

took up the game again. “Immediately I
started playing twice a week”, explained
Shortz. “After a while the club added other
locations, so I was playing three, four, then
five, and eventually six times a week but
the facilities had limited space and hours
and could cancel sessions on a moment’s
notice, which was not satisfying.”
Determined, Shortz found the solution to
the conundrum: open his own table tennis
club!
Robert Roberts, the manager at the reception desk with Will Shortz
tennis, as well the desire to find solutions
when the next challenge is presented. In
fact, that is his profession. Since 1993 he
has been the crossword editor for The
New York Times.
“I play table tennis for the same reason
others solves puzzles,” says Shortz. “It
relaxes and refreshes me and helps keep
me sane”.
Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Shortz
graduated from Indiana University in 1974
with a self-designed major in Enigmatology,
the study of puzzles. He is the world’s
only academically accredited puzzle
master. In 1977 he gained a Juris Doctor
award from the University of Virginia
School of Law, but he did not sit for the bar
exam. Instead he went immediately into
puzzles as his career.
Since 1987 Shortz has created weekly
oral puzzles for National Public Radio’s
“Weekend Edition Sunday”, which is heard
on more than 500 stations around the
country. He is the founder and director of
the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament,
held annually since 1978; founder of
the World Puzzle Championship in 1992;
co-founder of the World Puzzle Federation
in 1999; and author or editor of more
than 500 books of puzzles. Notably, as a
collector, he owns the world’s largest puzzle
library, numbering more than 25,000
puzzle books and magazines dating back
to 1533!
The collection is staggering, testing the
mind. One wonders if that is a major reason
why Shortz is drawn to table tennis.
Do not the nuances of the sport stretch the
mind?
Like many others, Shortz played table
tennis as a boy, on a ping-pong table in
his family’s recreation room. He won local
high school tournaments but drifted away
from the sport for 15 years.
In 2001 a friend found a table tennis
club at a community centre near him; he
“Earlier, in 2006, Robert Roberts had
arrived”, said Shortz. “He didn’t have a
car, so I became his driver. That’s how we
became friends”. The two started taking
table tennis road trips together. In 2011
they flew to San Diego, played at Stellan
Bengtsson’s club, then rented a car and
drove 3,500 miles back to New York,
playing at other clubs all along the way. In
2014 they spent six days hopping through
the Caribbean, playing at a club on a
different island each day. To date, Shortz
— either with Roberts or by himself — has
played at 246 table tennis clubs in all 50
U.S. states, as well as 118 more clubs in
39 foreign countries.
The task was to find suitable premises for
their own full-time club. Eventually a building
with a high ceiling was found only five
blocks from Shortz’s home. They installed
flooring, lighting, a new heating and cooling
system, restrooms with showers and a
large number of Double Happiness tables
from China.
Now the premises are open each day
from 3.30 pm to 11.00 pm, longer at weekends.
A wide range of activities is staged
on a weekly basis. Each Tuesday there is
an organised group training session for beginners
with Ben Nisbet, the founder and
head of the American Youth Table Tennis
Organization. Thursday is a league night,
played with teams. On most Fridays there
is a handicap tournament for a cash prize,
in which the higher-rated player in each
match is handicapped so many points per
game according to the players’ ratings.
However, most pertinently, Wednesday
evening has the session for the Parkinson’s
group — a well-organised, two-hour
gathering, conducted with the help of
many of the club’s regular members. It is
from these meetings that the ITTF Parkinson’s
World Championships was born, an
event that brought a tear to Shortz’s eye.
“I really enjoyed watching the tournament,
some 61 players”, reminisced Shortz. “It
was very emotional”.
Lily Zhang plays Wu Yue at the monthly USATT sanctioned four star tournament
Now, more events await on the Westchester
calendar. The next step surely is to
find a title sponsor for the club’s monthly
Opens. That is the next puzzle for Will
Shortz to solve. No doubt a solution will be
found.
25

ears’ home.”
Guest in the home of the polar bears
Polar bears may not be the most welcoming
hosts, certainly that was not the
situation for Ilka Doval; the local club
members appreciated both the fact that
they were able to test their skills against a
player of international stature and welcomed
the equipment she brought from
down south. A walk to the local sports
shop or to the company trade stand in the
sports hall marketing their goods is not
an option; if they wish to participate in a
tournament they either have to take a boat
for several days or a flight for two hours.
Sounds straightforward, not at all, there is
no routine ferry service and although there
are flights on a regular basis they are not
daily!
A familiar face at ITTF Challenge Series
tournaments, in fact in 2019 no player
travelled further east or further west. She
journeyed far and wide; in the early part of
the year from Lisbon to Zagreb in Europe,
then east to Pyongyang, the next stop the
other side of the world in Asuncion, before
retuning back to the old continent to compete
in Wladyslawowo.
However, for Norway’s Ilka Doval, nothing
compares with the journey she completed
with her mother, Kristin, in 2020 from
Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th January; she
made a goodwill visit to the Svalbard Turn
Table Tennis club. It is located in Longyearbyen.
Perhaps the name is not one that trips
of the tongue like London, New York or
Sydney and it doesn’t have the traffic
congestion associated with the world’s
major cities. It is a town of some 2,300
inhabitants, the administrative centre of a
group of Norwegian islands located in the
Arctic Ocean known as Svalbard, the main
island being Spitsbergen.
It is 78 degrees north; for those not
familiar with the circle of latitude, the
local road sign accurately describes the
location, North Pole 1,300 kilometres! It
is the world’s northernmost settlement of
any kind; thus Svalbard Turn Table Tennis
club, organised by the ever enthusiastic
Ulf Kjelleberg, is the most northerly table
tennis club in the world!
become a 100 metres sprinter.
The atmosphere is totally unique. “You
feel completely isolated from the rest of
the world since the island is far from any
other civilisation; the fact that the sun
never reaches up to Svalbard during the
polar night makes it feel like you’re even
further away from everyone else, because
you know the sun is shining where all
your friends and family are at that same
time,” said Ilka Doval. “Getting so challenged
and confused about the time and
light outside was what I found the most
interesting, in addition to learning about
what life on Svalbard looks like, because
humans aren’t the bosses there, you’re
actually considered a guest in the polar
The geographical location of Svalbard
Nevertheless, they do compete on the
international scene. They play against
Barentsburg, a Russian coal mining
settlement of some 450 inhabitants, in a
multi-sport event of which table tennis is
one of seven disciplines. Travel between
Longyearbyen and Barentsburg, a journey
of just of 36 kilometres, takes between
two and three hours. The mode of travel is
a factor that makes this part of the world
totally different, it is not by car or train, it is
by snowmobile; an adventure in itself.
A most memorable undertaking, never
to be forgotten and in a year that is quite
appropriate; on Sunday 9th February, 100
years of Svalbard being under Norwegian
control was celebrated.
The directional sign says it all
Doors wide open, Ulf Kjelleberg was
delighted to welcome Ilka Doval, to a club
which has access to a hall twice a week
and to a part of the world where from
October to February it is polar night, no
sunlight whatsoever. Night lasts for four
months; thus an indoor sport is more than
preferable and table tennis, as it does
everywhere in the world, fits the bill.
Also, there is another problem if considering
sport outdoors, on the island there are
some 3,000 polar bears wandering about;
a long distance runner might just have to
26
Following in mother’s footsteps
Ilka Doval, 21 years of age, hails from
Telemark, some 110 kilometres south
west of Oslo, rather closer to Drammen,
approximately 50 kilometres west of the
capital. Currently Ilka spends half her time
at home and half at the university in Ås,
a town situated on the eastern side of the
Oslofjorden, a waterway which leads to
the Skagerrak, the strait between Norway
and Denmark.
Study on different shores, exploring new
destinations, it is very much in the character
of Ilka Doval who has experienced
both success and bitter disappointment.
However, like any worthy athlete she lays
history to rest and looks ahead.
Notably she was the only female European
player on duty at the 2019 ITTF Challenge
Plus Pyongyang Open. Furthermore

she did rather well, partnering the host
country’s Ri Hyon Sim, she emerged the
women’s doubles runner up. The disappointment
in 2019 was that she qualified
for the European Games in Minsk but her
participation was not endorsed by the
National Olympic Committee.
Milestones in her career, there is another
significant landmark; her first ever World
Championships was the first time only
individual events were held, the year 1999
in Eindhoven.
Now that is some achievement! She was
only one year old at the time! The explanation
is that her parents Alain and Kristin
Doval are avid table tennis enthusiasts.
In Eindhoven, it was push chair, rattle, a
bottle of pasteurised milk and follow the
doctrine of the little white ball; the perfect
education!
Ilka Doval very much follows in the
footsteps of her mother, the former Kristin
Hagen. A present from her parents, her
first attendance at the prestigious tournament
was an avid spectator in 1977
in Birmingham, just as it was in 2016 in
Kuala Lumpur, and ever since that date, to
watch her daughter play.
Kristin Hagen at the 1983 World Championships
in Tokyo
Ilka Doval, always competitive
Overall, Kristin has attended 18 World
Championships, four of those being as a
player in an era when the tournament was
staged on a biennial basis; her first was in
1981 in Novi Sad, her swansong in 1987
in New Delhi. Four World Championships
it is no mean performance; it is four more
than her French husband who was a player
of note. He represented the national
military team but never ascended to the
echelons of the World Championships.
C’est la vie!
A break in play for Ulf Kjelleberg, Adrian Selnes, Kristin Hagen Doval, Ilka Doval and Friad Sala
The French connection, Kristin spent
one year practising at INSEP (Institut
national du sport, de l’expertise et de la
performance), the national centre for elite
athletes situated on the outskirts of Paris
in the Bois de Vincennes.
“My club Annecy won the title that season
1981-1982, I married in 1994, one year
later, Erik, Ilka’s big brother was born”,
explained Kristin Doval. “I played one
season in the highest Bundesliga for TSG
Burg Gretesch in Osnabrück in 1987-
1988, we finished fifth; later when I had
almost stopped, I played for Linkøping in
Sweden.”
Notably Kristin reached a best of no.124
on the women’s world rankings, no.48
on the European list, an age before the
computer juggled the numbers, an era
when the wise and wonderful sat in judgement
and made subjective decisions that,
just as now in the age of the micro-chip,
caused endless debate.
On the recent March rankings Ilka Doval
is named at no.209 on the women’s list,
Ulf Kjelleberg with Tom Isak Sandnesauget, William Olsen and Ilka Doval
her best being no.151 in September 2018.
“Maybe I had a better ranking but her
skills at the table are much better than
mine”, stressed Kristin Doval.
Nevertheless, still some distance to go to
catch her mother but not that far; certainly
not as far as Svalbard!
27

Men’s World Cup, 40 years on
First discussed in November 1979 by the
ITTF Executive Committee, the inaugural
Men’s World Cup was held less than a
year later in Hong Kong from Friday 29th
to Sunday 31st August 1980; it was a
ground breaking tournament.
The prize fund was a total of US$36,500,
taking into account inflation, in modern
day terms that is almost US$115,000, less
than half the sum on offer at the Chengdu
Airlines 2019 Men’s World when the
figure was US$250,000. The prize money
is a reflection of how the tournament has
grown in stature and has proved attractive
to television companies.
It is a tournament which has kept the
same principle that all six continental
associations – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin
America, North America, Oceania - should
be represented but one which has witnessed
changes of format.
In 1980 in Hong Kong, a total of 16 players
were invited, four groups, four players
in each group; as has always been the
situation in the first phase, the draw being
made following the “snake system”, the
highest four ranked players in different
groups, the next highest drawn into the
next four places and so forth.
Players finishing in first and second
positions in each group advanced to the
quarter-finals, in addition play-off matches
were held for every position. Thus, as with
the present day, the losing semi-finalists
competed for third and fourth positions but
differently, players who departed in the
quarter-finals battled for positions five to
eight. Likewise, those who concluded matters
in third place in each group competed
for positions nine to 12, fourth for 13 to 16.
Thus at the end of the tournament there
was a ranking list from one to 16.
The system continued until 1990 in Chiba
with one exception. In 1988, the tournament
was held in Guangzhou from Saturday
11th to Tuesday 14th June and then
in Wuhan from Thursday 16th to Sunday
19th June. A total of 20 players competed,
drawn in the time honoured manner
in four groups but five players in each
group. Players finishing in fifth place in
each group were eliminated and allocated
joint 17th place; the procedure for those
finishing in the top four places was as had
been the policy at the first eight editions of
the tournament.
One year later in Nairobi, the original
system returned. Later in 1990, except
for third and fourth places, the play-off
matches were disbanded; a situation
which has existed to the present day.
Overall 16 players, the losing quarter-finalists
finished in joint fifth position, third
in the group shared ninth place, fourth
13th position.
Universally accepted, the procedure remained
until 2009 in Moscow when a total
of 15 players received direct invitations.
The representatives from Africa, Latin
America, North America and Oceania
competed in the Intercontinental Cup;
organised on a group basis, the winner
gained the one remaining place to make a
total of 16 players. The policy initiated in
1990, with the only play-off match being
for third place, followed.
After four editions of the Intercontinental
Cup, the concept was not continued. In
2013 in Verviers, the next major change
took place. The entry was increased to
20 in number. The tournament was held
in three stages. Players ranked nine to 20
competed in four groups, three players in
each group; first place secured progress
to the second phase, the stage at which
the top eight seeds entered the tournament.
Again, four groups, three players
in each group, first and second in each
group advanced to the quarter-finals.
The losing semi-finalists competed for
third and fourth positions, the losing quarter-finalists
shared fifth place, third place
in the second stage groups witnessed
ninth position. Second place in the initial
phase groups meant a share of 13th spot,
third place 17th position.
Notably the system lasted just one year,
in 2014 in Düsseldorf, the current programme
was introduced. Once again a
total of 20 players; those ranked nine to
20 competing in an initial stage of four
groups, three players in each group.
Players gaining first and second positions
in each group advanced to the knock-out
stage where they joined the top eight
seeds in a first round of 16 players.
Following tradition, the third place match
was retained; the losing quarter-finalists
were allocated joint fifth position, first
round losers ninth place, third place in
initial group 17th spot.
In 2019, the youngest ever podium, Tomokazu Harimoto (16 years old), Fan Zhendong (22 years old) and Lin Yun-Ju (18 years old)
28

