TTT 18. Spring 2020. Pdf Final.

Table Tennis 

Times 

A quarterly, independent, magazine from the world of English Table Tennis 

Issue 18 Editorial Spring 2020 

As I sit and write this it is a glorious Sunday afternoon and all is peaceful in Bexhill, but I can only 

enjoy this momentarily as the reality that we are all facing in these strange times races back into my 

brain. 

Diane and I sincerely hope that you have not been touched too closely by Covid-19, and that we can 

all return to our usual lives as soon as possible. 

The virus has also taken its toll on our magazine in that there have been fewer events to report on, 

but as the saying goes “every cloud……” and this does allow us to expand some of our normal 

features. 

We are extremely happy that Ken & Karenza Mathews have found time to continue their excellent 

“Table Tennis Life” series of reminiscences. We know this is proving very popular with many of our 

readers. 

We are also most gratified that Alan Duke has contributed a very erudite article on the formation of 

the various Table Tennis bodies. Many of you will know Alan as an Umpire and Referee, but he is 

also a noted author of many historical papers on our sport. We thank Alan and hope he will grace 

our pages again with some further insights. 

All our usual features are here, “What was Happening” – this time featuring 1950, “the Spotlight” 

feature concludes its look at the ETTA Treasurers, there is the lighter “Good News Page” and 

regrettably a number of tributes to colleagues and friends that have passed away in the last three 

months. 

So, there we have issue 18 and we hope it enables you to at least forget about the current situation 

for a few minutes. 

Talking of minutes, as you have likely got some unanticipated spare time right now, have you 

thought of putting pen to paper (or getting on the keyboard) and sharing an article via our 

magazine? It can be about anything Table Tennis related or if you fancy carrying out any research, 

Diane is always willing to help. 

Finally, stay safe, look after yourself and your nearest and dearest, and look forward to the day when 

we all come out of this and get back to our sport. 

Harvey and Diane Webb 

Table Tennis Times 18: Spring 2020 

1

National Championships Qualifiers 

11 th -12 th January 2020, Nottingham 

For the second consecutive year a qualifying competition was held for ten places at the National 

Championships for each of the two main events, the Men’s and Women’s Singles. This year the 

competition was held in Nottingham. 

Day 1 saw eight large groups of 9 or 10 in the Men’s Singles made up of the 75 entrants with the top 

four in each group going through to the knock out stage on Day 2. There were only 18 entries in the 

Women’s event which subsequently went down to 15 and so all the female players went through to 

the knock out stage but still played in two groups on the Saturday to determine their positions for 

the knock out draw. 

The top 22 nationally ranked players from the January 2020 ranking list automatically qualified for 

the National Championships. However, as entries closed for the qualifiers and the draw took place 

before this list was published some players had entered the qualifiers as they were uncertain if they 

would make the cut. As a result the top two seeds in the Men’s event did not play in the qualifiers 

but withdrew after the draw took place which gave a significant advantage to those in their groups 

and those would have been opponents in the first knock-out round. As we know ranking is only a 

guide and not a definitive and one which can be a disadvantage to top juniors or indeed any player 

who does not play many senior events and so gives an unbalanced view of their relative ability. 

Enough of comment and back to the play. The players who were top of the eight Men’s groups were 

Max Stevens, Graeme Barella, Josh Weatherby, Israel Awolaja, Zak Cantor, James Smith, Joe Cope 

and William Dobinson. These along with the other 24 players who were 2 nd -4 th in their groups faced 

their opponents in the first knock-out matches at 10am on Sunday morning. The format meant that 

unless you won that first match then you could not qualify for the main National Championship 

event so that first round match was crucial. 

The second day progressed and after five rounds the eventual winner was Ethan Walsh, our newest 

senior International player. Ethan had a tight match to claim that first place, facing a spirited Gabriel 

Achampong in the final match which went to five games. Louis Price defeated James Smith to finish 

third with Smith in fourth place. The other qualifiers in descending order were Jack Bennett, Josh 

Weatherby, Israel Awolaja, Shaquille Webb-Dixon, Graeme Barella and Naphong Boonyaprapa. 

The ten Qualifiers for the Men's Singles with TTE Chairman, Sandra Deaton. 

Photo by Chris Rayner 


2

The Women’s Singles with fewer numbers meant all the players who turned up reached the knockout 

stage. Of the three players who did not attend two found out they had already qualified by 

ranking but not until after the draw had taken place. Millie Rogove finished fourth in her group but 

then went on to win the event beating Gemma Kerr in the final match. Millie has been playing well 

at international Open events so after a poor first day turned it around on Day 2. Megan Jones 

overcame Rebecca Savage for the third spot with Savage in fourth. The remaining qualifiers were 

Erin Green, Mya Sultan, Samadhi Udamulla, Emily Haskell, Anna Green and Kirsty Maull. Amy 

Marriott who finished in 9 th place had already qualified due to her senior ranking and so this enabled 

Kirsty Maull to take the 10 th place of the qualifying tournament. 

The ten Qualifiers for the Women's Singles with TTE Chairman, Sandra Deaton. 

Photo by Chris Rayner 

The full complement of 32 players in the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles came from these 

qualifying players and invitations went to the top 22 ranked players. When any of the top 22 

declined the invitation then invitations went to those next on the ranking list until all places were 

filled. 

Congratulations to all those who qualified at this event and particularly to Ethan Walsh and Millie 

Rogove, the top two finishers. 

Table Tennis England Governance Update 

Some belated information to pass on, two new directors were appointed to the Board of Table 

Tennis England in the autumn of 2019 following the resignation of Kelly Skeggs and the vacancy left 

by Mike Smith who stood down in the summer of 2019. Steve Kemish and Priya Samuel’s inclusion 

brought the Board’s numbers back up to 12. 

National Council saw new leadership at their first meeting of the season as Estyn Williams took over 

the reins from Chris Dangerfield as Chairman in September 2019. As a result of the TTE AGM last 

year the number of National Council meetings has been upped to four per annum reverting to the 

number of meetings formerly held for many years. 

No information has been forthcoming on the workings of the Members’ Advisory Group (MAG) so 

far this year although their section on TTEs website shows they have lost two of their numbers. It 

will be interesting to find out what work they have carried out over the last year at the TTE AGM 

which is due to take place on Saturday, 18 th July 2020 at Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford. 


3

Olympic Games Team Qualification Tournament 

Gondomar, Portugal 22 nd -26 th January 2020 

30 Woman’s teams entered the Olympic Games Qualifying Competition for Tokyo 2020. Players are 

under the GB flag for the Olympics and this resulted in the opportunity to select Wales’ Charlotte 

Carey to play alongside England’s Tin-Tin Ho and Maria Tsaptsinos in the Women’s event. 

The format was a little convoluted with eight knock out sections with the winner of each section 

qualifying plus one other team from all the second placed teams in the eight sections. The Women’s 

team were drawn against Spain in their first match and the winner would progress through to the 

final in their section and therefore, would have the opportunity to qualify for Tokyo. The losing team 

were out of the competition. Welshman, Ryan Jenkins, was in the ladies’ corner for the match which 

was always going to be a challenge as all of Spain’s players ranked much higher than the GB players. 

Despite this, the first match started well with Charlotte Carey and Maria Tsaptsinos winning the first 

end 11-7 against Galia Dvorak and Sofia-Xuan Zhang, although fighting hard they lost the next three 

11-7, 11-7, 11-8. Next up was Tin-Tin Ho (WR 102) and again the opposition was too strong and 

Maria Xiao (WR 69) came out the winner 9, 3, 8. Charlotte Carey (WR 159) then came to the table for 

her singles match against Dvorak (WR 93) but there was no success here as she succumbed 5, 5, 6. 

Tournament over for GB women and no Olympic place. 

Tin-Tin Ho and Charlotte Carey in action for GB. 

Photos courtesy of the ITTF 

The GB Men’s squad comprised Paul Drinkhall, Tom Jarvis, Liam Pitchford and Sam Walker. Their first 

match was against Argentina on 23 rd January 2020. Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker started off the 

proceedings and made rather heavy weather of the team’s first match, the doubles, coming through 

to win 11-6 in the fifth game. The second match between Liam Pitchford (WR 22) and Martin 

Bentancor (WR 446) was in comparison, and as would be expected, a fairly straight forward win for 

Pitchford. Paul Drinkhall (WR 68) was next on and made it a comfortable 5, 3, 13 win against Horacio 

Cifuentes, a player ranked two places above him. 3-0 to England which put them into the next round 

to decide who would be going to Tokyo from this knock out group. 

Paul Drinkhall in fighting mode. 

Photo courtesy of the ITTF 


Match Day 2 for the men saw them meet old 

adversaries, Croatia, and although GB as a team were 

ranked above their opposition there was not much 

difference in the relative individual rankings. First up 

were Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker again for the 

doubles but this time they did not fare well and went 

down in three straight 9, 2, 13. Next on the table was 

Liam Pitchford who according to ranking should have 

had the win over Tomislav Pucar (WR 32) but again 

expectations were not met and so the score was 

4

Croatia 2 GB 0. Paul Drinkhall was on next to try and save the match for England against Andrej 

Gacina (WR 53), after losing the first game Drinkhall rallied and took the next two but that was as far 

as he went and the final score was 9, -7, -5, 7, 2 to the Croatian which put their team through to the 

Olympic Games and which left GB to contend for that final place along with all other losing second 

placed teams: Czech Republic, India, Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium and Hong Kong, China and Poland. 

GB Team of Gavin Evans, Tom Jarvis, Sam Walker and Liam Pitchford cheering on Paul Drinkhall. 


Stage 2 and England were up against Hungary in their first match. On paper with Hungary’s team 

World ranked at 23 and England at 9 this should have been an easy win but it was not to be. 

Drinkhall and Walker lost the doubles 3-1, Pitchford pulled one back against Bence Majoros (WR 59) 

to level the score. Drinkhall faced Adam Szudi (WR 126) but went down 3-1. Pitchford had the task of 

again levelling the match score against Nandor Ecseki (WR 139) but lost in four. The end of the 

campaign for GB. 

The Men’s teams who have qualified to go to Tokyo from the Qualifying tournament are: Republic of 

Korea, Slovenia, Croatia, Sweden, France, Portugal, Serbia, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong China. 

The Women’s teams taking their places at the Olympic Games from this event are: Hong Kong China, 

Austria, Poland, DPR Korea, Singapore, Hungary, Romania, Chinese Taipei and Republic of Korea. 

There will be 16 Men’s teams and 16 Women’s teams who will be going to Tokyo and each will 

automatically have two players qualifying in the two singles events. Further singles places will be 

based on a continental qualification system with six players from Europe qualifying, six from Asia, 

four from Africa and Latin America and one each from North America and Oceania, a total of 22 

players. The tournaments for these were due to be held between 15 th -31st May 2020 but presently 

there is no set date and with the Olympic Games being postponed, with provisional dates of 23 rd 

July-8 th August 2021 followed by the Paralympic Games commencing 24 th August 2021, it remains to 

be seen how qualification will proceed. 

Additionally, not less than two and not more than eight players are able to qualify through a final 

World Singles Qualifying Tournament and also between 1 and 13 from the World Ranking list. One 

place will go to a player by way of an invitation from the Tripartite Commission. A maximum of two 

players from each Association can qualify. A complicated process. So, eventually there will be 

between 64-70 players per each singles event. 

There will be no Men’s or Women’s Doubles matches at the Olympic Games but 16 pairs will 

compete in the Mixed Doubles. 


5

What was Happening 70 Years Ago? 1950 

A county match between Middlesex and Essex with Bernard Crouch and Brian Brumwell 

reached 71 all in the second game, there is no report of the final score. 

There were 299 Leagues, 6,400 clubs attached to Leagues and 120,000 affiliated players in 

1950, it was estimated that there were ten times that number of players who were 

unaffiliated. 

The Daily Mirror tournament finals took place at the Royal Albert Hall on 25 th April 1950, 

4,500 watch the evening session and there was over one hour of televised time from the 

BBC. Entry to the tournament had been around 10,000. Diane Rowe won both the Girls’ and 

Women’s Singles finals. The Men’s Singles title went to Len Adams and the Boys’ title to 

Jimmy Lowe. Amongst the spectators were Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and the conductor, 

Sir Malcolm Sargent. 

The Royal Albert Hall, Women's Singles Final of the Daily Mirror Tournament between Diane Rowe and 

Phyllis Lammin 

Playing with a disability isn’t something new, Zoltan Nagy of Hungary, aged 17 years had 

both hands blown off in 1945 and learnt to play by fixing his bat to the stumps of his arms 

with elastic bands. 

According to the magazine ‘Table Tennis’ a table tennis report on BBC radio was reputed to 

be heard by 20 million listeners. 

Discussion continued on raising the net slightly higher but not to the original 6 3/4”, the aim 

to reduce the amount of “chiselling”. 

Details were published of the official umpires’ scheme. By October, fifteen counties had 

formed Umpires Committees; twenty three papers had been returned from those wishing to 

qualify with a pass rate of two to one. The County Umpires Badge for those who qualified 

cost 2/6d, an Umpire’s Handbook was proposed for the next season. 

Harold Oldroyd was the President of the ETTA with Ivor Montagu the Chairman, Bill Pope the 

General Secretary and Bill Vint the Treasurer. 


6

The National County Championships had 27 counties participating; Middlesex won the 

Premier, Junior and East Anglia Divisions. The experiment of playing the Champion County 

versus The Rest of England was a great success so much so that the crowd trying to get in 

had to be dispersed by the police. 

Richard Bergmann 

At the World Championships in 

Budapest, Richard Bergmann won the Men’s 

Singles title for the fourth time. Dora Beregi, 

playing for England, with Scotland’s Helen 

Elliot won the Women’s Doubles, beating 

England’s Vera Thomas and Peggy Franks in 

the Semi-finals. An innovation was the 

presentation of prizes and medals to the 

Semi-finalists. Beregi later in the year 

emigrated to Australia and a silver bracelet 

was presented to her as a mark of 

appreciation, Dora who was originally an 

Hungarian international, went on to represent 

England before playing for Australia. 

The English Open saw Richard Bergmann win the Men’s Singles title as well, the Women’s 

Doubles and the Girls’ Doubles were won by Diane and Rosalind Rowe, the Mixed Doubles 

went to Johnny Leach and Peggy Franks, the Boys’ Singles to Jimmy Lowe, the Girls’ Singles 

to Rosalind Rowe, the Boys’ Doubles to Jimmy Lowe and Peter Smith and the Junior Mixed 

Doubles to Peter Smith and Rosalind Rowe. A truly remarkable set of results. 