Foresight
Roy Evans, the President of the International
Table Tennis Federation at the time
of the first Men’s World Cup in August
1980, was in no doubt about the significance
of the inaugural event. Also, even
though a Welshman and in a whole range
of sports there have been rivalries over
the years between Wales and England,
he kept a special eye on England’s John
Hilton; the player who earlier in the year in
Bern had sensationally won the men’s singles
title at the European Championships
at odds of over 1000:1.
In the October 1980 edition of Table Tennis
News, the official journal of the English
Table Tennis Association, the following
report was published.
The World Cup, Important
Achievements
by H. Roy Evans OBE
The First World Table Tennis Cup was
held in Hong Kong from 29th to 31st Aug.,
1980. That simple fact I believe will one
day be as widely known and remembered
in our sport as the place and date of our
first World Championships.
It has been a huge success. Of course,
there were some shortcomings - who
knows of a major sporting event that
was perfect in every way? But none of
these in any way spoiled the staging of
the event itself, and none was due to
any failure in effort or intent on the part
of those involved in setting up the event.
I must speak with gratitude and in the
highest terms of the co-operation we
have received from the promoters, the
International Management Group, of the
efficiency and generosity with which Mr.
Chung Wing Kwong and his colleagues in
the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association
organised the tournament and of the vital
backing we had from all the sponsors.
I think it is important now to record some
of the achievements of our first World
Cup:
A major ITTF event, involving players
from every continent, has been seen on
television all over the world, projecting the
highest level of our sport.
Top Asian and European players have
had an opportunity of playing together.
Some players who might have been expected
to play to a slightly lower standard
have acquitted themselves outstandingly
well; they have benefitted enormously
from the experience, and their Associations
and Continents have benefitted from
the prestige associated with their participation.
Once again the ITTF has had the opportunity
of holding the very first event in a
Roy Evans
magnificent new stadium. Table tennis in
Hong Kong has received a tremendous
boost. Prize money of US $36,500 has
been shared among twelve Associations
or their players, and the ITTF has also
gained financially. Table tennis has been
kept in the forefront of world sport in the
period between World Championships.
From all this it is quite clear that the draft
outline of the tournament, which was
proposed to the ITTF Council in Cardiff
in June was the correct one, and that the
Council was fully justified in authorising
the Executive Committee to proceed
along the lines suggested. On this basis,
and in the light of our experience in Hong
Kong, it is now the task of the Executive
Committee to prepare for the Council
Meeting in Novi Sad a formal statement
of our plans for the future; all delegates at
the BGM will then have the opportunity of
commenting on the first World Cup, and of
laying the foundations for future events in
this series.
I cannot end this report without expressing
my own personal pleasure at the way
in which the first World Cup so obviously
delighted the players, the spectators and
the Press. The thanks of the ITTF are due
to everyone involved in the creation of the
event, and those of us who watched will
long remember the three days of superb
table tennis given to us by the sixteen
players of the First World Table Tennis
Cup, Hong Kong, 1980.
England’s John Hilton journeyed to
Hong Kong for the 1st World Cup and
an invitation was also sent to Desmond
Douglas which was initially declined but
subsequent acceptance came too late for
his inclusion in the elite 16.
Hilton, the European champion, as a
result of beating his predecessor Gabor
Gergely of Hungary, and Australian champion
Paul Pinkewich advanced, along with
Li Zhenshi - his only conqueror in the first
groupings - to the quarter-final stage.
But the Lancastrian failed to repeat his
Berne success when Josef Dvoracek of
Czechoslovakia avenged his final defeat
in Switzerland with scores of 18 and 18.
Hilton recovered his composure to subsequently
account for Eric Boggan of the
USA and finished fifth overall to pick up
close on £1,000 when Sweden’s former
world champion, Stellan Bengtsson pulled
out of the clash for fifth and sixth place
with a damaged shoulder.
The final was contested by two Chinese,
Guo Yuehua - twice a beaten world men’s
singles finalist - and Li Zhenshi with the
former winning 13, 18, 15 to pick up
£5,600.
29

40 facts for 40 years
by Matt Solt
• The most popular destinations, each
having staged the event three times are
Kuala Lumpur (1981, 1984, 1991) and
Nîmes (1995, 1996, 1997). Xiaoshan in
2004 is the only occasion when the Men’s
World Cup has been staged alongside the
Women’s World Cup.
• Overall a total of 207 men from 48 national
associations have competed.
• The number is 25; it is the number of
different players who have won the title
and the number of times it has been won
by a player representing China.
• China is the only Asian national association
to have provided the winner.
• There have been 2,832 matches; this
is more than the Olympic Games total of
2,520 matches between 1988 and 2016
but less than the 1997 World Championships,
which recorded a mammoth 4,988
matches!
• There have been 187,830 points played
since the first ball was struck in Hong
Kong on Friday 29th August 1980.
• Sweden’s Jan-Ove Waldner competed
on no less than 18 occasions; he won one
gold, two silvers, and one bronze. On five
occasions he ended outside the top eight.
In 1989 in Nairobi he won just one match,
he beat Kenya’s Noel Carvalho in the contest
for 15th place. One year later in China
he lost to Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive in
the group stage but progressed to win the
tournament.
• Notably Jan-Ove Waldner played 88
matches between 1983 and 2004; a record
that remains unbeaten to this day but
despite an impressive attendance tally, his
win rate was only 59 per cent, outlining
the calibre of players at the prestigious
event.
• Jan-Ove Waldner, Vladimir Samsonov
and Jean-Michel Saive have made the
most appearances; each has competed
on 18 occasions.
• Courmayeur in 2001 was the first time
the tournament was held using the modern
day 11 point system; Vladimir Samsonov
won, he dropped just two games en
route the title, both in the group stage.
• Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto became the
youngest ever finalist in 2019, at 16 years
and 157 days old, dethroning Jan-Ove
Waldner, who reached the final on his
18th birthday in 1983.
• Reaching the final in 2019, Tomokazu
Harimoto became the first Japanese
30
player to gain a place on the podium. Jun
Mizutani has finished in fourth place four
times (2010, 2011, 2014, 2015)!
• Germany’s Timo Boll and Croatia’s Zoran
Primorac alongside China’s Ma Wenge
and Guo Yuehua all won on debut. The
win recorded by Guo Yuehua was by definition,
he was the first ever winner.
• Chen Xinhua only competed twice
but has the distinction of being the only
player to have represented two countries.
In 1985 he won in action for his native
China, in 1993 he reached the quarter-finals
when on duty for England; he lost to
Zoran Primorac.
• Timo Boll has finished on the podium
eight times, including two gold medals. No
player can match that record.
• The 11-0 score-line has only occurred
twice in Men’s World Cup history (not
including forfeited or walkover matches),
that’s two games out of 8,533; 0.038% of
games played to date.
• In 2004 at the quarter-final stage Ma
Lin beat Timo Boll (11-4, 11-1, 9-11, 11-8,
11-0). Ma Lin hit a purple match, at 10-0
in the fifth he tried to serve long, intending
the ball to fly off the end of the table, it
clipped the edge.
• At the 2012 Men’s World Cup in Liverpool,
in the group stage Adrien Mattenet
beat Oh Sangeun (11-9, 11-0, 11-5, 12-14,
6-11, 11-5).
• The longest match, by point total was
in the 1994 in Taipei City. In the final
Tomokazu Harimoto, the youngest player to
reach the final and the only Japanese player to
gain place on the podium
Jean-Philippe Gatien beat Belgium’s
Jean-Michel Saive (17-21, 15-21, 21-18,
26-24, 21-19) at total of 203 points; in fact
if points had decided the winner he would
have lost (100:103)!
• Ma Lin won the Men’s World Cup four
times (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006) but never
won the men’s singles title at a World
Championships; Wang Liqin won at the
World Championships on three occasions
(2001, 2005, 2007) but never won the
Men’s World Cup; his best runner up in
2001.
• Chen Qi, the player with whom Ma Lin
won Olympic and World titles, played in
just one Men’s World Cup; he was the
runner up in 2009 in Moscow.
• In 2011 Zhang Jike won the Men’s World
Cup, after in the same year being crowned
World champion in Rotterdam; when he
won gold at the London 2012 Olympic
Games, he held all three major titles at the
same time.
• Later in 2014 Zhang Jike regained the
title; celebrating, he destroyed several
court surrounds and was fined his prize
money. He lost US$45,000.00.
• Notably in 2016 Ma Long followed the
2011 achievement of Zhang Jike. He
became the second player to hold all
three major titles at the same time when
he struck gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic
Games. In 2015 he had been crowned
World champion and in the same year he
had won the Men’s World Cup in Halmstad.
Wang Liqin, three times world champion but
best at Men’s World Cup, runner up in 2001 in
Courmayeur

• Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-Yuan has
tried 15 times but has never secured a
place on the podium.
• Conversely colleague Lin Yun-Ju made
his debut in 2019 and beat Ma Long to
secure bronze and become the first player
from Chinese Taipei to win a medal. It
was the only occasion when Ma Long had
competed and did finish with a place on
the podium
• Kanak Jha became the first player born
this century to compete in the Men’s
World Cup when he played in 2014 in
Düsseldorf.
• Only two men have won the title in their
30s, Andrzej Grubba in 1988 in Wuhan
when he was 30 years old, Vladimir Samsonov
in 2009 in Moscow when 33 years
of age.
• Similarly only two teenagers have won,
Kong Linghui in Nîmes in 1995, three days
before his 20th birthday, Fan Zhendong in
2016 Saarbrücken when 19 years of age.
• Vladimir Samsonov is the player to succeed
over the longest time span. He won
in 1999 in Xiaolin, after winning in 2001 in
Courmayeur; he regained the title in 2009
in Moscow.
• Also, Vladimir Samsonov holds a record
that cannot be beaten for the next 80
years; his victories mean he is the only
player to win in different centuries.
• Wang Hao proved one of the most successful
players; the full house of medals,
three gold, two silver and one bronze. He
was crowned World champion in 2009
but the Olympic Games men’s singles
remained elusive; he was the runner up
on three occasions.
won by a player from Latin America:
Cazuo Matsumoto (2009), Liu Song
(2010), Gustavo Tsuboi (2011) and Thiago
Monteiro (2012).
• The last eight is the best for Africa. All
from Nigeria, in 1984 in Kuala Lumpur,
Atanda Musa achieved eighth place, Sule
Olaleye was a quarter-finalist in 1992 in
Ho Chi Minh City, Quadri Aruna in 2014 in
Düsseldorf.
• In 1989 in Nairobi, Atanda Musa beat
both Yu Shentong and Jan-Ove Waldner
but finished in 13th place.
• Australia and New Zealand have always
represented Oceania but no player from
the continent has ever advanced beyond
the initial stage.
• Canada and the United States have
always been the North American representatives.
The best performance was in
1993 in Guangzhou by Johnny Huang. He
was the bronze medallist.
• Hugo Calderano reached the quarter-finals
in 2019 in Chengdu; thus he became
the third player from Latin America to
reach the last eight. Likewise from Brazil,
the others are Gustavo Tsuboi in 2015 in
Halmstad, Claudio Kano in 1987 in Macao
and 1989 in Nairobi.
In 1989, Atanda Musa beat both Yu Shentong and Jan-Ove Waldner
• In 1996 in Nîmes, Brazil’s Hugo Hoyama
beat Kong Linghui in the group stage, at
the time both the defending champion
and world champion. Jan-Ove Waldner
remained unbeaten to top the group;
games ratio determined fourth place for
the Brazilian behind Patrick Chila and
Kong Linghui.
• In 2004 Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro overcame
Ryu Seungmin in the initial phase
but finished in fourth place in his group;
65 days earlier Ryu Seungmin had won
men’s singles gold at the Athens Olympic
Games.
• The Intercontinental Cup was always
Johnny Huang won bronze in 1993, to date the
best ever performance by a North American
In 2004 Thiago Monteiro beat Ryu Seungmin,
the newly crowned Olympic champion, later in
2012 he won the Intercontinental Cup
31

Most Appearances (three or more)
18. Jean-Michel Saive (BEL), Vladimir Samsonov
(BLR), Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE)
16. Timo Boll (GER)
15. Chuang Chih-Yuan (TPE)
13. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER)
12. Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE)
11. Werner Schlager (AUT)
10. Andrej Grubba (POL), Johnny Huang (CAN), Kim
Taeksoo (KOR), Zoran Primorac (CRO)
9. Ma Lin (CHN), Jörgen Persson (SWE), Wang Liqin
(CHN), Peter Jackson (NZL)
8. Hugo Hoyama (BRA), Kong Linghui (CHN), William
Henzell (AUS), Wang Hao (CHN)
7. Joo Saehyuk (KOR), Ma Long (CHN), Mikael Appelgren
(SWE), Jiang Jialiang (CHN), Jörg Rosskopf
(GER)
6. Chiang Peng-Lung (TPE), Jean-Philippe Gatien
(FRA), Peter Karlsson (SWE), Ma Wenge (CHN),
Atanda Musa (NGR), Quadri Aruna (NGR), Jun
Mizutani (JPN), Oh Sangeun (KOR), Ahmed Ali Saleh
(EGY)
5. Marcos Freitas (POR), Simon Gauzy (FRA), Liu
Song (ARG), Michael Maze (DEN), Pradeeban
Peter-Paul (CAN), Tang Peng (HKG), Eric Boggan
(USA), Gao Ning (SGP), Claudio Kano (BRA), Kim
Kitaek (KOR), Kim Wan (KOR), Liu Guoliang (CHN),
Ryu Seungmin (KOR), Koyoshi Saito (JPN)
Kalin Kreanga made 12 appearances
Hugo Hoyama competed eight times, more than any
other Latin American; in 1996 he beat Kong Linghui in
the group stage
4. Fan Zhendong (CHN), Kanak Jha (USA), Lee
Sangsu (KOR), Koki Niwa (JPN), Alexey Smirnov
(RUS), Gustavo Tsuboi (BRA), Chen Longcan (CHN),
Patrick Chila (FRA), Istvan Jonyer (HUN), Leszek
Kucharski (POL), Lo Chuen Tsung (HKG), Yoshihito
Miyazaki (JPN), Paul Pinkewich (AUS), Segun Toriola
(NGR), Wang Tao (CHN), Yoo Namkyu (KOR)
3. Tiago Apolonia (POR), Ulf Bengtsson (SWE), Chiu
Man Kuen (HKG), Tommy Danielsson (AUS), Damien
Eloi (FRA), Guo Yuehua (CHN), Tibor Klampar (HUN),
Erik Lindh (SWE), Gideon Joe Ng (CAN), Sule Olaleye
(NGR), Seiji Ono (JPN), Milan Orlowski (TCH), Park
Leehee (KOR), Dragutin Surbek (YUG), Xie Saike
(CHN), Xu Xin (CHN)
Most wins (two or more)
Four titles: Ma Lin (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Three titles: Vladimir Samsonov (1999, 2001, 2009),
Wang Hao (2007, 2008, 2010), Fan Zhendong (2016,
2018, 2019)
Two titles: Guo Yuehua (1980, 1982), Ma Wenge
(1989, 1992), Zoran Primorac (1993, 1997), Timo
Boll (2002, 2005), Zhang Jike (2011, 2014), Ma Long
(2012, 2015)
Ma Lin, Wang Hao and Fan Zhendong are the only
players to win in consecutive years.
Runners up (two or more)
Four occasions: Timo Boll (2008, 2012, 2017, 2018)
Three occasions: Kim Taeksoo (1992, 1998, 2000),
Wang Hao (2005, 2006, 2011)
Two occasions: Jan-Ove Waldner (1983, 1986),
Andrzej Grubba (1985, 1989), Jiang Jialiang (1986,
1987), Kong Linghui (1997, 2002), Kalinikos Kreanga
(2003, 2004),
Kim Taeksoo and Kalinikos Kreanga came so close
but never won the title.
32
Peter Jackson competed nine times, more than any
other player from Oceania
Kim Taeksoo, three times the runner up, never the
winner