Despite being World Champion, Richard Bergmann, was suspended indefinitely for 

participating in a paid playing trip to South Africa. An appeal against the decision was made 

but denied. 

Geoffrey Harrower proposed an official grading scheme. 

Sweden’s Juniors visited England for a fifteen 

venue tour which included one international and 

the English Open. England won the Junior 

International, just, the team comprised Jimmy 

Lowe, Peter Smith and Derek Burridge which was 

captained by Tommy Sears. 

Hastings Association was in trouble with the law 

for Sunday play where spectators were charged 

for entry, the Lord’s Day Observance Society 

found some Acts from Charles I time which had 

been breached. Some creative thinking resolved 

the problem with free entry but with charges for 

reserved seats and requests for donations to 

offset the loss of income 

Peter Smith, Derek Burridge, Jimmy Lowe with 

Tommy Sears 


7

There were several Special Affiliations to the ETTA including the Accra TTA, Gold Coast, West 

Africa; Butlin’s Holiday Camps; Lagos & District TTA, Nigeria and the Royal Air Force 

Association. 

Benny Casofsky. 

Courtesy of the Ron Allcock Collection 

The 3 rd Maccabiah Games (the Jewish 

Olympics) took place in Jerusalem in October and 

England came away with the team gold, star of the 

final was Benny Casofsky, winning all his three 

matches without dropping a game, he was aided by 

George Eli Goodman and Mr Levy, the latter was a 

stand-in player from the football squad as 

circumstances prevented England’s third player, 

Ernie Bubley, from travelling. Casofsky also won 

silver medals in the Men’s Singles and Mixed 

Doubles with Kubeau of Holland. 

Johnny Leach was a candidate for the ‘Sporting Record’ Sportsman of the Year; other names 

in the frame were footballer, Billy Wright, Captain of England and Wolverhampton 

Wanderers, the cyclist, Reg Harris and boxer, Freddie Mills. 

The South London League won the Wilmott Cup with Ron Crayden, Harry Venner and Jackie 

Head. The League held a special dinner for the team and the cup was filled with champagne. 

The J M Rose Bowl was won by West London and their team was Dorothy (Dot) Ellis and 

Diane and Rosalind Rowe. 

Discussions were underway with the Board of Trade for the ETTA to become incorporated. 

The ITTF started its own magazine. 

Including Purchase Tax, the cost of balls went up to 9d for a 2* and 1s 3d for a 3*. 

ETTA wages and National Insurance came to £797 17s 9d and Affiliation fees from various 

sources totalled £2, 937 6s 6d. 

The year saw the death of two of the great pioneers of English Table Tennis Arthur J ‘Willie’ 

Wilmott and Bill Pope. 

Arthur J ‘Willie’ Wilmott 

Bill Pope 


8

National Championships 

28 th February – 1 st March 2020, Nottingham 

The 32 places for the Men’s Singles were made up of 17 of the top 22 players, added to which were 

the 10 from the Qualifying Event with the remaining five places taken from the ranking list. Similarly, 

in the Women’s event 14 of the top 22 players accepted their invitation, plus 10 from the Qualifying 

Event and eight from the ranking list. In the U21 Men’s Singles 15 of the top 16 players accepted 

their invitation, Tom Jarvis being the exception, and, in the corresponding Women’s event from the 

top 16 there were 13 who entered with the remaining places taken from the ranking list. 

The Championships were held in Nottingham for the fourth year and lessons had been learnt from 

last year’s championships particularly in respect of the hall layout which was significantly improved. 

U21 Singles: The day started at 9am on Friday with the two U21 events. The conclusion of the 

events was as expected with top seeds Denise Payet and Luke Savill taking the honours over the two 

second seeds Mollie Patterson and Sam Wilson. There were, however, shocks along the way, the 

biggest being from Zak Cantor of Manchester who although ranked 13 in the event, won his group 

beating 6 th ranked player James Smith before winning his first knock out match against 5 th seed, 

Ethan Walsh to reach the Semi-finals. Joe Cope, too, succeeded expectations when he won his group 

beating higher ranked player Israel Awolaja and then Josh Bennett the number 4 seed in the first 

knock out round to reach the other Semi-final. A contrast in style in the finals with the hard hitting of 

Luke Savill overcoming the defensive skill of Sam Wilson saw Savill the victor 4-0. 

U21 Men's Singles Champion, Luke Savill and Runner-up, Sam Wilson. 

Photos by Michael Loveder and Mike Rhodes 

The ladies, as with the men, saw some close matches with unexpected results. In the group stage 

two players, Amy Marriott, still only 15 years old, and Mya Sultan finished in first place in their 

groups which was against ranking, the other two to reach 

the knock out stage were two more 15 year olds, Mari 

Baldwin and Anaya Patel. However, this was as far as 

these youngsters got as the four seeds all won their first 

round matches to progress to the Semi-finals. Here, the 

favourite, Denise Payet, had to fight hard against 

Charlotte Bardsley who had three match points before 

losing to Payet. The other Semi-final saw Mollie Patterson 

U21 Women's medallists: Mollie Patterson - 

silver, Charlotte Bardsley and Jasmin Wong - 

bronze, Denise Payet - gold. 

Photo by Alan Man 

have a more comfortable 4-1 win over Jasmin Wong 

before Payet beat Patterson by the same score in the 

final. 


9

Mixed Doubles: The third event of Friday to reach a conclusion was the Mixed Doubles which 

started at 7pm with all four rounds being played consecutively. A heavy schedule for the finalists. 

There were 15 pairs and so the top seeds Sam Walker and Tin-Tin Ho had just three matches, all of 

which they won 3-0, so a comfortable event for them. They beat Chris Doran and Charlotte Bardsley 

7, 9, 8 in the final. Losing Semi-finalists were Alim Hirji and Emily Bolton and Ethan Walsh and Mollie 

Patterson, the latter partnership had played particularly well beating Number 3 seeds, Josh Bennett 

and Denise Payet in the Quarter-finals before losing closely in the Semis to the Number 2 seeds, 

Chris Doran and Charlotte Bardsley 8, 9, -8, -8, 4. Tom Jarvis and Maria Tsaptsinos were the original 

Number 2 seeds but with Tsaptsinos not playing due to injury, Tom was left without a partner. 

Mixed Doubles Champions Tin-Tin Ho & Sam Walker and Runners-up Charlotte Bardsley & Chris Doran. 

Photos by Alan Man and Mike Rhodes 

Men’s Singles: The Men’s Singles groups saw only two players achieve more than expected, these 

were James Hobson and Jack Bennett, at the expense of James Smith and Israel Awolaja. All the 

seeds went through to the last eight except Michael O’Driscoll who was defeated by Josh Bennett 

who had a good but close win over O’Driscoll who still plays quality table tennis at the tender age of 

48 and is still in the top 10 in the country. The Quarter-finals saw a couple of scares for the top two 

seeds as Liam Pitchford went 1-0 down to Ethan Walsh, Pitchford drew level, Ethan took the third to 

lead the match but just failed to capitalise and went down 13-11 in the sixth game. Paul Drinkhall 

too had a close shave against Luke Savill who was brimming with confidence after his U21 Men’s 

Singles win the previous day. Drinkhall was in cruise control for the first three games winning them 

2, 7, 5 then lost the next three before coming away with the win 11-6 in the final end. James Hobson 

too played well to take two games off seeded Helshan Weerasinghe. The other seeds, David 

McBeath, Sam Walker, Tom Jarvis and Chris Doran, all had comfortable wins to reach the Quarterfinals. 

In this round the form book did not disappoint and the top four seeds all won their matches to 

set up a Sunday morning treat of Liam Pitchford v Sam Walker and Paul Drinkhall v Tom Jarvis. 

Men’s Singles Semi-finalists, England’s Numbers 3 and 4, Sam Walker and Tom Jarvis. 

Photos by Mike Rhodes and Alan Man 

The first of the Semi-finals saw a good win by Liam Pitchford over Sam Walker before Paul Drinkhall’s 

win over Tom Jarvis set up a final against his old adversary. The final proved to be the match of the 


10

tournament with both players at the top of their game. Drinkhall started the better of the two 

winning the first two games but then Pitchford ramped it up a gear to win the next four and take the 

title for the sixth time, -8, -7, 9, 9, 10, 5. The match seemed to turn on one point in the fourth game 

which was called in Pitchford’s favour and which Drinkhall did not dispute, one of the fairest players 

in the game, it may have cost him the title. 

Men's Singles Champion, Liam Pitchford and Runner-up, Paul Drinkhall. 

Photos by Alan Man and Mike Rhodes 

Women’s Singles: Injury to Maria Tsaptsinos (seeded 2) and Lois Peake (seeded 7) meant that 

neither was able to play, particularly disappointing for Tsaptsinos as the defending champion. As 

with the men there were two players who exceeded their ranking position in the groups and these 

were the oldest two in the event, Sara Williams and Xiaoman Ji, at 44 and 50 years respectively. The 

round of 16 saw all seeds safely through with the exception of Evie Collier as Anaya Patel won that 

match 4-1. Xiaoman Ji gave Denise Payet, the Number 3 seed a scare by taking two ends off her. 

That was not the end of the affair for Payet as she lost in the next round to Mari Baldwin, the young 

15 year old from Devon, by 4-2, which put Baldwin through to the Semi-finals against Emily Bolton, 

Bolton having had a good win over Jasmin Wong 4-1 in her Quarter-final match. Mollie Patterson 

continued her good weekend with a 4-1 win over Millie Rogove before having to work for her 4-2 

win over Anaya Patel in the fourth Quarter-final to put her in the other Semi-final where she met 

Tin-Tin Ho who reached that stage by a 4-0 win over Charlotte Bardsley. 

Women's Singles Semi-finalists, Mollie Patterson and Emily Bolton. 

Photos by Alan Man 

Sunday morning and the first match on court was between Tin-Tin Ho and Mollie Patterson, a game 

which saw Tin-Tin the victor. All credit to Patterson who had an excellent tournament and finished 

with one silver medal and two Semi-final placings. One of our young rising stars. The second Semifinal 

was an interesting exchange between the long pimple bat player, Mari Baldwin, who had come 

through from the group stages, and Number 4 seed, Emily Bolton. It was a cat and mouse game and 

Emily, like Denise Payet earlier, struggled with the pimples. Baldwin took advantage of this and to 

reach the final. An incredible achievement for the young player. Here though her dream ended as Ho 

had no difficulty with her different style and came through a comfortable champion, 4, 7, 6, 6. 


11

Women's Singles Champion, Tin-Tin Ho and Runner-up Mari Baldwin. 

Photos by Michael Loveder and Alan Man 

Men’s Doubles: 15 pairs fought for the title with the top two seeds, Paul Drinkhall & Liam Pitchford 

and Sam Walker & Tom Jarvis reaching the final with ease. Here the Drinkhall/Pitchford combination 

once again gave this pair the title but it was a match in which Walker/Jarvis certainly challenged 

them. The final score 10, 6, -11, -9, 5. The losing Semi-finalists were Luke Savill with Joe Cope and 

David McBeath with Michael O’Driscoll. 

Men's Doubles Champions Paul Drinkhall & Liam Pitchford, Runners-up Sam Walker & Tom Jarvis. 

Photos by Mike Rhodes and Michael Loveder 

Women’s Doubles: A mere ten pairs played in this event which put six of them straight through to 

the Quarter-final stage. The withdrawal of Maria Tsaptsinos and Lois Peake resulted in Tin-Tin Ho 

and Evie Collier being partnered at the last minute and they had a 3-1 win over Jasmin Wong and 

Charlotte Bardsley in one Semi-final whilst Denise Payet and Emily Bolton had a 3-0 win over Mollie 

Patterson and Lois Perryman in the other half of the draw. The final saw new names engraved on the 

cup as Bolton and Payet defeated the scratch partnership of Ho and Collier, -9, 7, 1, 11. 

Women's Doubles Champions Emily Bolton & Denise Payet with Runners-up Tin-Tin Ho & Evie Collier. 

Photos by Michael Loveder 

Three days of play which saw titles retained, new names on trophies and a variety of standard of 

play from exceptional to rather more mundane. It was a time for many to meet up with old friends, 

perhaps the most pleasurable part of the tournament for some. 


12

We are most fortunate to have such superb photographers taking images at table tennis events 

around the country and three of the best were at the National Championships this year, Alan Man, 

Michael Loveder and Mike Rhodes. We thank them for the use of their pictures not only at this event 

but at other times too - and for a view of the man behind the camera..... 

Alan Man by Michael Loveder, Michael Loveder by Mike Rhodes, Mike Rhodes by Michael Loveder 

.... and here is one young man learning the ropes! Dougie Drinkhall – not following in his mother’s 

and father’s footsteps, not yet anyway. 

Dougie Drinkhall seeing what his Daddy is up to. 

Photo by Mike Rhodes 

Coaches 

At any event the man or woman behind the player is not always much in evidence so we have put 

together a small collage of some of the coaches. Paul Drinkhall keeps his own counsel and did not 

have a coach at these championships. 

Key (Coaches name first) 

Charles Ho/Tin-Tin Ho, Craig Bryant/Mari Baldwin, Natalie Green/ Mollie Patterson 

Luke Walsh/Ethan Walsh & Mollie Patterson, Steve Smith/Chris Doran, Colin Wilson/Chris Doran & Sam Wilson 

Anthony Constantinou/Emily Bolton, Cliff Carder/Josh Bennett, Howard Knott/Sam Walker 

Lois Peake/Alice Hazell, Alan Ransome/Ben Piggott, John Davies/Liam Pitchford 

Dave Jarvis/Tom Jarvis, Paul Whiting/Gemma Kerr, Paul Beck/Luke Savill 

Gareth Herbert/Zak Cantor, Mark Mitchell/Daniel Bullen, Zoe Cheesman/Rachel Baker 


13

The Coaches 


14

1971 

A Table Tennis Life 

More Exploits from the Pen of Ken and Karenza Mathews. 

Ken: The English Closed Championships were 

held at Canterbury on 1 st and 2 nd January. And 

Karenza became the Women’s Champion of 

England! She won the title beating Jill Shirley in 

the final. 

The first photo shows Karenza concentrating 

hard as she plays Jill’s defensive game. Jill is on 

the right. In the third shot Karenza is at the far 

end of the table. 

Karenza went on to complete the hat-trick by winning the Women’s Doubles with Jill and the Mixed 

with Chester Barnes. The championships were reported in the national press. Geoffrey Harrower’s 

report in the Daily Telegraph is shown here. 