Medallists
Year City Gold Silver Bronze
1980 Hong Kong Guo Yuehua (CHN) Li Zhenshi (CHN) Josef Dvoracek (TCH)
1981 Kuala Lumpur Tibor Klampar (HUN) Xie Saike (CHN) Guo Yuehua (CHN)
1982 Hong Kong Guo Yuehua (CHN) Mikael Appelgren (SWE) Xie Saike (CHN)
1983 Barbados Mikael Appelgren (SWE) Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) Erik Lindh (SWE)
1984 Kuala Lumpur Jiang Jialiang (CHN) Kim Wan (KOR) Ulf Bengtsson (SWE)
1985 Foshan Chen Xinhua (CHN) Andrzej Grubba (POL) Jiang Jialiang (CHN)
1986 Port of Spain Chen Longcan (CHN) Jiang Jialiang (CHN) Kim Wan (KOR)
1987 Macao Teng Yi (CHN) Jiang Jialiang (CHN) Andrzej Grubba (POL)
1988 Guangzhou / Wuhan Andrzej Grubba (POL) Chen Longcan (CHN) Jiang Jialiang (CHN)
1989 Nairobi Ma Wenge (CHN) Andrzej Grubba (POL) Mikael Appelgren (SWE)
1990 Chiba Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) Ma Wenge (CHN) Chen Longcan (CHN)
1991 Kuala Lumpur Jörgen Persson (SWE) Jean-Philippe Gatien (FRA) Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE)
1992 Ho Chi Minh City Ma Wenge (CHN) Kim Taeksoo (KOR) Yoo Namkyu (KOR)
1993 Guangzhou Zoran Primorac (CRO) Wang Tao (CHN) Johnny Huang (CAN)
1994 Taipei City Jean-Philippe Gatien (FRA) Jean-Michel Saive (BEL) Zoran Primorac (CRO)
1995 Nîmes Kong Linghui (CHN) Jörg Rosskopf (GER) Liu Guoliang (CHN)
1996 Nîmes Liu Guoliang (CHN) Jan-Ove Waldner (SWE) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR)
1997 Nîmes Zoran Primorac (CRO) Kong Linghui (CHN) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR)
1998 Shantou Jörg Rosskopf (GER) Kim Taeksoo (KOR) Zoran Primorac (CRO)
1999 Xiaolan Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) Werner Schlager (AUT) Zoran Primorac (CRO)
2000 Yangzhou Ma Lin (CHN) Kim Taeksoo (KOR) Wang Liqin (CHN)
2001 Courmayeur Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) Wang Liqin (CHN) Jörg Rosskopf (GER)
2002 Jinan Timo Boll (GER) Kong Linghui (CHN) Zoran Primorac (CRO)
2003 Jiangyin Ma Lin (CHN) Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE) Wang Liqin (CHN)
2004 Hangzhou Ma Lin (CHN) Kalinikos Kreanga (GRE) Wang Hao (CHN)
2005 Liège Timo Boll (GER) Wang Hao (CHN) Ma Lin (CHN)
2006 Paris Ma Lin (CHN) Wang Hao (CHN) Wang Liqin (CHN)
2007 Barcelona Wang Hao (CHN) Ryu Seungmin (KOR) Wang Liqin (CHN)
2008 Liège Wang Hao (CHN) Timo Boll (GER) Ma Long (CHN)
2009 Moscow Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) Chen Qi (CHN) Ma Long (CHN)
2010 Magdeburg Wang Hao (CHN) Zhang Jike (CHN) Timo Boll (GER)
2011 Paris Zhang Jike (CHN) Wang Hao (CHN) Joo Saehyuk (KOR)
2012 Liverpool Ma Long (CHN) Timo Boll (GER) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR)
2013 Verviers Xu Xin (CHN) Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER)
2014 Düsseldorf Zhang Jike (CHN) Ma Long (CHN) Timo Boll (GER)
2015 Halmstad Ma Long (CHN) Fan Zhendong (CHN) Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER)
2016 Saarbrücken Fan Zhendong (CHN) Xu Xin (CHN) Wong Chun Ting (HKG)
2017 Liège Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) Timo Boll (GER) Ma Long (CHN)
2018 Paris Fan Zhendong (CHN) Timo Boll (GER) Lin Gaoyuan (CHN)
2019 Chengdu Fan Zhendong (CHN) Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) Lin Yun-Ju (TPE)
A total of 18 appearances, so close for Jean-Michel Saive in 1994 but never the title
33

Guo Yuehua (1980, 1982)
Chen Longcan (1986)
Jan-Ove Waldner (1990)
Tibor Klampar (1981)
Teng Yi (1987)
Jörgen Persson (1991)
Mikael Appelgren (1983)
Andrzej Grubba (1988)
Zoran Primorac (1993, 1997)
Jiang Jialiang (1984)
Chen Xinhua (1985)
34
Ma Wenge (1989, 1992)
Jean-Philippe Gatien (1994)

Ma Long (2012, 2015)
Kong Linghui (1995)
Ma Lin (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Liu Guoliang (1996)
Timo Boll (2002, 2005)
Xu Xin (2013)
Jörg Rosskopf (1998)
Wang Hao (2007, 2008, 2010)
Fan Zhendong (2016, 2018, 2019)
Vladimir Samsonov (1999, 2001, 2009)
Zhang Jike (2011, 2014)
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (2017)
35

Lose but win
There have been 12 occasions when the
eventual winner lost a group stage match
1980 Guo Yuehua lost to Milan Orlowski
1984 Jiang Jialiang lost to Kim Wan
1987 Teng Yi lost to Leszek Kucharski
1989 Ma Wenge lost to Mikael Appelgren
1990 Jan-Ove Waldner lost to Jean-Michel
Saive
1991 Jörgen Persson lost to Li Gunsang
1994 Jean-Philippe Gatien lost to Cheng
Yinghua
1995 Kong Linghui lost to Liu Guoliang
1998 Jörg Rosskopf lost to Liu Guoliang
1999 Vladimir Samsonov lost to Werner
Schlager
2005 Timo Boll lost to Vladimir Samsonov
2012 Ma Long lost to Chuang Chih-Yuan
Prize Money
1980 - 1st Men’s World Cup
Prize Fund: US$36,500
1st US$ 12,500
2nd US$ 5,000
3rd US$ 3,200
4th US$ 2,800
5th US$ 2,300
6th US$ 2,100
7th US$ 1,900
8th US$ 1,700
9th US$ 1,000
10th US$ 900
11th US$ 800
12th US$ 700
13th US$ 550
14th US$ 450
15th US$ 350
16th US$ 250
2019 – 40th Men’s World Cup
Prize Fund: US$250,000
1st US$ 60,000
2nd US$ 40,000
3rd US$ 20,000
4th US$ 2,800
5th-8th US$ 10,000 each
9th-16th US$ 7,000 each
17th-20th US$ 5,000 each
On ten occasions the eventual champion
finished in second place in the group, the
player against whom they lost ended in
first place. The exceptions were in 1990
and 1991 when games ratio decided the
top three places.
In 1990 Jan-Ove Waldner concluded the
group ahead of Jean-Michel Saive with Li
Gunsang in third place.
In 1991 the final order was Kim Taeksoo
followed by Jörgen Persson and Li
Gunsang.
Notably on three occasions, the player
against whom the champion lost in the
group, later he beat in the final. In the title
deciding contest, in 1984 Jiang Jialiang
beat Kim Wan, in 1998 Jörg Rosskopf accounted
for Liu Guoliang; in 1999 Vladimir
Samsonov overcame Werner Schlager.
In 1991 Li Gunsang beat Jörgen Persson in the group stage
In 1999 Werner Schlager beat Vladimir Samsonov
in the group stage but when they met
again in the final he lost
36
In 2012 in Liverpool, Chuang Chih-Yuan beat Ma Long in the opening stage

1980 Men’s World Cup: Hong Kong, Friday 29th – Sunday 31st August
Group A: 1. Josef Dvoracek (TCH) 2. Eric Boggan
(USA) 3. Chiu Man Kuen (HKG) 4. Seji Ono (JPN)
Group B: 1. Li Zhenshi (CHN) 2. John Hilton (ENG) 3.
Gabor Gergely (HUN) 4. Paul Pinkewich (AUS)
Group C: 1. Tibor Klampar (HUN) 2. Stellan Bengtsson
(SWE) 3. Kasali Lasisi (NGR) 4. Dragutin Surbek
(YUG)
Group D: Milan Orlowski (TCH) 2. Guo Yuehua (CHN)
3. Norio Takashima (JPN) 4. Raymundo Fermin
(DOM)
Quarter-Final: Josef Dvoracek (TCH) bt John Hilton
(ENG) 21-18, 21-18; Li Zhenshi (CHN) bt Eric Boggan
(USA) 21-14, 20-22, 21-13; Guo Yuehua (CHN) bt
Tibor Klampar (HUN) 21-19, 21-19; Milan Orlowski
(TCH) bt Stellan Bengtsson (SWE) 21-11, 21-18
Semi-Final: Li Zhenshi (CHN) bt Josef Dvoracek
(TCH) 21-15, 22-20, 21-17; Guo Yuehua (CHN) bt
Milan Orlowski (TCH) 21-14, 21-12, 21-13
Final: Guo Yuehua (CHN) bt Li Zhenshi (CHN) 21-13,
21-18, 21-15
3rd Place: Josef Dvoracek (TCH) bt Milan Orlowski
(TCH) 21-18, 17-21, 21-19
5th-8th Place: John Hilton (ENG) bt Eric Boggan
(USA) 20-22, 21-12, 21-15; Stellan Bengtsson (SWE)
bt Tibor Klampar (HUN) 21-18, 9-21, 23-21
5th Place: John Hilton (ENG) bt Stellan Bengtsson
walk-over
7th Place: Tibor Klampar (HUN) bt Eric Boggan (USA)
21-8, 21-15
9th-12th Place: Gabor Gergely (HUN) bt Chiu Man
Kuen (HKG) 21-16, 21-17; Norio Takashima (JPN) bt
Kasali Lasisi (JPN) 21-14, 21-17
9th Place: Norio Takashima (JPN) bt Gabor Gergely
(HUN) 21-13, 21-19
11th Place: Chiu Man Kuen (HKG) bt Kasali Lasisi
(NGR) 21-2, 22-24, 21-18
13th-16th Place: Seiji Ono (JPN) bt Paul Pinkewich
(AUS) 21-9, 21-12; Dragutin Surbek (YUG) bt Raymundo
Fermin (DOM)
13th Place: Dragutin Surbek (YUG) bt Seiji Ono (JPN)
21-19, 21-10
15th Place: Paul Pinkewich (AUS) bt Raymundo
Fermin (DOM) 21-12, 21-14
Li Zhenshi was the runner up in 1980
Chengdu Airlines 2019 ITTF Men’s World Cup, Chengdu, Friday
29th November to Sunday 1st December
Group A: 1. Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 2. Daniel Habesohn (AUT) 3. Vladimir Samsonov
(BLR)
Group B: 1. Lee Sangsu (KOR) 2. Kanak Jha (USA) 3. Omar Assar (EGY)
Group C: 1. Kristian Karlsson (SWE) 2. Quadri Aruna (NGR) 3. Heming Hu (AUS)
Group D: 1. Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) 2. Simon Gauzy (FRA) 3. Jonathan Groth
(DEN)
Round 1: Fan Zhendong (CHN) bt Daniel Habesohn (AUT) 11-8, 13-11, 11-7, 11-2; Timo
Boll (GER) bt Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (IND) 7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9, 11-8; Lin Yun-Ju (TPE)
bt Kristian Karlsson (SWE) 11-8, 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 11-9; Hugo Calderano (BRA) bt Kanak
Jha (USA) 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8; Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) bt Quadri
Aruna (NGR) 11-7, 13-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6; Koki Niwa (JPN) bt Lee Sangsu (KOR) 11-6,
11-8, 14-16, 11-7, 8-11, 13-11; Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) bt Mattias Falck (SWE) 11-8,
3-11,8-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11; Ma Long (CHN) bt Simon Gauzy (FRA) 11-7, 11-8,
9-11, 11-5, 8-11, 15-13
Quarter-Final: Fan Zhendong (CHN) bt Timo Boll (GER) 11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 7-11, 12-10; Lin
Yun-Ju (TPE) bt Hugo Calderano (BRA) 5-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6, 11-3; Tomokazu Harimoto
(JPN) bt Koki Niwa (JPN) 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 10-12, 12-14, 11-3, 11-8; Ma Long (CHN) bt
Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER) 6-11, 11-9, 11-4, 13-11, 11-3)
Semi-Final: Fan Zhendong (CHN) bt Lin Yun-Jun (TPE) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5; Tomokazu
Harimoto (JPN) bt Ma Long (CHN) 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-5
Third Place: Lin Yun-Ju (TPE) bt Ma Long (CHN) 11-4, 13-11, 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-4
Lin Yun-Ju, bronze at the first attempt
Final: Fan Zhendong (CHN) bt Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) 9-11, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-7
37

Beautiful adventure
Jacques Secretin and Claude Bergeret proudly hold the Heydusek Cup donated in 1948 by Zdenek Heydusek, Secretary of the Czechoslovakia Table Tennis Association
A 1978 postcard recognising 50 years of the French Table Tennis Federation
38