For us, the celebrations were unfortunately cut short as our good 

friend, the Essex table tennis player Shelagh Hession, had been 

involved in a car crash earlier that day. Immediately after Karenza 

had won the title we went to the hospital and saw poor Shelagh. She 

was in quite a bad way with some broken bones and nasty cuts to 

her face. (At that time it was not compulsory to have seat belts fitted 

in cars.) 

Karenza: On 23 rd and 24 th January I played in the Essex Open. I won 

the Singles beating Lesley Radford in the final and then won the 

Mixed Doubles partnering Trevor Taylor. 

On 25 th there was a press conference at the E.T.T.A. office when, for 

the first time, it was announced that I was ranked number one in 

England. I then went to the Radio London Office to do an interview. 

On 29 th , the England Team travelled by plane to Prague from where 

we travelled to Ostrava for the Czech Open. Jill and Pauline Piddock 

were there and we lost to Sweden in the team event. Then I lost to 

Jana Pauknerova, a Czech girl, but Jill reached the quarters before 

losing to the eventual winner, Maria Alexandru. The journey home 

started at 5 a.m., we reached London at 5 p.m. and I then went for 

Yellow Fever and Cholera injections 


15

This is a picture of Mary Wright and Karenza – we are 

not sure where it was taken. They, and team captain 

Bryan Merritt, are looking quite concerned. Maybe 

they were watching the progress in a match of one of 

the other team members. 

We played West Germany in a European League match 

at Guildford on 11 th February. We won 5-2, Chester 

and I winning the Mixed encounter against Ebby and Di 

Scholer. Ken was on the mike and acted as M.C. for the match. 

Ken took this picture of me playing at about this time. I look very 

serious! 

Two days later we went up to Yorkshire for a county match 

which we managed to lose 5-4. Then, for four days, I went to 

practise with the juniors at a training camp at Lilleshall. 

15 th February was known in Great Britain and Ireland as Decimal 

Day! The old pounds, shillings and pence (12 pence in a shilling, 

20 shillings in a pound) were scrapped and from now on there 

would be pence and pounds only with 100 pence in the pound. 

The whole changeover caused confusion and for quite a long 

time the new decimal prices of, for instance clothes, were 

marked alongside the old style prices. 

On the Friday, Ken and I drove up north for the Teesside Championships. I reached the Semi losing to 

Alice Grofova, who then lost to Jill in the final. Jill and I won the Doubles beating Grofova and 

Pauknerova. 

The English Open was held at Brighton from 25 th -27 th 

February. We lost to West Germany in the Semi of the 

Women’s team event - but at least England won the Men’s 

Team. In the Singles I lost to Eleonora Mihalca of Rumania 11 

in the fifth. Pauline and I 

lost in the Semi of the 

Women’s Doubles. Denis 

Neale and I reached the 

final of the Mixed and 

lost to the Czechs, Milan Orlowski and Grofova 17 in the fifth. 

This is a nice shot of the Men's Doubles winners, the Swedish 

pair, Stellan Bengtsson nearest the camera who watches closely 

while Bo Persson serves. It was taken by Tony Ross. 

Ken: On 4 th March Karenza and I went to London to buy some 

clothes for her at Mary Quant. This was a highly fashionable and 

expensive shop but I had contacted them and negotiated a 

reduction. Karenza bought some nice things; writing this many 

years later she wishes she had kept them as they are now 

collector’s items! 


16

The Swaythling Club International Meeting 

The English branch of the SCI held its annual meeting on Sunday, 1 st March 2020, the final day of the 

English National Championships. Once again we were indebted to Table Tennis England for 

supporting our meeting with the provision of a meeting room and light refreshments. 

The meeting started with a moment’s quiet reflection to mark the passing of Jeff Ingber, and 

members shared memories of Jeff's infectious personality and incredible capacity to remember the 

details of many of his triumphs. He will be missed. 

The meeting discussed several items, including the forthcoming World Veteran Championships in 

Bordeaux* and the format of the new style SCI magazine which was generally thought to be a great 

improvement. However, some members did lament the omission of “Country Corner” which 

provided details of old friends. 

Our National Representative, Harvey Webb, outlined the Executive Committee's plan for a new SCI 

website which would enable us to have more control over content and he promised to keep 

members informed of the progress on this over the coming months. 

The meeting was held in a very convivial atmosphere, enlivened by the inevitable tales of hip 

replacements and other health issues, but most of all by anecdotes by Alan Hydes and Don Parker of 

training camps and matches they both played in many years ago! 

SCI Notables. Back Row: Don Parker, Stuart Sherlock, Harvey Webb, Alan Ransome, Alan Hydes. 

Front Row: Karen Tonge, Jill Parker, Jose Ransome. 

Photo by Alan Man 

* The World Veteran Championships were subsequently postponed and a new date has been set for 

Monday, 26 th April-Sunday, 2 nd May 2021 at the same venue. 


17

Spotlight on ETTA Treasurers: Part 3 

Peter Hillier 

We start this article with a big apology to Peter Hillier. We erroneously attributed Barry Granger with 

being the ETTA Treasurer when the World Championships in Manchester were held in 1997 when it 

was in fact Peter Hillier. Peter, below describes how he dealt with the finances at such a big 

occasion. It makes interesting reading and shows some what is involved at such big events. 

The Manchester World Championships took place in April and May 1997 and I was Treasurer up to 

the close of the 1997 AGM which I think was in July of that year. One major achievement at the 1997 

Worlds for me was that I had already created a database invoicing system to deal with all the visiting 

teams’ competition and hospitality payments; everything had to be paid up before any country’s 

group – players, coaches, medics, hangers-on etc. – could get the necessary photo ID to display in 

order to be allowed into the venue and their hotels. 

The system, therefore, was that each country group member in charge of their money had to come 

and see me first to get the money sorted out and only after that had been done could he take all his 

group members to the accreditation department. Countries mostly sent details of their group’s 

competition entries and arrival and departure dates as well as the bulk of what they would have to 

pay several days before the Worlds started. From all this, using my database system, I created draft 

invoices for each country to include entry fees which were VAT exempt and hospitality (hotel and 

catering) which were VAT Standard Rated. 

On the day that their money chap came to see me there were of course plenty of changes, he or she 

is not coming but has been replaced by him or her etc., plus a lot of the arrival and departure dates 

were different so their hotel bookings had to be updated. The money chap would sit with me and I 

would enter the new details for everything into the database. I then produced their invoice, gently 

squeezed any amounts of money still owing from them and signed another copy of the invoice as a 

receipt. Apparently at all previous world championships it would take around two hours or more to 

get this money side sorted out, whereas with my system it took a maximum of forty five minutes per 

country, so quicker than it had ever been done previously!! 

I handled loads of different currencies, eastern European countries nearly all paid in US Dollars; over 

the two weeks I handled a bit over £600,000 in currency and ended up with a £30.00 difference – on 

currency exchange. The busiest day was two days before the Worlds started as that was when the 

largest number of country groups arrived. I seem to remember we had to work from early morning 

until near midnight without a break except when some kind person brought us something to eat!! 

Martin Clark 

Martin Clark served his Chairman, Alex Murdoch, well during his ten 

years in office from 2003-2013. During his time the biggest challenge 

and change was to get Individual Membership passed at the AGM and 

then implemented along with a new League Manager system, no small 

task but one which was successful. The ETTA was beginning to change 

with more staff and the start of social table tennis with projects such as 

Ping! coming to the fore. 