The mixed doubles podium at the 1977 World Championships
Newly opened, conveniently located next
to Birmingham airport, the 1977 World
Championships, staged from Monday 28th
March to Thursday 7th April, was the first
major sporting event to be held in the National
Exhibition Centre. It was also a first
for France, members of the International
Table Tennis Federation since 1928, their
first ever title at the prestigious tournament
after almost five decades of effort.
Jacques Secretin and Claude Bergeret
won the mixed doubles.
A milestone in the city located in the
English midlands; for Jacques Secretin
and Claude Bergeret, earlier there had
been another first, success at the very first
attempt. On their debut as a partnership
they won the mixed doubles title at the
1974 German Open. In the final they beat
the Hungarian defenders Janos Borzei and
Beatrix Kishazi.
“I was not so good against defence,
Jacques just said push the ball and I’ll do
the rest”, reminisced Claude Bergeret. “He
was good against defence, he was good
at changing the spin on the ball; he could
play fast and slow.”
Later in the same year in Novi Sad at
the 1974 European Championships, they
excelled; once again taking a liking to
Hungary. At the quarter-final stage they
accounted for Istvan Jonyer and Judit
Magos, before losing to Czechoslovakia’s
Milan Orlowski and Alicia Grofova.
“The obvious factor that helped our partnership
was that Jacques was left handed
and I was right handed; I played near the
table, he played at a distance back from
the table”, explained Claude Bergeret.
“We never played along the same line,
the more we played, the better we played;
gradually we established a good understanding,
for Jacques everything just came
naturally.”
A semi-final finish in Novi Sad, it was
the same two years later at the European
Championships in Prague, the year
Jacques Secretin won the men’s singles
title. After beating Czechoslovakia’s Jaroslav
Kunz and Blanka Silhanova, they experienced
defeat when facing Yugoslavia’s
Antun Stipancic and Ezerbet Palatinus.
“In Novi Sad we didn’t play well in the
semi-finals, we played as two individuals,
in Prague that was the start of playing as a
pair, complementing each other,” recalled
Claude Bergeret. “In Prague Jacques was
so focused on winning the men’s singles
title, he either wanted to win 3-0 or lose
3-0; I wasn’t best pleased!”
Maybe Claude Bergeret exerted her
influence? Against Antun Stipancic and
Ezerbet Palatinus, they won the first game
but then lost the next three!
Bronze medals at consecutive European
Championships; the key element was
that a formidable partnership, with a clear
understanding, was being established.
In Birmingham the following year, on the
biggest stage of all, that fact was endorsed
indelibly.
“A first world title for France, so many
memories of that occasion”, sighed Claude
Bergeret. “All the best players in the world
were there.”
Safely through to the third round, they
beat the Chinese pairing of Huang Liang
and Wei Liqing in a full distance five
games encounter, a match that Jacques
Secretin believes was their most exacting
encounter of all. However, Claude
Bergeret has a different view. “We were
in no sense of panic”, she explained. “We
were able to establish what proved to be
winning tactics.”
Tactics vital; that is what was missing in
the contest which Claude Bergeret believes
was the toughest of all, the semi-final
engagement against Korea Republic’s
Lee Sangkuk and Lee Kiwon. Jacques
Secretin and Claude Bergeret had to stave
off a spirited recovery before, as against
the Chinese pair, prevailing in five games.
“We won the first two games, they came
back to win the next two; I couldn’t see any
way that we could win the fifth, I thought
we had lost,” recalled Claude Bergeret.
“Somehow, courage, strong mentally, a
fighting spirit, we won; I don’t know how
we did it, I cannot explain. Tactically we
didn’t know what to do; were our opponents
over confident? I really don’t know.”
The final awaited; they faced the Japanese
duo of Tokio Tasaka and Sachiko
Yokota. It was the crowning moment.
“We went to the practice hall, I practised
with Jacques but it was hopeless, I was so
nervous I couldn’t put a ball on the table;
understandably Jacques was somewhat
annoyed, we couldn’t plan tactics,”
explained Claude Bergeret. “We stopped,
we sat on the bench, Jacques told jokes,
funny stories, I relaxed; it shows there is
more than one way to prepare for a big
match.”
Every match to reach the final had been
39

Claude Bergeret and Jacques Secretin won the mixed doubles title at the 1979 United States Open in Long
Island, New York, staged from Wednesday 27th June to Tuesday 2nd July
French support at the 1977 World Championships final, seated between the players (left to right) Jean-Denis
Constant, Patrick Birocheau, René Hatem, Pierre Grandjean, Jean-Paul Weber, Charles Roesch
40

A different role for Claude Bergeret and her mixed doubles partner. She umpires a Jacques Secretin versus Vincent Purkart exhibition at 1979 United States Open
difficult; in the final they succeeded in
straight games, the match took just some
24 minutes!
“It was a very fast final, surprisingly easy,
after we won the first two games Jacques
joked and suggested we give them the
match,” recalled Claude Bergeret. “Sachiko,
who has later become a really good
friend, totally froze; she was so nervous, it
was the final of the World Championships,
they played well below their level.”
The title secured, the award ceremony
completed, it was back to the university
hotel where all the players were staying;
time to relax, savour the moment, Claude
Bergeret was in for a surprise!
“Our physio knocked on my door, excitedly
explaining that French radio was on the
line and wanted to speak to me immediately,”
smiled Claude Bergeret. “I was in
the shower! I wrapped a bath towel around
myself and ran to do the interview!”
After the tournament, Jacques Secretin
went on holiday to Corsica, Claude
Bergeret returned to France where arriving
in Paris more media interviews awaited.
“TF1, the top French channel sent an
official car to take me to their studios for
a magazine programme at 1.00 pm in the
afternoon; the programme was broadcast
nationwide,” explained Claude Bergeret.
“The result of everything was that Jacques
and myself were recognised wherever we
went.”
Also, was there a sense of destiny?
Jacques Secretin, who had shaved off his
beard reportedly so it made him faster,
was most certainly in a confident mood
and was very clear that winning the mixed
doubles stood alongside any other title
achieved at a World Championships.
“At the 1977 World Championships in
Birmingham I felt very well. My score in
the teams was 16:3; I had the feeling that
something big lay in store. Indeed in the
mixed with the very agile Claude Bergeret,
we surpassed all expectations and defeated
several strong Asian combinations; in
the final we demolished Tasaka and Yokota
3-0 in only 24 minutes!” said Jacques
Secretin. “The reporters can say what they
want but in Birmingham we were the only
Europeans to win a gold medal, even if in
mixed, it is not appreciated by many. Who
cares?”
Now included on the ITTF World Tour and
in the Olympic Games, the mixed doubles
has a new found status, a medal in the
event is a precious prize. It was the same
in 1977, in France the victory in Birmingham
was greeted with open arms. It was
a major boost for French table tennis.
Immediately there was a big increase in
the number of people playing table tennis,
more tables were sent to schools, tables
were located in parks and a stamp to commemorate
the occasion was published.
“It was a beautiful adventure, later in 1979
we reached the semi-finals at the World
Championships in Pyongyang; it was a
time of black rubber on each side of the
racket, anti-spin, long pimples,” concluded
Claude Bergeret. “It didn’t suit Jacques; he
wanted to have fun when playing.”
Nevertheless a further medal at a World
Championships, again the only European
pair on the podium, it was an outstanding
achievement.
The journey to history
Round One: Jaroslav Kunz and Blanka
Silhanova (Czechoslovakia) 18-21,
21-5, 12-16, 21-17
Round Two: Jochen Leiss and Kirsten
Kruger (Federal Germany) 21-13, 21-
13, 16-21, 21-8
Round Three: Huang Liang and Wei
Liqing (China) 12-21, 21-19, 13-21,
21-19, 21-16
Quarter-Final: Sarkis Sarkojan and
Elimra Antonian (Soviet Union) 21-14,
21-19, 21-14
Semi-Final: Lee Sangkuk and Lee
Kiwon (Korea Republic) 21-17, 21-15,
18-21, 14-21, 21-10
Final: Tokio Tasaka and Sachiko
Yokota (Japan) 21-17, 21-14, 21-17
41

Aim for the Stars
Following many successful development
projects organised by the Asian Table
Tennis Union (ATTU) over recent decades
such as Ideal Asia, China Table Tennis
Association Equipment Assistance,
Double Happiness Fund Programme and
Pathways to Success, the ATTU recently
released their new venture “Aim for the
Stars”.
“Aim for the Stars” is an innovative and
flexible two year initiative with an annual
budget of US$250,000 to meet the needs
of both the regions – East Asia, South
Asia, South East Asia, Middle Asia, West
Asia - and the national associations.
The first time frame started in September
2019 with the ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships
in Yogyakarta, Indonesia; it will
end with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The second time frame will begin with the
Tokyo Olympic Games and will conclude
by the 2021 Asian Championships.
Leading the initiative alongside Iran’s Afshin
Badiee, ATTU Development Director,
is Glenn Tepper, recently appointed ATTU
Projects Director. A staff member of the
International Table Tennis Federation for
20 years, he was responsible for establishing
the ITTF Development Programme
and the ITTF Coach Accreditation system
before assuming the role of Deputy Chief
Executive Officer.
“I am extremely happy to work together
with ATTU on this exciting new project.
The national associations have reacted
very favourably to this new concept and
we are now moving to the implementation
stage as all the detailed applications have
been received”, said Glenn Tepper.
there, but there is still lot more to be done
to make a balance in every region hence
our new project Aim for the Stars”.
Notably in Yogyakarta, they presented this
project to the ATTU Executive Board on
Monday 16th September and to delegates
at the Biennial General Meeting two days
later. On Thursday 19th September a
workshop for national associations and
regions was held.
Examining the varying requirements and
priorities were discussed at a regional
brainstorming session. One major project
on the agenda to benefit each region
alongside individual funding for national
associations according to needs was
agreed.
Additionally, the workshop covered such
useful topics such as accessing funds and
programmes from different sources including
Olympic Solidarity.
Planned regional projects
South Asia: a training camp was staged
at the Anshul Garg Academy, New Dehli,
India from Sunday 3rd to Sunday 24th
November. Proceedings were led by Malta’s
Mario Genovese and India’s Anshul
Garg in preparation for the South Asia
Games which was staged in Kathmandu,
Nepal from Sunday 1st to Thursday 12th
December.
Note: Owing to Coronavirus (Covid-19),
the Asian Table Tennis Union has decided
to postpone the regional projects in Middle
Asia, South East Asia and West Asia to
the second time frame and instead has
provided an increased budget for national
projects.
National projects completed to date
Bangladesh: equipment assistance has
been sent for nine tables and nets plus
1,800 three-star balls.
Bhutan: an umpires and referees course
was held under the direction of Hong
Kong’s Chan Cheong-Ki from Tuesday
11th to Monday 17th February.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United
Arab Emirates: all sent players to different
ITTF events in October and November
which included the ITTF Premium World
Junior Circuit tournament in Oman in
addition to the ITTF World Tour Platinum
Austria Open plus ITTF Challenge Series
tournaments in both Belarus and Indonesia.
Maldives: equipment requested for the Atoll
Development Programme including 11
tables with nets and scorers, 110 rackets,
1,100 balls.
Mongolia: a training camp was held in
Korea Republic from Wednesday 29th
January to Friday 28th February.
Nepal: a junior training camp was staged
from Sunday 22nd to Thursday 26th
December; the head coach was India’s
Anshul Garg.
Oman: Oman players participating in the
ITTF Premium World Junior Circuit tournament
in Muscat received new rubbers
Sri Lanka: staged from Friday 18th
October to Friday 1st November, the first
national project was organised in preparation
for the South Asia Games. Aleksey
Yefremov of Belarus was the head coach.
It was a similar reaction from Afshin
Badiee. “We have done a lot in the last
two decades to reduce the gap between
the east and other regions of Asia. We can
now proudly announce that we are getting
42
Players and coaches at the December training camp in Nepal

Aleksey Yefremov demonstrates at the training camp
in Sri Lanka
Bat rubber for players from Oman
Iran’s Mahshid Ashtari and Neda Shahsavari in Belarus
The Sri Lankan team at the South Asia training camp
Mario Genovese (far left) and (far right) Anshul Garg with members of the Bangladesh team
at the South Asia training camp
Players and coaches at the South Asia training camp staged in New Dehli
Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alshareif competed in the 2019 Oman Junior and Cadet
Open
43

First step
on ladder
Organised in Blegny in the Belgian
province of Liège on Saturday 19th and
Sunday 20th October, Portugal’s Tiago
Abiodun and Leana Hochart of France
emerged the respective winners of the
boys’ singles and girls’ singles events at
the 2019 Stiga Masters Minimes tournament.
The 14th edition, first held in 2006, the
tournament for players in the under 11
years of age category is now firmly established;
the formula providing a quite ideal
system for those with aspirations of climbing
the international ladder. The leading
14 players in each of the boys’ singles and
girls’ singles events at the preceding Euro
Mini Championships staged in Schiltigheim
are invited; in 2019, the tournament was
organised from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th
August.
Boys 2016 - winner Sergei Ryzhov (Russia), runner up Elian Zemmal (France) bronze medallists Vladislav Bannikov
(Russia) and Iulian Chirita (Romania)
Play is administered initially in a two
groups, seven players in each group,
followed by knock-out, thus each player
competes in eight or nine matches.
Notable names have emerged successful
over the years. Romania’s Bernadette
Szocs won the girls’ singles title in the
inaugural year; in 2018 she struck gold at
the CCB Europe Top 12 tournament. Also
colleagues, who are now most prominent
in national team selection, have enjoyed
success. In 2010 Andreea Dragoman and
Adina Diaconu finished as respective gold
and silver girls’ singles silver medallists;
one year later Andreea Dragoman retained
the title. Similarly, following in noteworthy
footsteps, Elena Zaharia, the recent
winner of the cadet girls’ singles title at the
2019 European Youth Championships,
won in 2015.
Boys 2006 - winner Enzo Angles (France) runner up Leonardo Mutti (Italy), bronze medallists Ivan Jardas (France)
and Daniel Dan (Romania)
Likewise, prominent boys from Romania
have reserved places on the podium. In
2000 Rares Sipos emerged the winner,
Cristian Pletea concluded play a semi-finalist.
Also, Sweden’s Truls Moregard and
Poland’s Anna Wegrzyn, crowned European
Youth champions in 2019, both enjoyed
success; Truls Moregard won the boys’
singles title in 2013, the previous year
Anna Wegrzyn was a girls’ singles bronze
medallist.
Names to note and more can be added.
The Czech Republic’s Simon Belik was
a boys’ singles semi-finalist in 2015, in
May 2019, he reached no.3 on the under
44
Girls 2006 - winner Bernadette Szocs (Romania), runner up Mateja Jeger (Croatia) bronze medallists Jana
Vlaskina (Russia) and Irina Ciobanu (Romania)

Felix Lebrun - 2017
15 boys’ world rankings. Regular faces
nowadays in men’s events on the international
stage, Frenchmen, Enzo Angles,
Can Akkuzu and Joe Seyfried in addition
to Poland’s Patryk Zatowka, Portugal’s
Diogo Chen and Denmark’s Anders Lind
are all previous boys’ singles winners, as
for the women are England’s Tin-Tin Ho
and Russia’s Mariia Tailakova.
A most successful tournament; behind
the scenes making things happen is Yves
Douin, (Secretary General of the French
Speaking Table Tennis Wing and President
of Liège Table Tennis) alongside Didier
Minguet. Isabelle Beumier is the regular
face in the role of referee.
Present in Schiltigheim at the 2019 Euro
Mini Championships, supporting proceedings,
was Sweden’s Jörgen Persson, the
1991 World champion and once a promising
junior; in 1980 in Poznan he won the
cadet boys’ singles title at the European
Youth Championships.
David Bessa - 2015
Tiago Abiodon - 2019
Elena Zaharia - 2015
Leana Hochart - 2019
Champions
Luca Oprea - 2018
2006 Boys: Enzo Angles (France)
2007 Boys: Diogo Chen (Portugal)
2008 Boys: Patryk Zatowka (Poland)
2009 Boys: Anders Lind (Denmark)
2010 Boys: Simon Soderlund (Sweden)
2011 Boys: Rares Sipos (Romania)
2012 Boys: Dorian Zheng (France)
2013 Boys: Truls Moregard (Sweden)
2014 Boys: Alexis Lebrun (France)
2015 Boys: David Bessa (Portugal)
2016 Boys: Sergei Ryzhov (Russia)
2017 Boys: Felix Lebrun (France)
2018 Boys: Luca Oprea (Romania)
2019 Boys: Tiago Abiodun (Portugal)
Girls: Bernadette Szocs (Romania)
Girls: Lea Rakovac (Croatia)
Girls: Bogdana Trifu (Romania)
Girls: Tin-Tin Ho (England)
Girls: Andreea Dragoman (Romania)
Girls: Andreea Dragoman (Romania)
Girls: Mariia Tailakova (Russia)
Girls: Chloe Chomis (France)
Girls: Elizabet Abraamian (Russia)
Girls: Elena Zaharia (Romania)
Girls: Charlotte Lutz (France)
Girls: Wiktoria Wrobel (Poland)
Girls: Bianca Mei-Rosu (Greece)
Girls: Leana Hochart (France)
45

Mysteries
by Chuck Hoey
Who doesn’t love a good mystery, a captivating
“whodunit”, or brilliant deductive
analysis by Sherlock Holmes or Hercule
Poirot to solve a crime? As the highly successful
game clue demonstrated – was it
Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory - we
all seem to have a natural curiosity if not a
certain joy for finding the truth underlying
a puzzling enigma.
Table tennis is no exception and over the
years I have faced many mysteries as
Founding Curator of the ITTF Museum,
particularly connected to the origins and
early years of our sport. Even our World
Championships have several interesting
mysteries. Perhaps the most well-known
concerns the famed Corbillon Cup for the
Women’s World Team Championship,
kindly donated to the ITTF in 1933 by
French legend Marcel Corbillon.
At the 1939 World Championships in Cairo,
the first Worlds held outside of Europe,
the ominous threats of war suppressed
participation. Only 11 men’s teams and
five women’s teams competed for the
prestigious titles. The strong German
women’s team, featuring Hilde Bussman
and 1937 World women’s singles champion,
Trude Pritzi, won the team title and
were presented the Corbillon Cup.
World War Two silenced ITTF activity but
when the World Championships resumed
in Paris in 1947, the Corbillon Cup was
reported missing, a victim of the chaos of
war. The current Corbillon Cup is a reproduction.
Will the original ever be discovered,
or was it melted down and sold for
survival? Hercule, please call me!
Another famous mystery involves the precious
cups and medals won by the great
ITTF Hall of Famer Richard Bergmann,
winner of four World men’s singles titles
between 1937 and 1950, as well as a host
of other titles.
Victor Barna wrote in a letter dated Friday
6th March 1970:
“Unfortunately, the news of Richard Bergmann
is very bad; there is not much time
left for him”. (Table Tennis History Journal
86)
He died a month later, on Sunday 5th
April 1970, in a London hospital, at only
age 50. Gone too soon.
Also gone was a suitcase full of his most
important cups and medals, which he
kept by his bedside throughout his fatal
illness. I always had hopes that this would
eventually resurface and be delivered to
46
the ITTF Museum for care in perpetuity –
a curator must be an optimist!
Sherlock Holmes stepped forward in the
form of a personal favourite in our sport,
the great historian Colin Clemett, author
of “From London to London” and longtime
Chair of the ITTF Rules Committee. Colin
wrote: “A former member of my old TT
club named Aubrey Hill went to visit Richard
when he was in hospital and agreed to
take care of a suitcase containing a lot of
material … He took the suitcase home …
and planned to write a biography of Richard.
But shortly afterwards Aubrey was
killed in a road accident and his brother
dumped the suitcase and its contents.”
A cruel fate but some good news: a few
years ago a distant relative of Richard
contacted me, offering a large box of his
cups and medals, including a few from
the World Championships and the English
Open. These, along with a few rackets,
his wonderful book, Twenty-One Up
(1950) and a large collection of his signed
or inscribed photos and publicity cards
give us something special to preserve his
amazing legacy.
A 1929 Swaything Cup medal after cleaning
Colin Clemett, a fountain of knowledge

More recently there was a mystery posed
by a metal detector enthusiast in the USA
state of Utah. While exploring an area in
northern Utah, he chanced upon an old
medal buried in the ground. After some
cleaning he noticed the words “Swaythling”
and “Budapest” and then “1929”.
He actually found a bronze medal from
the 1929 Swaythling Cup competition at
the World Championships in Budapest.
He contacted me and I became fascinated
with this discovery, especially puzzled
by how the medal ended up buried in
Utah. Yet another good mystery to solve!
The English team won the Swaythling
bronze in 1929, the team comprising Fred
Perry, Charles Bull, Adrian Haydon, Frank
Burls and Frank Wilde; each received a
bronze medal. The location of Fred Perry’s
medal is known (he also won gold in
the men’s singles), so whose medal was
buried in Utah?
Soon I found a report in the ITTF Archives
mentioning that Ivor Montagu was
in the USA for nine months during 1930.
He was escorting the Russian filmmaker
Sergei Eisenstein to Hollywood. The metal
detector enthusiast then found news of
Montagu speaking at a function in Salt
Lake City in 1930, an important clue. Ivor
was team captain in 1929, so the medal
was very likely his.
We will never know the exact circumstances
of how it ended up in the ground
in Utah but we know Montagu was there;
that’s enough for me to consider this
mystery solved.
Can our readers offer any further tantalizing
mysteries?
The Corbillon Cup Partnering Hilde Bussman, Trude Pritzi received the Corbillon Cup in 1937
47

Paul Davies retires
Proud to represent Great Britain
by Francesca Bullock, Press Officer British Para Table Tennis Team
Great Britain’s Paul Davies, who won
a memorable bronze medal in men’s
singles class 1 singles at the London 2012
Paralympic Games, announced his retirement
on Thursday 21st November. The 53
year old Welshman also won medals at
World and European level, including team
gold at the 2013 European Championships;
he represented ParalympicsGB in
Rio de Janeiro as well as London.
“The time is right now because I feel that
I’ve achieved everything I could achieve
in the sport,” said Davies. “I’ve got a lot
out of it and met a lot of people; I’ve won
medals all around the world and I feel it is
time to move on to the next chapter.”
Davies first played table tennis at school
and rediscovered the sport at the age of
30 when he started playing again as part
of his rehabilitation following a road traffic
accident that left him paralysed. An invitation
to a “Come and Try Day” gave him
the opportunity to try different sports; for
three years he played wheelchair rugby
until a shoulder injury led to him playing
table tennis again at the spinal injuries
club in Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff. He
was selected to play for Wales in a tournament
in Germany and a new career was
born. Originally self-funded through Wales
he has been part of the British Para Table
48
Tennis squad since 2008.
London 2012 was his Paralympic Games
debut where he nearly raised the roof of
the ExCel building; he recorded a dramatic
five games win against the Korea
Republic’s Lee Changho to clinch bronze.
“The buzz and excitement of London was
incredible,” he said at the time. “My match
was the last to finish and hearing 6,000
people shouting my name was incredible;
if only I could bottle that!”
That moment remains the highlight of his
illustrious career.
“Winning that bronze in the ExCel; that for
me was life-changing,” he said. “Not just
for me but the whole team because me
and Will (Bayley) both medalled, the girls
won a team medal and the boys as well
and I think that was the turning point for
British Para table tennis. We’d never won
so many medals in the Paralympic Games
until then and we did pretty well in Rio but
for me London was life changing.”
The following year Davies took silver at
the European Championships, losing in
the final to his great friend Rob Davies before
combining with his fellow Welshman
to win gold in the team event. He then
missed almost two years due to injury
but returned to compete in Rio, where although
he did not win a medal he revived
memories of London with a dramatic five
games win against the Brazilian Aloisio
Lima Junior in his second group match. At
10-5 down in the fifth and with the crowd
at fever pitch he looked to be heading
for defeat but with all his fighting spirit he
levelled at 10-10 and saved a further two
match points before clinching the match
14-12.
“I never thought I could have the same
feelings as I had in London but when I
had to play the Brazilian in Rio against the
Brazilian crowd that was loud, I came out
on top and I won that match but the Brazilian
crowd got on our side as well”, he
recalled. “That provided a lot of inspiration
and motivation for the team but it’s still
never going to be London. To have been
to a home Games and an away Games,
I’ve had a good time.”
Rob Davies has been a rival and team
mate as well as a close friend; the two
Welshmen have achieved great success
together as a team and in singles, including
an historic gold, silver and bronze in
the 2017 European Championships with
another Welshman Tom Matthews.
“I nurtured him (Rob) after his injury

and started showing him how to play the
game,” said Davies. “I think I showed him
too much because now he is on top which
is great. Rob has done really well and I
hope that Tom will come through as well
and be as successful as I have been. Under
the current management there is no
excuse. We have the best facility going,
the best coaching staff, the best performance
staff and it is all there; so grab it by
the scruff of the neck and just do it.”
Paul Davies at the 2019 Lignano Masters
“I’m going to miss the family we have
here (at the English Institute of Sport in
Sheffield) but I’m not going to miss getting
up at 6.00 am. I will miss the training because
I enjoy the training and I enjoy the
competitions. I’m 53 now, how many of
these lads in the hall are going to be here
at 53? I don’t think it will be many but I’ve
had a good time and I wouldn’t change
anything that has happened in the past.
Life is life and I’m moving on to the next
chapter now, happy days.”
High praise from Gorazd Vecko
Major titles
2013 European Championships;
silver men’s singles class 1
Major medals
2017 European Championships:
bronze men’s singles class 1
2017 World Team Championships:
bronze men’s team class 1
2013 European Championships:
silver men’s singles class 1
2012 Paralympic Games:
bronze men’s singles class 1
2011 European Championships:
silver men’s team class 1
International open tournament titles
2017 Bayreuth Open: men’s team class 1
2014 Slovakia Open: men’s team class 1
2014 Slovenian Open: men’s team class 1
2013 Slovakia Open: men’s team class 1
2013 Slovenian Open: men’s team class 1
2012 Slovakia Open: men’s team class 1
2011 Copa Tango IX: men’s singles class 1 &
men’s team class 1-2
1998 ISMWSF World Wheelchair
Games: men’s team class 1-2
1998 Irish Open: men’s team class 1-2
British team Performance Director
Gorazd Vecko acknowledged the part that
Davies has played in the success of the
British team over the past 10 years.
“Paul has made a huge contribution to
the team and when he took a medal in
London 2012 we were really proud because
it was a big success for us and an
amazing achievement for him. He has had
a wonderful career and it is good that he
is retiring when he is still competing at the
very top level, which he showed by beating
the World champion (Kim Hyeonuk)
in the Czech Open this year. Bronze in
London is the best result that he had but
in 2017 at the Europeans in Slovenia we
had the one, two, three in men’s class 1
and Paul had bronze. It was a big success
for us and he will always remember the
day when it was three British players on
the podium.”
“He is a great person and I have really
enjoyed working with him. He was always
nice and really important for the younger
players as he was helping them with a lot
of good and positive advice. I wish him all
the best in his personal life and whatever
he decides to do next. We will look to try
and keep him in Para table tennis in Britain
because to lose a player with so much
experience would be wrong so we hope to
find a role for him in the future.”
Davies epitomised the fighting spirit that
has become the hallmark of the British
team under Vecko but would like to be remembered
for his sportsmanship as much
as his never-say-die performances.
“If I could sum up in one word how I
would like to be remembered as a table
tennis player, it would be fair,” he said. “Be
fair on the table, be fair to your opponents
and have fair play. Thank you and goodnight.”
49

We remember
A generation
remembered
Born in the English city of Leicester on
Sunday 22nd February but resident in
Brussels, Mavis van Gelder passed away
on Tuesday 24th December; she was 94
years old.
In 1946 she married Louis van Gelder, a
pilot in the Royal Air Force; they lived in
the Netherlands before in 1948 moving to
Brussels. Mavis joined Panthéon Bruxelles
of which Louis, who died several years
ago, was a member; thus the table tennis
career began.
Notably she gained a top ten place in the
Belgian ranking, a position she occupied
for 20 years; she topped the list in the
1959-1960 season. She gained national
selection on 17 occasions, competing in
four World Championships; she played in
Utrecht (1955), Dortmund (1959), Munich
(1969) and Sarajevo (1973). Additionally
she was present at the 1968 European
Championships in Lyon.
Domestically, she partnered Claudine
Collignon to women’s doubles success
at the National Championships in 1958
and won eight club titles with Panthéon
Bruxelles.
Later she competed in the World Veteran
and European Veteran Championships; in
the latter in 2005 in Bratislava she won the
women’s singles 80 year title and on many
occasions gained a women’s doubles podium
finish partnering Andrée Crevecoeur.
Memorably, in the first round of the mixed
doubles event at the 1959 World Championships
Louis and Mavis faced the
Japanese pair of Ichiro Ogimura and Fujie
Eguchi; Mavis was always proud to relate
that her backspin play caused the champions
elect problems!
Always smiling, alongside Mips Van
Kampen, they represented the very best of
sporting values. Always Louis and Mavis
were ready to play when needed, a fact
appreciated by Pierre Juliens, the coach
at Logis Auderghem, the club where they
celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary;
an event to which friends travelled from far
and wide.
Sadly from the era of the 1950s, Mavis
van Gelder is one of several notable
female players who have recently passed
away. Mips Van Kampen died in August
2019; also in recent times Jill Mills.
In women’s team events, competing
under her maiden name, Jill Rook, lining
up alongside Diane Rowe and Ann
Haydon, she won silver at the 1956 World
50
Wednesday 26th March 1952, Jill Rook at the time from Merton Park, Surrey at the English Open staged in the
Wembley Arena
Championships in Tokyo, before in 1958
in Budapest at the first ever European
Championships, securing gold. Later in
1960 and in 1962, she partnered Diane
Rowe to women’s doubles success at the
English National Championships.
Diane Rowe is of course Diane Schöler,
the Honorary President of the Swaythling
Club International; Ann Haydon turned her
attentions to tennis. She married Philip
“Pip” Jones in 1962, notably winning
three Grand Slam women’s tennis titles;
she won at the French Open in 1961 and
1966, Wimbledon in 1969.
Similar to Ann Haydon, Jill Rook turned
her attentions to tennis; between 1955
and 1965 she competed at Wimbledon
but without hitting the headlines. However
in 1960 she did make news, she married
Alan Mills, the Referee at the Wimbledon
Tennis Championships from 1982 to 2005;
always famous for holding his two-way radio
in front of millions of television viewers,
looking at the clouds, to decide if rain was
to curtail play.
A celebrated official but also he was a
most accomplished tennis player. He was
the first man in the history of the Davis
Cup to win a match without conceding a
game (6–0, 6–0, 6–0); also he was the
first Englishman to defeat Rod Laver when
the Australian came to Britain.
All are contemporaries of Diane Schöler,
who with twin sister Rosalind played at the
West Ealing Club in London, a member
of the club was Dot Ellis who also sadly
passed away on Wednesday 1st January.
She never reached the heights of the
illustrious twin sisters and never played
for England but between 1949 and 1952
was a member of the successful Rose
Bowl winning team, a national women’s
team competition of stature between local
leagues.