The first year of Martin’s decade as Treasurer didn’t start well as Sport England funding was reduced 

from £657,616 to £459,000 which meant the Academy at Nottingham had to close with job losses. 


18

On the plus side the Lottery Sports Fund Small Grants Scheme helped 743 local table tennis 

organisations to the tune of £2,654,055. The total income in 2003/04 was £1,345,781 and 

expenditure £1,315,289 and by the end of the 10 year period total income had risen to £5,357,390 

with expenditure standing at £5,328,751. Affiliation fees contributed £193,739 but the lions share 

came from Sport England Core Funding Grants, a figure of £2,839,711. The largest Sport England 

grants ever made to the ETTA were received during the 2003-2013 period; many thousands of 

pounds were given for capital projects which helped improve hundreds of club facilities. A new 

training centre at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) was opened in Sheffield and the last two English 

Open Championships in 2009 and 2011 were held there. The major event during Martin’s period in 

office was the Olympic Games in 2012 in London with the test event at ExCel a precursor to the main 

event. Martin was also involved in helping to obtain the European Youth Top 10 in 2008, again at the 

EIS in Sheffield, when with Peter Bradley, ETTA Deputy Chairman; he made a successful presentation 

to the ETTU in Terni, Italy. 

Despite the huge funding advances the Management Team were fully aware that Sport England 

money was not a given and strides were made to increase the net worth of the Association to enable 

them to support core funding. To help with this, financial support from the membership increased 

tenfold in the ten years in office during which time no year ever produced a deficit and the reserves 

increased from £303,305 to £593,936. Another innovation was the creation of the 200 Club which 

raised money to provide financial assistance for junior and cadet players. 

Dramatic changes were on the way though as Sport England required governance changes to ensure 

funding continued and the Portas Review was commissioned. This led to probably the biggest shake 

up the Association had seen and this Management Team saw the last of the style of management 

and accountability which had been in place for so many years. Martin always had his finger on the 

pulse and was meticulous in his monthly reports to National Council on the state of the ETTA 

finances. He ensured volunteers expenses were approved speedily and paid promptly. 

During this period as well as being on a plethora of ETTA committees there was a greater 

involvement on international committees too and Martin served on the British Olympic Table Tennis 

Federation, British Table Tennis Federation, European Table Tennis Union as a ‘Financial Expert’ and 

on the ITTF Veterans Committee. Martin was also Treasurer of the Veterans English Table Tennis 

Society for 20 years and made a Life Member of that organisation; he was and still is a popular 

player on their tournament circuit and has played in many World and European Veteran 

Championships. Martin has also been the Treasurer of Worcestershire County TTA since 2000 and is 

still in post as their National Councillor, added to this impressive list is that of Treasurer and General 

Secretary of the Bromsgrove & Redditch League, two years as Treasurer of Table Tennis Ireland from 

2013-15 and Treasurer of the Association of English Table Tennis Umpires since 2018, more recently 

Martin has been appointed to the Board of British Para Table Tennis. Further roles include being a 

County Umpire as well as a having been a volunteer at many prestigious events including the London 

Olympics as part of the Anti-Doping Team, also the Men’s World Cup in Liverpool 2012 and several 

English Open Championships. A couple of Martin’s most memorable occasions have been attending 

a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in 2012 to celebrate the Olympic Games and at Windsor Castle 

in 2008 to celebrate the centenary of the 1908 Olympics. 

Martin received the Malcolm Scott Award in 2006, was made an ETTA Vice-President in 2007 and at 

the end of his tenure in 2013 was made an Honorary Life Member, a well deserved award for such a 

hard working and conscientious servant of the Association. 


19

Keith Thomas 

Keith Thomas served under two Chairmen, Andy Seward and Sandra 

Deaton, from 2013 – July 2019. The Portas Review which had been 

commissioned by Sport England and the ETTA in 2013 had seen massive 

changes within the governance and staffing structures and Keith was part 

of the team responsible for the implementation of the report. The ETTA 

offices were relocated to Milton Keynes and the great majority of staff in 

Hastings were made redundant and new staff appointed. The former Management Committee was 

replaced by a Board and the Departmental Chairmen were also dispensed with as staff took over 

their responsibilities with the Board setting policies and being responsible for their implementation. 

The Trade Committee which for very many years had overseen the tender processes was replaced 

with a Procurement Team; the Finance Officer was made redundant in 2016 as much of the financial 

process was outsourced to the Jockey Club. Volunteers’ expenses were brought in line with those of 

staff and there was an increase in British League funding. The role of Treasurer had become less 

hands on and more strategic with the work within the Board resulting in the development of Mission 

2025. 

At the 2017 ETTA AGM Sport England demanded further governance changes to enable their funding 

to continue. The steps were quite draconian and the option was either to accept all of Sport 

England’s proposals and retain funding or reject their proposals and lose all their funding. There was 

much heated debate throughout the country and some very passionate speeches at the AGM from 

both camps, ultimately the membership rejected the governance changes and this resulted in, for a 

short time, the loss of Sport England monies. However, an EGM followed very shortly and reversed 

the AGM decision on the understanding certain commitments were made by the Board to the 

membership and so funding was once again released. One of the governance changes meant the 

post of Treasurer had to be deleted from the establishment and this happened at the 2019 AGM. 

The responsibility of the functions of Treasurer now belongs to the Board who are responsible for 

checking and challenging the Senior Management Team on financial matters. 

By 2013/14 income of the Association was at £3,994,751 and expenditure £4,110,930 with Affiliation 

fees at £225,469. By 2018/19 both income and expenditure had increased to £4,551,060 and 

£4,557,819 respectively, over 50% of income was received from Sport England. Affiliation fees had 

increased regularly for several years and annual income stood at £416,761. Other costs had 

considerably increased and with around 50 staff the bill for them stood at £1,555,840 and there was 

a major loss at the National Championships of £61,506. There had been significant increases in 

financial support for table tennis projects such as Be TT, Bat & Chat and TT Kidz. 

Keith has been involved at local and county level as well as at national level, he was a founder 

member of Hartlepool TTC in 2003 and was its first Chairman as well as Treasurer, Keith has also 

served on the Cleveland County TTA and is a Member of the ETTU Audit Commission. He is a UKCC 

Level 3 coach and an assessor; he became a County Umpire in 2015 and was a Volunteer Team 

Leader at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. In 2018 Keith was made a TTE Vice-President. 

The Present and the Future 

Financial responsibility now lies with the Board and the day to day matters are dealt with either by 

staff or the Jockey Club. The TTE Annual Report is where the accounts are presented although detail 

which had for so many years been available is sadly missing. The required Sport England changes 

have had a massive impact in this area with far less accountability and information. 


20

In Memoriam 

Dorothy ‘Dot’ Ellis 

Nonagenarian, Dot Ellis, passed away on 1 st January 2020. Dot was a 

member of the West London League team which won the J M Rose Bowl 

Trophy for senior women, in the National Team Championships, for three 

consecutive years from 1949-52. The other players in the team were 

Diane and Rosalind Rowe, a pretty impressive combination. (Dot, centre 

with Diane and Ros Rowe). 