Bernard Chatton, Swiss
stalwart
A stalwart of the Swiss national team,
representing his country in World and European
Championships, Bernard Chatton
died suddenly on Friday 20th September.
He was 69 years old.
Born on Friday 14th April 1950, alongside
Mario Mariotti and Marcel Grimm, Bernard
Chatton was undeniably one of the best
Swiss players of the 1970s.
Mavis van Gelder, backspin her forte
He became national junior champion in
1966; commencing in 1970 on four occasions
he was a member of the Elite Berne
team that won the Swiss Championships,
later in 1976 he succeeded with Rapid
Geneva. Additionally, he partnered Marcel
Grimm to three men’s doubles titles at the
National Championships. Also, in 1976
he progressed to the men’s singles final,
losing to Mario Mariotti.
However, his talents were not just directed
towards table tennis. He was an exceptionally
gifted ball player, one of the best
tennis players of his age, a single figure
handicap golfer and an ice hockey exponent
of note playing in National Championship
competitions.
Apology: in issue no.107, October 2019,
the name of Mario Mariotti who passed
away on Wednesday 3rd April, was misspelt;
apologies for the error.
Saturday 17th March 1951 in the Lower Hall at the White Rock Pavilion in Hastings, Rose Bowl winners, West
London, Rosalind Rowe, Dorothy Ellis, and Diane Rowe
Brian Lamerton, highly
respected official
Following a long illness, England’s Brian
Lamerton passed away on Saturday 11th
January.
A highly respected International Umpire,
National Councillor, he was President of
Hampshire Table Tennis Association; most
courteous, a man of the highest integrity,
he was a gentleman in the very best
meaning of the word.
Most notably, for many years he was
the Press Officer for the Women’s British
League and a most valued member of the
presentation team at the Manchester 2002
Commonwealth Games, the first time table
tennis was included in the quadrennial
multi-sport event.
Peter Jensen, ITTF Media
Manager
England’s women’s team at the Stockholm 1957 World Championships. Joyce Fielder, Ann Haydon, Tommy Sears
(non-playing captain), Diane Rowe and Jill Rook
The first ITTF Media Manager, in position
from 1997 to 2004, Peter Jensen died on
Wednesday 27th November; he suffered
from prostate cancer.
51

Xi Enting, stoic character
Xi Enting, the 1973 World champion
Winner of the men’s singles title at the
1973 World Championships in Sarajevo,
China’s Xi Enting passed away on Sunday
27th October; he was 73 years old. A memorial
service attended by members of the
Chinese national team was held in Beijing
on Saturday 2nd November.
Born on Tuesday 3rd January 1946 in
Tangshan, Hebei Province, he joined the
Chinese national team when 19 years
old. Right handed, adopting the traditional
pen-hold grip style of play, short pimpled
rubber using one side of the racket only,
physically Xi Enting was different to his
contemporaries, he was tall and strong.
He made his debut at the World Championships
in 1971 being a member of the
successful gold medal winning outfit in the
men’s team event alongside Li Furong,
Li Jingguang, Liang Geliang and Zhuang
Zedong. He reached the semi-finals of the
men’s singles event losing to Sweden’s
champion elect, Stellan Bengtsson (21-19,
21-19, 21-19).
Two years later in Sarajevo, Xi Enting was
once again on duty but in the men’s team
event he played in just one fixture; in the
men’s singles it was a different story.
He progressed to the later rounds where
he beat the Soviet Union’s Stanislav Gomozkov
(21-16, 23-21, 21-14) before overcoming
Czechoslovakia’s Milan Orlowski
(21-18, 21-15, 16-21, 21-15) and Yugoslavia’s
Anton Stipancic (21-19, 21-19, 12-21,
20-22, 21-19) to reach the final. A close
call against Anton Stipancic, arguably it
was even closer in the title decider when
facing Sweden’s Kjell Johansson. A return
from Xi Enting clipped the edge of the table
to bring matters to a conclusion (21-18,
13-21, 13-21, 21-19, 21-18).
Was it destiny or did he have a little help?
On his left arm he had tattooed sayings
by great Chinese philosophers; he would
glance at the arm for inspiration.
Success at the World Championships,
52
in addition at the Asian Championships,
in 1972 in Beijing he was a men’s singles
and men’s team silver medallist as well as
a men’s doubles bronze medallist partnering
Liang Geliang. Two years later in
Yokohama it was the same in the men’s
singles and with Xu Shaofa in the men’s
doubles. However, in the men’s team the
colour was gold.
One can only wonder had there not been
what amounted to a six year absence from
the international scene from 1965 to 1971,
the era of the Cultural Revolution, would
the medal collection enjoyed by Xi Enting
have been much greater?
Playing days over, Xi Enting turned his
hand to coaching; in addition to his native
China, countries such as France, Italy,
Mexico and Slovenia benefitted from his
knowledge.
He married Lin Meiqin, silver medallist in
three consecutive World Championships.
She was the runner up in the women’s
team event at the 1971 World Championships
alongside Li Li, Lin Huiqin and
Zheng Minzhu; later in the women’s doubles
in 1973 when partnering Qiu Baoqin
and in 1975 in harness with Zhu Xiangyun.
He died as a result of a thoracic aortic
rupture.
Oscar Kraus, knowledge
respected
Oscar (Zeev) Kraus passed away on
Monday 16th December.
Born in Budapest in 1936 only a few hundred
metres from what is now the memorial
known as Shoes on the Danube Bank,
erected in 2005 to honour Jews who were
killed in the city during World War Two, he
played table tennis for VAD Budapest and
for BWSC Budapest. In 1956 he fled from
Hungary to Vienna, later moving to Israel
where he played for Maccabi Haifa in the
Israeli first division.
A familiar face at ITTF Annual General
Meetings, later he coached the Israeli
national teams, conducted courses at the
Wingate Institute and received the outstanding
achievement award.
He is survived by his wife, a son and
daughter.
Han Sangkook, a brilliant mind
Han Sangkook passed away on Friday
20th March; born in 1936, he was 83 years
old.
A university education in the United
States, he spoke fluent English; he was a
teacher by profession at a private school
which had been established by his grandfather.
In 1976 he assumed his first role in
officialdom, President of the Republic of
Korea Student Association; four years later
in 1980 he was elected Vice President of
the Korea Table Tennis Association. Efforts
most appreciated, in 1988 he became Vice
President of the Asian Table Tennis Union,
before in 1995 accepting the position of
Chair of the ITTF Standing Orders Committee.
It was a role he fulfilled until 2000 when
at the Annual General Meeting in Kuala
Lumpur, he was appointed to the ITTF
Executive Committee as Vice President
(Finance), his contribution appreciated
by Adham Sharara, ITTF President at the
time. He described Han Sangkook as a
man with a “brilliant mind”. He fulfilled the
role until retiring in 2005.
Thoroughly reliable, a man of the highest
integrity, his contribution to the sport
of table tennis, always in a most positive
manner, was highly respected; none
more so than by Ryu Seungmin, Athens
2004 Olympic Games gold medallist and
now President of the Korea Table Tennis
Association.
“Mr Han was a respected figure within the
Korean Table Tennis community, he contributed
enormously to the development of
the sport in Korea”, said Ryu Seungmin.
“On behalf of the entire table tennis family
in Korea, I express my deepest
condolences.”

Notably, Han Sangkook enjoyed singing in
his local church choir, being part of a community
whether in the table tennis world or
in a different sphere was to him important.
True to his character he close links with
Nils-Erik Sandberg at the Ängby Club in
Sweden.
“Together we also organised a great number
of Korean players to come to Ängby
for education, practice and matches,”
said Nils-Erik Sandberg. “Players like Kim
Taeksoo, Yoo Namkyu, Ahn Jaehyun as
well as Hong Soonhwa and Hong Chaok
all benefitted from their training sessions in
Ängby; our Korea friendship, created with
Mr Han as leader, we all remember in our
hearts. They will stay forever.”
Derek achieved a career best number six spot on the English men’s rankings and
notably reached the third round of the men’s singles event at the London 1966 European
Championships. Later, in 1969, he was the non-playing captain of the England team for
internationals against Scotland and West Germany.
He became a Vice-President of the English Table Tennis Association, now known as Table
Tennis England; an honorary life member of VETTS in 1998, before in 2017 receiving
the Mike Watts Memorial Trophy for services to the table tennis.
Ronald “Ronnie” Allcock
An outstanding servant for the sport of
table tennis, sadly missed, always remembered
Derek Schofield, VETTS
founder member
Founder member, the Chair from 1984 to
1988, immediately following until 2018, the
President of the Veteran’s English Table
Tennis Society (VETTS), Derek Schofield
passed away on Sunday 26th January. He
was 90 years old.
A familiar face at World Veteran Championships,
partnering Matt Sheader, the duo
won the men’s doubles over 50 years title
in 1984 in Helsinki, before enjoying over
60 years success in 1992 in Dublin and
in 1994 in Melbourne. In addition in 1995,
they repeated the success in the over 60
category in Vienna at the European Veteran
Championships.
Saturday 10th November 1949, England versus Ireland, Johnny Leach, Peggy Franks, Ron Crayden, Molly
Jones, Ronnie Allcock, Wally Poole
Born in Moston, Manchester on Tuesday 16th April 1929, Ronnie Allcock passed away
on Friday 20th March.
He started to play table tennis when 15 years old at Manchester YMCA, a hotbed for the
sport. In fact he was selected for England, Lancashire and Manchester before he gained
a place in the YMCA first team!
After completing National Service, he made his England debut on Saturday 10th
November 1949 against Ireland in Belfast, remaining unbeaten in an 8-1 victory; his
swansong was in 1958 in London when a 7-3 defeat was the order of the day in opposition
to Yugoslavia. Later at the 1956 English Open, he was a mixed doubles semi-finalist
partnering Adele Wood (later Adele Pettifer) and a men’s doubles quarter-finalist with
Cliff Booth.
Nationally, amongst many achievements at open tournaments, in 1956, 1958 and 1959,
he proved a valued member of the Manchester Wilmott Cup winning team (a competition
between local leagues). Also in 1958, following the Munich air crash, he was a participant
in a benefit match for Manchester United Air Disaster Fund.
Meanwhile, in addition to playing, he was a coach in the summer holidays at the Butlin’s
Holiday Camp in Filey; it is where in 1956 he met he future wife, Tina, she was a Redcoat
working as a dancer.
Derek Schofield, in 1969 England’s non playing captain
1954-55, Ron Allcock with Diane Rowe, Rosalind Rowe and Ken Stanley
53

Hitting the headlines
October: 2019 ITTF World Tour Swedish
Open, Stockholm
Wang Chuqin, 19 years old, beat Lin
Gaoyuan to secure his first ITTF World
Tour men’s singles title; Chen Meng overcame
Japan’s Mima Ito to win the women’s
singles. China completed a clean sweep,
the men’s doubles was won by Fan Zhendong
and Xu Xin, the women’s by Chen
Meng and Ding Ning, the mixed finished in
the hands of Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen.
October: 2019 ITTF North American
Team Qualification, Rockford
The United States beat Canada in both
men’s team and women’s team fixtures to
secure places in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games; Kanak Jha, Nikhil Kumar and
Zhou Xin formed the men’s trio; Liu Juan,
Wu Yue and Lily Zhang, the women’s
outfit.
October: ITTF Para Finland Open 2019,
Pajulahti
Germany’s Thomas Brüchle, Turkey’s
Abdullah Ozturk and Sweden’s Nicklas
Westerberg alongside Ukraine’s Viktor
Didukh emerged successful in the men’s
singles and men’s team events. Likewise,
there was women’s singles and women’s
team gold for Russia’s Maliak Alieva and
Victoriya Safonova in addition to Chinese
Taipei’s Tian Shiau.
United States men’s team
Wang Chuqin
October: 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit
Slovenia Junior and Cadet Open, Otocec
Slovakia’s Adam Klajber and Hong Kong’s
Poon Yat won the respective junior boys’
singles and junior girls’ singles titles.
October: 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit
North Macedonia Junior and Cadet
Open
Romania’s Andrei Istrate experienced
mixed fortunes. He won the junior boys’
singles event but in the cadet boys’ singles
he had to settle for runners up spot. He
was beaten by colleague Paul Szilagyi.
The junior girls’ singles winner was Serbia’s
Radmila Tominjak.
Abdullah Ozturk
October: 2019 INAS Global Games,
Brisbane
Australia’s Samuel Von Einem and
Russia’s Elena Prokofeva emerged the
respective men’s singles and women’s
singles winners in the table tennis events.
Adam Klajber
October: 2019 European Youth Top 10,
Noordwijk
Romania enjoyed success. Tania Plaian
finished in first place in the junior girls’
event; Darius Movileanu won the cadet
boys’ singles, Elena Zaharia emerged the
cadet girls’ singles champion. The only title
to elude Romania came in the junior boys’
singles; Germany’s Kay Stumper struck
gold.
Tania Plaian
54
Andrei Istrate
October: 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum
German Open, Bremen
Fan Zhendong won the men’s singles, his
first such title since the previous October
when he had prevailed in Sweden.
He beat colleague Xu Xin in the final.
Sun Yingsha partnered Xu Xin to mixed
doubles success, before overcoming Mima
Ito to secure women’s singles gold. The
men’s doubles was won by Xu Xin and
Liang Jingkun, the women’s doubles by
Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee and Yang
Haeun.
Elena Prokofeva
Fan Zhendong

October: 2019 ITTF Challenge Polish
Open, Wladyslawowo
China’s Xu Xingbin, 18 years old, won his
first men’s singles title at an open international
championships. Equally impressive
was colleague, Chen Yi, 15 years of age;
she reached the women’s singles final
losing to He Zhuojia. Argentina’s Gaston
Alto and Horacio Cifuentes won their first
ever men’s doubles title as a pair. Japan’s
Honoka Hashimoto and Maki Shiomi were
crowned women’s doubles champions.
Xu Yingbin
October: 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit
Egypt Junior and Cadet Open, Sharm
El-Sheikh
Marwan Abdelwahab and Hana Goda flew
the flag for the host nation. Marwan Abdelwahab
won the junior boys’ singles event,
Hana Goda concluded play the cadet girls’
singles winner. Chinese Taipei’s Tsai Yu-
Chin claimed junior girls’ singles gold.
October: 2019 ITTF World Cadet Challenge,
Wladyslawowo
Asia won the boys’ team title; the girls’
team top prize finished in the hands of
Europe. Romania’s Darius Movileanu
claimed boys’ singles gold; Japan’s Kaho
Akae secured the girls’ singles crown and
the girls’ doubles in partnership with Korea
Republic’s Lee Yeonhui. Sora Matsushima
partnered Navid Shams to boys’ doubles
gold, the mixed was won by Singapore’s
Izaac Quek Yong and Romania’s Elena
Zaharia.
Kaho Akae
October: 2019 ITTF World Junior Circuit
Premium Oman Junior and Cadet Open,
Muscat
Chinese Taipei emerged dominant. Tai
Ming-Wei won the junior boys’ singles
event; Cai Fong-En emerged the junior
girls’ singles winner.
October: ITTF Para China Open 2019,
Hangzhou
Host nation gold medallists at the Rio
2016 Paralympic Games were in form.
Feng Panfeng enjoyed success in both
the men’s singles and men’s team events,
as did colleagues Xue Juan and Zhang
Bian in the women’s competition. Likewise,
Japan’s Koya Kato secured the top prize in
both men’s disciplines.
October: 2019 Latin America Team
Qualification, Lima
Organised on a group basis, Brazil won
both men’s and women’s team titles, thus
booking their place in the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games. Throughout the men’s
team comprised Hugo Calderano, Vitor
Ishiy and Gustavo Tsuboi; for the women it
was Caroline Kumahara, Bruna Takahashi
and Jessica Yamada.
Brazil women’s team
October / November: 2019 ITTF World
Junior Circuit Slovak Junior and Cadet
Open, Nitra
Marwan Abdelwahab
October: 2019 ITTF World Veteran Tour,
Fort Lauderdale
The Czech Republic’s Peter Wasik won
the “Champion of Champions” men’s
singles title; Lily Yip from the United States
prevailed in the counterpart women’s
event. Earlier Peter Wasik had emerged
successful in the 40-49 years class, Lily
Yip in 50-59 years
October: Uncle Pop 2019 ITTF Women’s
World Cup, Chengdu
Tai Ming-Wei
Japan’s Seo Goto and England’s Charlotte
Bardsley won the respective junior boys’
singles and junior girls’ singles titles, their
first ever such successes at an ITTF World
Junior Circuit tournament.
China’s Liu Shiwen overcame colleague
Zhu Yuling to secure the title for a record
fifth time. Star of the show was Lily Zhang;
she became the first ever player from the
United States to reach the semi-final stage
in a tournament that dates back to 1996.
Liu Shiwen
Charlotte Bardsley
55

November: ITTF Para Dutch Open 2019,
Stadskanaal
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games gold medallists
enjoyed success. Poland’s Natalia
Partyka and Kelly van Zon of the Netherlands
secured women’s singles titles as
did China’s Zhang Bian and Mao Jingdian.
Similarly, in the men’s singles competition,
there were titles for Turkey’s Abdullah
Ozturk, Denmark’s Peter Rosenmeier,
Belgium’s Florian Van Acker in addition to
China’s Feng Panfeng and Zhao Shuai.
Natalia Partyka
November: ZEN-NOH 2019 ITTF Team
World Cup
Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun and Xu Xin
combined to beat Korea Republic’s Jang
Woojin, Jeoung Youngsik and Lee Sangsu
to win the men’s event. Chen Meng,
Liu Shiwen and Sun Yingsha overcame
Japan’s Miu Hirano, Mima Ito and Kasumi
Ishikawa to secure the women’s title. It
was for China the 10th time they had won
the men’s title, the 11th occasion for the
women.
November: 2019 ITTF World Veteran
Tour, Doha
Denmark enjoyed success. In the 40 years
age class Pia Toelhoj donned the women’s
singles crown; in 50 years it was gold for
Henrik Vendelbo.
November: 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum,
bet-at-home.com Austrian Open
Linz
Fan Zhendong repeated his Bremen success
by overcoming colleague Zhao Zihao
to claim men’s singles gold. Liang Jingkun
and Lin Gaoyuan added to Chinese success;
they emerged men’s doubles champions.
Japan struck gold, three times the
runner up earlier in the year; Mima Ito beat
Zhu Yuling to win the women’s singles
title. Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki won
the women’s doubles event; Tomakazu
Harimoto and Hina Hayata prevailed in the
mixed doubles.
Mima Ito
November: 2019 ITTF Challenge Indonesia
Open, Batam
November: 2019 ITTF World Junior
Circuit Portugal Junior and Cadet Open,
Guimarães
Egypt’s Hana Goda enjoyed an outstanding
tournament; she won the junior girls’
singles and cadet girls’ singles titles in
addition to partnering Farida Badawy to
junior girls’ team and junior girls’ doubles
gold. Ivor Ban won the junior boys’ singles
event.
Liang Jingkun
November: 2019 ITTF World Junior
Circuit Premium Hungarian Junior and
Cadet Open, Szombathely
China proved dominant. Quan Kaiyuan
beat Zeng Beixun to win the junior boys’
singles title, Wang Tianyi overcame Li
Yake to emerge the junior girls’ singles
champion.
A first ever title at an open international
tournament for Senegal. Ibrahima Diaw
partnered Thailand’s Padasak Tanviriyavechakul
to men’s doubles gold.
Portugal’s Shao Jieni emerged the most
successful player; she beat Thailand’s
Suthasini Sawettabut to secure the women’s
singles top prize, after in the women’s
doubles having partnered colleague Luo
Xue to victory. Harmeet Desai accounted
for Amalraj Anthony in an all Indian men’s
singles final.
Hana Goda
November: ITTF Para Copa Tango Open
2019 Buenos Aires
Gold for the host nation, Elias Romero
enjoyed men’s singles success; Chile’s
Luis Bustamente was the most successful
of all, winning men’s singles and men’s
team titles. Malaysia’s Chee Chao Ming
finished in first place in the junior boys’
singles event.
Wang Tianyi
56
Ibrahima Diaw
Elias Romero

November: 2019 Connect Regional
Balkan League, Pristina
Kosovo staged the Connect Regional
Balkan League and enjoyed success,
Kreshnik Mahmuti and Fatih Karabaxhaku
won the junior boys’ team event; the
junior girls’ team title was secured by North
Macedonia’s Ana Stojanovska and Bojana
Mihajlovska.
November / December: Chengdu Airlines
2019 Men’s World Cup, Chengdu
Fan Zhendong retained his title and in
so doing won for the third time. He beat
Tomokazu Harimoto in the final. Lin Yun-
Ju, on debut, accounted for Ma Long to
secure third place.
December: 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus
Benemax-Virgo North American Open,
Markham
China’s Xiang Peng won his first men’s
singles title at an open international tournament;
Kasumi Ishikawa claimed women’s
singles gold; the success came soon
after Honoka Hashimoto and Hitomi Sato,
also from Japan, had won the women’s
doubles event. Slovenia’s Lubomir Pistej
and Barbora Balazova prevailed in the
mixed doubles.
A welcome guest in Prishtina was Ronald Kramer,
President of the European Table Tennis Union.
November: T2 Diamond, Singapore
Xu Xin beat Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun-Ju
to win the men’s title, third place finished
in the hands of Tomokazu Harimoto. Sun
Yingsha overcame Mima Ito to claim the
women’s top prize, Wang Manyu ended
play in the bronze medal position.
November: 2019 African Central Region
Championships, Brazzaville
Congo Democratic’s Gedeon Kassa and
Flavia Kimbu emerged the respective
men’s singles and women’s singles champions.
November / December: NSDF 2019 ITTF
World Junior Table Tennis Championships,
Korat
China won both the boys’ team and girls’
team titles. In addition, Xiang Peng beat
Sweden’s Truls Moregard to be crowned
boys’ singles champion, Liu Yebo and Xu
Yingbin clinched the boys’ doubles title.
Success for Japan, Miyu Nagasaki accounted
for 14 year old compatriot, Haruna
Ojio to secure the girls’ singles crown;
earlier she had partnered Miyuu Kihara to
girls’ doubles gold. Yukiya Uda and Miyuu
Kihara added to Japanese success; they
won the mixed doubles.
Miyu Nagasaki
Lin Yun-Ju
November / December: 13th South
Asian Games, Kathmandu
India completed a clean sweep of titles,
Amalraj Anthony and Sutirtha Mukherjee
won the respective men’s singles and
women’s singles events.
The women’s team podium
December: December: 2019 30th South
East Asian Games, Olongapo
Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen and
Lin Ye won the respective men’s singles
and women’s singles events. Vietnam’s
Doan Ba Tuan Anh and Nguyen Anh Tu
emerged the men’s doubles winners,
Thailand’s Orawan Paranang and Suthasini
Sawettabut secured women’s doubles
gold.
Pang Yew En Koen
Kasumi Ishikawa
December: 2019 ITTF Oceania Team
Qualification, Mornington
Titles for Australia, places in the men’s and
women’s team events at the Tokyo 2020
Olympic Games were secured. The men
selected from Xavier Dixon, Heming Hu,
Kane Townsend, David Powell and Yan
Xin; for the women the line-up read Michelle
Bromley, Jian Fang Lay and Melissa
Tapper.
Kane Townsend
December: 2019 Southern Africa Regional
Championships, Lesotho
South Africa’s Shane Overmeyer and
Mushfiguh Kalam won the respective
men’s singles and women’s singles titles.
Six countries participated: Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia, Malawi, South Africa and
Zimbabwe.
December: December: ITTF Para Copa
Costa Rica Open 2019, San José
Spain’s José Miguel Ruiz secured gold in
both the men’s singles and men’s team
events; it was the same for Sweden’s
Anna-Carin Ahlqvist in the women’s competition.
57

December: Agricultural Bank of China
2019 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals,
Zhengzhou
Chinese success, Fan Zhendong won the men’s
singles title beating Ma Long in the final after
partnering Xu Xin to men’s doubles success.
Chen Meng overcame Wang Manyu to win
the women’s singles event. Notably, Japanese
teenagers Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki
stole the show; after accounting for reigning
world champions, Sun Yingsha and Wang
Manyu, they beat Jeon Jihee and Yang Haeun
to emerge women’s doubles champions.
Places for the semi-finalists in the mixed doubles
event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
were reserved. Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen beat Lin
Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, prior to securing the
title at the expense of Jun Mizutani and Mima
Ito; in the penultimate round Jun Mizutani and
Mima Ito had overcome Hong Kong’s Wong
Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem.
December: 2019 United States Open,
Fort Worth
Lily Zhang delighted the home supporters
by winning the women’s singles event.
Japan’s Kentaro Muchi secured the men’s
singles title.
Lily Zhang
December: 2019 Valuejet Para Open,
Lagos
Gold medallist at the Sydney 2000
Paralympic Games, Tajudeen Agunbiade
was very much the player to catch the eye
as Nigeria completed a clean sweep.
December: 2019 ITTF Africa Eastern
Region Singles Cup
Kenya’s Brian Mutua and Ethiopia’s Marta
Meshesha won the respective men’s
singles and women’s singles titles at the
inaugural event staged at the Pope Paul
Memorial Centre.
Chen Meng
December: 2019 ITTF World Veteran
Tour, Cardiff
The host nation’s Ryan Jenkins and Denmark’s
Pia Toelhoj secured the respective
men’s singles and women’s singles
“Champion of Champions” titles. Earlier
Ryan Jenkins had won men’s singles 40
years; Pia Toelhoj had gained the top prize
in women’s singles 50 years.
Tajudeen Agunbiade
January: 2020 Marvellous 12, Shenzhen
Brian Mutua
Fan Zhendong won the men’s singles title, Zhu Yuling the women’s, Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen
secured mixed doubles gold
December: 2019 Brazilian National
Championships
A record entry, over 1,000 players competed
in São Paulo, Vitor Ishiy won the men’s
singles title; Jessica Yamada was crowned
women’s singles champion.
Vitor Ishiy
58
Zhu Yuling and Li Sun (head coach Chinese women’s team)

January: 2020 Sri Lanka National Championships
A total of 448 players competed in the junior championships; Senura Silva and Bimandee
Bandara were named the respective boys and girls outstanding players. Later at senior
champions Udaya Ransinghe won the men’s singles, Hansani Piumila Kapugeekiyana
emerged the women’s singles winner.
January / February: 2020 ITTF World
Tour Platinum German Open, Magdeburg
Xu Xin secured two titles; he won the
men’s singles, after earlier partnering
Liu Shiwen to mixed doubles success.
Likewise Chen Meng secured the women’s
singles title, following women’s doubles
success in harness with Wang Manyu. Not
seeded, Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong
and Jang Woojin emerged surprise men’s
doubles winners.
Medallists and officials at the Sri Lanka Junior Championships
January: 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification
Tournament, Gondomar
Nine places at stake in each of the men’s
team and women’s team events at the
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the surprise
qualifiers were Serbia represented by
Marco Jevtovic, Dimitrije Levajac and Zsolt
Peto. They commenced play the no.27
seeds.
Qualifiers – men: Chinese Taipei, Croatia,
France, Hong Kong China, Korea Republic,
Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden
Qualifiers – women: Austria, Chinese
Taipei, DPR Korea, Hong Kong China,
Hungary, Korea Republic, Poland, Romania,
Singapore .
January: ITTF Para Chile Open 2020,
Santiago
The host nation’s Luis Bustamente Flores,
Belgium’s Marc Ledoux and Spain’s José
Manuel Ruiz emerged the most successful
players; they won gold in both the men’s
singles and men’s team events. Frenchman
Stéphane Messi caused the biggest
upset; not seeded he won men’s singles
class 7
Cho Daeseong and Jang Woojin
February: ITTF Para Egypt Open 2020,
Alexandria
India’s Bhavina Patel struck gold in both
the women’s singles and women’s team
events; likewise for the men, it was individual
and team gold for Thailand’s Anurak
Laowong and Rungroj Thainiyom as well
as for Hungary’s Peter Palos.
February: 2020 ITTF Challenge Spanish
Open, Granada
Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko won the
men’s singles event beating Germany’s
Benedikt Duda in the final; it was for both
players their first ever appearance in such
a final. Japan’s Honoka Hashimoto secured
the women’s singles title, colleagues
Satsuki Odo and Saki Shibata emerged
the women’s doubles winners. Iran’s Nima
Alamian and Noshad Alamiyan won men’s
doubles gold.
Dimitrije Levajac
José Manuel Ruiz
Kirill Gerassimenko
59