Les Whittaker 

Les Whittaker passed away in early January 2020 aged 73 years. Former 

National Councillor for Dorset from 2012-17 and member of the South West 

Regional Committee as well as having held positions of Chairman, Secretary 

and Vice President of the Blackmore Vale League. Les was an enthusiastic 

player and had played in the Blackmore Vale League from 1998-2018 and 

also played in the Wimborne and Salisbury Leagues. He was a friendly and 

familiar face on the VETTS circuit both home and abroad. 

Rod Fry, Chairman of Compton Abbas TTC says of Les who was a popular player wherever he went, 

“He was always very open and approachable off the table and extremely willing to offer advice 

should any club or player need help with any issue. On the table he was a very enthusiastic player 

and winning or losing, he always had a complimentary word to say to his opponent. As a league, we 

will not only miss his enthusiasm and knowledge but also for being the gentleman that he was”. 

Derek Schofield 

In January 2020 Derek Schofield passed away, he was 90 years old. Born in 

Oldham, Derek first started playing table tennis at Tiviot Dale Sunday School 

TTC and carried on playing for most of his life reaching England Number 6 

and playing for his county of Cheshire over 100 times, a county of which he 

was later President and also National Councillor and Match Secretary. 

Derek’s first representative match was in 1947/48 for Stockport against 

Bolton and many more followed. Derek was a regular on the English tournament circuit mainly 

during the 1960s and 1970s and won innumerable titles particularly in the Veterans age group and it 

is as a veteran that he is probably most associated being a Founder Member of the Veterans Table 

Tennis Society (VETTS), its first Chairman in 1984 until 1998 and President from 1998-2018. Derek 

won many medals of all colours at both World and European Veteran Championships from the over 

50s to the Over 75s age groups, many in the doubles with Matt Sheader and latterly with Terry 

Donlon. 

In recognition of his work with VETTS, Derek was made an Honorary Life Member in 1998 and 

received the Mike Watts Memorial Trophy in 2017. Derek was also honoured by the ETTA being 

made a Vice-President in 1992 for his work on several committees including Selection but mainly for 

his work at the World Veterans Championships in Manchester in 1998, Derek had also twice been a 

Non Playing Captain for England. 

Derek met his wife, Doreen, through table tennis when she attended a county trial and they were 

one of the most popular and well known couples at many tournaments both in England and abroad. 


21

Brian Lamerton 

Brian Lamerton passed away on 11 th January 2020 aged 89 years. Brian first 

became involved in table tennis around 1940 when he started playing the 

game and continued playing until the mid 1980s. Brian started on the 

umpiring path when he became a County Umpire in 1963, then a National 

Umpire in 1977 and finally an International Umpire in 1980. The 

qualifications led Brian to officiate at many matches both home and abroad 

including European matches in Moscow, Poland and Holland. Brian’s most memorable achievement 

was being a member of the Umpires’ Squad for the European Cadet Team final in Poznan, Poland in 

1980 which was won for Sweden by two 15 year olds who went on to become two of Europe’s finest 

players – Jan-Ove Waldner and Jorgen Persson. Brian continued to follow their career for the next 30 

years. 

The prestigious World Championships in Birmingham in 1977 and Euro ’94 Championships also in 

Birmingham were two other events at which Brian umpired. 1995 in Gibraltar saw Brian as the 

referee at the Island Games having been an umpire at the previous Games in 1993 in the Isle of 

Wight. Other notable positions which Brian held included being a member of the Press Team at the 

World Championships in Manchester in 1997 and Deputy Presentation Manager at the 

Commonwealth Games, 2002, also in Manchester. 

One of our top administrators Brian served on several committees at national, regional, county and 

local league level first taking up a position in 1960. Brian was the Regional Chairman of the Southern 

Region from 1993-2000 and then the combined Southern & South-East Region from 2000 until 2013. 

Prior to this, Brian had been on the Regional Co-ordination Committee dealing with the publicity 

from 1987. Other appointments at national level included British League Committee Member and 

Press Officer, National Development Committee Member 1993-2013, PR Committee Member 1994- 

2003. Brian became an ETTA Vice-President in 2000 and received a Special Award in 2013. 

Hampshire County benefitted by Brian’s dedication and he held numerous posts including Chairman, 

Umpires Secretary, Press Officer, Deputy National Councillor, Vice-President and President from 

2000-18. The Isle of Wight for table tennis purposes became an independent county and Brian was 

their National Councillor from 1986-91 and also Umpires Secretary from 1988-2012. 

Southampton League, too, saw Brian as its President for over 20 years from 1997-2019 and Vice- 

President for two terms. He had joined their committee in 1963. 

A true great of table tennis on the officiating and administrative front. In the words of Brian’s close 

friend and colleague, John Burtenshaw “The passing of Brian is a huge loss to table tennis as a true 

friend, 50 years fellow traveller, attending meetings at Local, County, Regional and National level, 

100 Club dinners. Notable in all aspects of our sport, never to be replaced. Brian was the most 

genuine person you wished to meet in every way”. 

Keith ‘Charlie’ Childs 

Another blow struck Hampshire table tennis when Keith ‘Charlie’ Childs 

passed away on 27 th March 2020 aged 69 years old. A prominent figure at 

all levels of the sport from club up to national involvement both with Table 

Tennis England and British Para Table Tennis. 

Charlie had been heavily involved with the Generation 2 Club based at 

Fareham Academy School where Charlie was a governor. He had been with the club, which is due to 

celebrate its 50 th anniversary this year, since 1971. Generation 2 is one of the most active Premier 


22

Clubs in the south with a strong coaching base of which Charlie was a key figure being the Lead 

Coach, having gained his UKCC Level 3 Coach and also being a Coaching Tutor, Assessor and Internal 

Verifier. Competitions are a key element at the club at many different levels and there is also an 

enthusiastic social playing side too, added to which is the pleasure of regular visits to and by the AJK 

Club in Vannes, Brittany with which the club is twinned. 

At league level, Charlie had been on the Gosport & Fareham Committee for a number of years 

holding several positions including that of Chairman and inevitably his main area of expertise was 

with coaching and he had been the Coaching and Development Officer since 1995. 

A member of the ETTA Management Committee from 2008-11 being Vice-Chairman of Coaching 

during this time, Charlie was on many ETTA committees, as well as earlier holding posts on the South 

Regional Coaching Committee. It was only last year, 2019, that Charlie was elected by the 

membership to the Board of TTE as a Non-Executive Director and once again his knowledge and 

expertise were an invaluable asset to the Board and several of their committees. Charlie had 

previously been on the Board of British Para Table Tennis from 2015–19 but when he took up his 

new role with TTE did not want to spread his time too thinly so resigned that position. 

Passionate and knowledgeable, Charlie made a huge impact within his county and region and further 

afield. His presence will be missed in many different ways and by many people. 

Ronnie ‘Ron’ Allcock 

England International, Ron Allcock, passed away on 20 th March 2020. 

Ronnie born in Moston, Manchester on 16 th April 1929 and he first started 

playing table tennis when he was 15 years old and was coached by Stan 

Proffitt at that hot bed of table tennis in the north, Manchester YMCA. 

Such was the strength of the players at the YMCA that Ronnie was 

selected for England, Lancashire and Manchester before he made the 

YMCAs 1 st team. 