February: Universal 2020 ITTF Pan
America Cup, Guaynabo
Brazil’s Hugo Calderano and Puerto Rico’s
Adriana Diaz retained their respective
men’s and women’s titles.
February: 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus
Portugal Open, Lisbon
Germany’s Qiu Dang won his career first
men’s singles title at an open international
tournament; Kasumi Ishikawa emerged the
women’s singles winner. Colleagues Saki
Shibata and Satsuki Odo claimed their
seventh ITTF Challenge Series women’s
doubles title. The host nation’s Diogo
Carvalho and João Geraldo won the men’s
doubles. Emmanuel Lebesson and Yuan
Jia Nan became the first French pair to win
a mixed doubles title on either the ITTF
World Tour or at an ITTF Challenge Series
tournament.
February: 2020 Safir International, ITTF
World Junior Circuit Swedish Junior
and Cadet Open, Örebro
Once again Miwa Harimoto shone, she
won the under 21 women’s singles and
cadet girls’ singles events. Ireland’s Owen
Cathcart claimed junior boys’ singles gold,
the counterpart junior girls’ singles event
was won by Prithika Pavade.
Owen Cathcart
Hugo Calderano
February: CCB 2020 ITTF Europe Top
16 Cup, Montreux
Germany’s Timo Boll won the men’s title
for a seventh time and thus matched the
record of Sweden Jan-Ove Waldner who
had achieved the same number of wins
between 1984 in Bratislava and 1996 in
Charleroi. Also from Germany, Petrissa
Solja retained the women’s singles crown.
Qiu Dang
February: 2020 ITTF World Junior
Circuit Czech Junior and Cadet Open,
Hodonin
Poland’s Samuel Kulczycki retained his
junior boys’ singles title. Miwa Harimoto,
only 11 years old, the younger sister of
Tomokazu, won the junior girls’ singles,
cadet girls’ singles and with Sachi Aoki,
the cadet girls’ doubles event.
February: 2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian
Open, Budapest
Japan enjoyed success, Tomokazu Harimoto
won the men’s singles title overcoming
Yukiya Uda in the final; Mima Ito
accounted for Cheng I-Ching to emerge
the women’s singles champion. Kasumi
Ishikawa and Miu Hirano claimed women’s
doubles gold. Germany’s Benedikt Duda
and Patrick Franziska won the men’s
doubles. Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting
and Doo Hoi Kem claimed their third ITTF
World Tour career mixed doubles crown.
February: ITTF Para Polish Open 2020,
Wladyslwowo
Ireland’s Colin Judge alongside the French
pairing of Alexandre Delarque and Nicolas
Savant-Aira struck gold in both the men’s
singles and men’s team events; Turkey’s
Neslihan Kavas and Merve Demir, in
addition to Germany’s Julianne Wolf, did
likewise in the women’s competitions
February: 2020 ITTF Africa Top 16 Cup,
Tunis
Egypt’s Ahmed Ali Saleh and Dina Meshref
emerged the champions. It was the
eighth time Dina Meshref had won the
women’s title, the fourth men’s success for
40 year old Ahmed Ali Saleh, his first was
in 1997.
Timo Boll
60
Miwa Harimoto
Dina Meshref and Ahmed Ali Saleh

February: 2020 West Asia Olympic
Qualification Tournament, Amman
Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhadrawi and Syria’s
Hend Zaza won the respective men’s
singles and women’s singles events. They
now qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games, where Hend Zaza will be the
youngest athlete competing; she is only 11
years old.
February / March: 2020 National Championships
in Europe
In Belgium Cédric Nuytinck and Lisa
Lung were crowned respective men’s and
women’s singles champions; in England
it was Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho, in
France Simon Gauzy and Carole Grundisch.
Meanwhile, in Germany Ricardo
Walther and Nina Mittelham struck gold, in
Hungary Adam Szudi and Dora Madarasz.
Similarly in Montenegro it was the top prize
for Filip Radovic and Snezana Culafic as it
was in Russia for Lev Katsman and Anna
Tikhomirova.
Earlier in February in Spain, Endika Diez
and Claudia Caymel had emerged national
champions.
March: 2020 European Under 21 Championships,
Varazdin
Only 15 years old Prithika Pavade of
France was the surprise winner of the
women’s singles event, Russia’s Vladimir
Sidorenko secured men’s singles gold.
Hend Zaza
February: 2020 African Singles and
Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification,
Tunis
Algeria’s Larbi Bouriah, Nigeria’s Olajide
Omotayo, Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw and
Tunisia’s Adam Hmam secured men’s
singles places for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games. Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou and
Tunisia’s Fadwa Garci alongside Nigeria’s
Offiong Edem and Olufunke Oshonaike
gained women’s singles places. It will be
a record seventh consecutive Olympic
Games appearance for Olufunke Oshonaike.
Egypt’s Omar Assar and Dina Meshref
emerged the mixed doubles qualifiers.
Endika Diaz
March: 2020 ITTF World Tour Platinum
Qatar Open, Doha
Fan Zhendong beat England’s Liam
Pitchford to win the men’s singles; at the
semi-final stage Liam Pitchford had caused
a major upset by accounting for Xu Xin.
Chen Meng overcame Mima Ito to claim
the women’s singles title. Ma Long and Xu
Xin won the men’s doubles. Wang Manyu
and Zhu Yuling claimed women’s doubles
gold. Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito emerged
mixed doubles champions.
Prtithika Pavade
March: 2020 ITTF World Junior Circuit
Congo Junior and Cadet Open, Kinshasa
The host nation’s Exauce Ngefuassa and
Hungary’s Helga Dari won the respective
junior boys’ and junior girls’ singles titles.
The Chinese team donated their prize
money to Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus
had started.
Olufunke Oshonaike
February: 2020 Central American Under
18 and Under 15 Championships, Belize
Dario Arce and Clio Barcenas won the
respective junior boys’ singles and junior
girls’ singles events, as Mexico emerged
the dominant force.
Liam Pitchford
Exauce Ngefuassa
61

March: 2020 South America Junior and
Cadet Championships, Lima
Brazil’s Diogo Silva and Chile’s Valentina
Rios won the respective junior boys’ and
junior girls’ singles events. Also from Brazil
Giulia Takahashi completed a clean sweep
of cadet girls’ titles; she struck gold in the
girls’ team, the girls’ doubles partnering
Beatrix Kanashiro and the girls’ singles.
March: ITTF Para Costa Brava Spanish
Open 2020, Platja d’Aro
Korea Republic’s Jung Younga and
Australia’s Yang Qian emerged the most
successful female players, winning gold in
both the individual and team events; in the
counterpart men’s competition, Poland’s
Rafal Czuper, Slovakia’s Peter Mihalik and
Belgium’s Florian Van Acker did exactly
the same.
March: 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman
Open, Muscat
India’s Sharath Kamal Achanta and
Japan’s Hitomi Sato won the respective
men’s singles and women’s singles titles;
Hitomi Sato added the women’s doubles
in partnership with Honoka Hashimoto.
Serbia’s Aleksandar Karakasevic and Slovakia’s
Lubomir Pistej emerged the men’s
doubles champions; the mixed doubles
was won by the French pairing of Tristan
Flore and Laura Gasnier.
Giulia Takahashi
March: 2020 ITTF World Junior Circuit
Peru Junior and Cadet Open, Lima
Giulia Takahashi continued her outstanding
form. She joined forces with Laura
Watanabe to win the junior girls’ team and
cadet girls’ doubles events; in addition she
added the junior girls’ singles and cadet
girls’ singles titles to her collection. The
host nation’s Adolfo Cucho won the junior
boys’ singles title.
Rafal Czuper
Sharath Kamal Achanta
March: 2020 North American Singles and Mixed Doubles Qualification Tournament,
Kitchener
Canada’s Eugene Wang and Zhang Mo won the respective men’s singles and women’s
singles titles, prior to joining forces to secure the mixed doubles top prize and book places
in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Adolfo Cucho
62
Eugene Wang and Zhang Mo

Out and About
TTKidz and Spinaroos
A fun eight-week programme, TTKidz introduces table tennis to youngsters of all abilities.
It is aimed at seven to 11 year olds. Moreover it is going international, Table Tennis
England, the initiators of the concept, have signed an agreement with their Australian
counterparts who will promote under the name Spinaroos.
Kemer Anniversary
Belgium’s Jean-Michel Saive and Austria’s
Ding Yi delighted those assembled at a
gala dinner to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of the Kemer Veteran Tournament.
Located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast,
approaching 500 players from 35 countries
competed in the event staged from Monday
23rd to Friday 27th September.
Busy times in Singapore
Organised by the Singapore Table Tennis Association, a fund raising dinner at the
Shangri-La raised over $430,000 for the High Performance Programme. Later in the year
over 1,100 entries were received for the Dr Lee Bee Wah Cup.
Now tennis world champion
Denmark’s Claus Pedersen is following in
famous footsteps.
England’s Fred Perry won the men’s singles
title at the 1929 World Championships
in Budapest. Later in the tennis world he
won eight Grand Slam tournaments.
In September, to some extent Claus
Pedersen emulated the feat. He was a
member of the Danish outfit that won the
men’s team title in the 70 years category
at the International Tennis Federation’s
Super Senior World Team Championships
in Umag, Croatia. In 2012 he won men’s
singles 60-64 years at the 2012 World
Veteran Championships in Stockholm.
Headquarters opened
On Saturday 28th September, Leandro Olvech (Director ITTF Foundation) alongside
Thomas Weikert (ITTF President and ITTF Foundation President) declared the ITTF
Foundation headquarters located in the German city of Leipzig officially open.
63

Out and About
Elected to Executive
Stag support for Botswana
Commencing on Tuesday 1st October, Stag has signed a three year sponsorship deal
with the Botswana Table Tennis Association. The agreement includes clothing for the
national team plus equipment; including 12 tables; the US$47,000.
President of the Belarus Table Tennis
Federation, on Tuesday 19th November,
Alexandre Petkevitch was elected to the
Executive of the National Olympic Committee.
Felix Lartey Foundation
Some 140 youngsters attended a special coaching session in Jamestown, Ghana on
Saturday 12th October to announce the official opening of the Felix Lartey Foundation.
Felix Lartey was assisted by fellow internationals Derek Abrefa and Emmanuel Commey.
Mountain of Candy
Thinking of others
On Monday 28th October the table tennis hall in Pristina turned pink; over 100 women
attended the Pink Pong Breast Cancer tournament. Later, a further humanitarian
occasion was organised; some 50 players took part in an event to assist neighbouring
Albania, devastated by an earthquake on Thursday 26th November, a total of 500 Euros
was raised.
64
Linda Bergström and John Rosenburg
were present at the Mountain of Candy
tournament organised by Sweden’s Ängby
club in December, an event that went back
in time. Matches best of three games,
each game to 21 points, players given
a points’ handicap according to ability.
Proceedings were managed by Nils-Erik
Sandberg, the club’s founder who celebrated
his 80th birthday in September.
The Ängby club has over 400 members; in
Sweden it is the largest in terms of active
players; notably, some 200 players competed
in the tournament.

Out and About
ITTF Star Awards, Chengdu
John Bosco Birungi
On Friday 20th December, John Bosco
Birungi was unanimously re-elected
President of the Table Tennis Federation of
Rwanda.
The Agricultural Bank of China 2019 ITTF Star Awards ceremony was staged on
Wednesday 11th December at the JW Marriott Hotel in Zhengzhou. China‘s Ma Long
and Liu Shiwen won the respective male star and female star of the year awards; colleagues
Fan Zhendong and Xu Xin combined to secure the point of the year accolade.
Germany’s Thomas Schmidberger was named male para star of the year; Italy’s Giadi
Rossi received the counterpart female acclamation.
Meanwhile, the star coach was Puerto Rico’s Bladimir Diaz, the breakthrough star Lily
Zhang of the United States.
A decade later
Now a decade after an earthquake
measuring 7.0 on Richter magnitude scale
struck Haiti on Tuesday 12th January
2010; the road to recovery continues; significantly
table tennis is now firmly established.
There are now 13 clubs involving
some 300 affiliated players. Supported by
the National Olympic Committee, on Saturday
14th and Sunday 15th December,
the Haiti Open, the seventh edition, was
staged in the Vincent Gymnasium, a total
of 62 men and 12 women competed.
Full of hope
Commencing on Thursday 12th December, in a venue that housed 60 tables, Ningbo
in Zheijang Province, China was the home for an eight day ITTF Hopes training camp.
Proceedings were conducted under the direction of Massimo Costantini, ITTF High Performance
Elite Coach and Zhong Jinyong, a former Chinese national team coach.
Also from Friday 13th to Wednesday 18th December, coaches and players from India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the South Asia Hopes and Cadet
Week in Kathmandu. Slovenia’s Matjaz Sercer was the head coach assisted by the host
nation’s Vinod Shakya.
Military Training
During January members of China’s national team attended military training.
65

Out and About
Ping Pong Parkinson Progress
Nenad Bach (founder of Ping Pong Parkinson) alongside Dr. Elana Clar (neurologist,
North Jersey Brain Spine Center), Dr. Elizabeth Kera (neuropsychologist, Hackensack
University Medical Center) and Dr. Art Dubow (founder member of Ping Pong Parkinson),
visited the Wang Chen Table Tennis Club in New Jersey on Thursday 6th February
where a group meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Sunil Raghavan, present at the 2019 ITTF Parkinson’s World
Championships, is the feature of a video “Humanity above winning”.
Famous faces
Bladimir Diaz and Adriana Diaz, appear on
many major advertising signs in San Juan,
Puerto Rico
Swedish Parkinson’s National Championships
Ulf Rödin and Petra Sörling with women’s medallists Maritha Juhlin, Rosie Nyborg,
Eva-Lena Jansson and Lin Zhang Freund at the inaugural tournament staged at the
Liljeholmen Table Tennis Centre in Stockholm. Proceedings were organised by the
Swedish Table Tennis Association in collaboration with Spårvägens Table Tennis Club.
Enjoying World Book Day
2020 ITTF Parkinson’s World Championships
Leandro Olvech (ITTF Foundation Director) and Jens Greve (Chair of Organising Committee)
of one accord; once again organised in conjunction with the ITTF Foundation,
the 2020 ITTF Parkinson’s World Championships will be staged from Thursday 27th to
Saturday 29th August in Berlin.
66
World Book Day was celebrated in England
on Thursday 5th March; one avid
reader was James Bowman, a member
of the Halton Table Tennis Club, the local
borough being located on either side of the
River Mersey in north-west England. The
book that he enjoyed the most was “You
Are Awesome” written by Matthew Syed,
former England international.