It wasn’t long before Ronnie’s talent was recognised shortly after joining the YMCA and he played 

his first representative match in the Lancashire League for Manchester ‘A’ against Blackpool on 25 th 

November 1947, winning his Men’s Doubles match with S Levy. Two years later and Ronnie made his 

county debut for Lancashire against Warwickshire. Much of the intervening time had been spent in 

the Army carrying out his National Service although some tournament play had been possible. One 

successful occasion was at the East of England Open in September 1948 when Ronnie reached the 

final of the Men’s Singles having beaten the talented youngster, Michael Thornhill. 

After leaving the Army, Ronnie, practiced daily to make up for lost time in the forces and this proved 

to be invaluable as he made his mark on many tournaments in the North and Midlands. His results 

brought him to the attention of the England Selectors and Ronnie made his international debut on 

10 th November 1949 against Ireland in Belfast. The team won 8-1 and Ronnie won his Men’s Singles 

and Doubles with Wally Poole. Ronnie’s last international appearance was in 1958 against 

Yugoslavia in London, a challenging fixture which England lost 7-3, despite losing his singles matches, 

Ronnie with Johnny Leach overcame the Yugoslavian pair to take the doubles. 

The Wilmott Cup proved a popular and rewarding competition for Ronnie and his Manchester 

League team mates as they won three times, in 1956, 1958 and 1959, they were also Runners-up in 

1951 and 1957. Most of the players in the finals and many earlier rounds were senior internationals 

and so it was a considerable achievement to be so successful. 


23

The English Open proved another rewarding competition with Ronnie’s most successful year being 

1956 when he was a Semi-finalist with Adele Wood (later Mrs Pettifer) and reached the Quarterfinals 

with Cliff Booth. Altogether he played in seven Open Championships between 1947 and 1961, 

in that first Championships Ronnie played with Harold Evans who later went on to become the Editor 

of the Sunday Times and with whom Ronnie had a lifelong friendship. 

A regular on the open tournament circuit, Ronnie had many successes in senior singles and doubles 

as well as in the junior age category at the beginning of his table tennis career. He often partnered 

Ronnie Baker and Adele Wood and also Jean Titterington and when in 1953 Jean suffered horrific 

injuries in an accident on the way home from a match, Ronnie was there to play in a benefit match 

for the 18 year old. He beat Johnny Leach in this match or as described in the press gave him a 

drubbing 21-12, 21-15. Five years later and he was a participant in another benefit match, this time 

for the Manchester United Air Disaster Fund. 

Manchester was Ronnie’s home city where he won at least eight titles in their Closed 

Championships, no mean feat when there were frequently at least three internationals as well as at 

least nine county players in the Men’s Singles events with total event entries of 500. He gained his 

coaching qualifications in the city and they proved of great success with perhaps the highlight of his 

time as a coach being at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Filey in 1956 where he met his future wife, Tina, 

she was working as a Redcoat in the entertainments department as a dancer at that time. 

Ronnie carried on playing table tennis for over 30 years but at the end of the 1973/74 season 

decided to call it a day despite still playing in the Premier Division in Doncaster. A strong attacking 

player with what was described as probably the hardest hitter of a table tennis ball in the world. 

The words of former Scottish International, Brian Kean, much better describe Ron and are a 

wonderful tribute to him: “I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Ron Allcock who was one 

of a breed of Manchester’s and England’s great players. 

I first saw Ron at the YMCA in Manchester who along with top players like Jack Clayton...Derek 

Schofield...Jeff Ingber...Benny Casofsky...Vince Hankey and Kevin Forshaw all players of the highest 

quality and a great inspiration to players of my generation. 

One of my vivid memories of Ron was seeing him use what can be best described as a bath sponge 

bat. This was a bat that was thicker than Piers Morgan’s skin and would defy current regulations by a 

couple of inches. One of its overwhelming features was the silence when striking the ball. It was 

however quickly superceded by the advent of the reverse rubber bats which still prevails today (albeit 

with great chemical enhancements) 

I become more acquainted with Ron when on behalf of the Manchester League provided coaching 

sessions at the Greengate and Irwell Rubber Company. It was at these sessions I first met a larger 

than life character in both personality and appearance called John Hilton from Hyde Lads Club. 

I often get into heated discussions with fellow committee members in our local league over their lack 

of commitment to youth development and ask them to give the thought to legacy they will leave. 

Ron along with all the aforementioned were a great inspiration to my generation and rather than 

treat us as threats to their status they engaged and encouraged us and one couldn’t ask for a better 

legacy”. 

Our condolences go to all family and friends. 


24

From Ping-Pong to Table Tennis England 

By Alan Duke 

This article is not an attempt to explore the history of over 100 years of table tennis in England (now 

that would be a huge undertaking), but, at what would seem an appropriate time (see later!), to look 

at the formation of the various governing bodies as reported in contemporary newspaper articles. 

The idea for playing tennis on a table, using makeshift equipment and the ever-present dining table, 

probably occurred to many households following the popularisation of lawn tennis in the mid-1870s. 

This was a time when indoor games (parlour games) were hugely popular in Victorian households, 

with inventors continually trying to come up with something new for the market, including the 

miniaturisation of popular outdoor games, with in some cases table versions! 

In 1891 sets were marketed specifically for the game (e.g. Jaques’ Gossima and Spalding’s Indoor 

Tennis), but after the craze which followed the introduction in 1900 of 

Hamley’s/Jaques’ Ping-Pong (importantly, using a celluloid ball), there 

were soon calls for a governing body to be set up in order to standardise 

the various different rules and scoring systems e.g. “I would suggest the 

great desirability of … clubs at once banding together to form a league or 

association, with a view to ensuring uniformity as regards the rules and 

regulations of the game … and the elevation of a mere drawing-room amusement up to the status of a 

scientific national pastime. With this object in view I would further suggest that a conference be held 

in London at an early date of delegates from existing table tennis clubs and others interested.” (Walter 

Harrison, Secretary of the Cavendish Ping-Pong Club, Lawn Tennis and Croquet, 3 April 1901) 

1 THE TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION 

“At a meeting held in London on Dec. 12, 1901 [at the Royal Aquarium], the above association was 

formed to meet the need that has been felt for a central association, whose business it shall be to frame 

rules which shall be recognised as authoritative, and generally to govern and promote the true 

interests of the popular game of table tennis.” A provisional committee was appointed (with George 

H Mennell as honorary secretary pro tem), and a general meeting arranged for 3 January, 1902, at 

Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street, London. (Lawn Tennis and Croquet, 1 January 1902) 

2 THE PING-PONG ASSOCIATION 

As soon as one association is formed, along comes another! “A meeting of ping-pong players, 

including the representatives of several clubs, was held on Monday evening [16 December 1901] at 8 

and 9, Queen-street, Cheapside [“The Golden Fleece”], to consider the advisability of forming a Ping- 

Pong Association. … Mr. G. Washington Gray moved that an Association, to be called "The Ping 

Pong Association," be formed. This was unanimously agreed to. … Mr. O. Roberts was elected hon. 

secretary” [although two days later, the Yorkshire Post reported the hon. secretary as Mr G 

Washington Gray, 38 Golden Square, London, W]. (The Sporting Life, 18 December 1901) 

Immediately, there was a backlash regarding the formation of two governing bodies! For example: 

“Whilst recognising the various interests involved, and the perfect right of individual Clubs to play 

"Ping Pong" or "Table Tennis," we cannot think that the best interests of two games––so essentially 

alike––are served by the governance of two distinct and independent associations.” (Table Tennis and 

Pastimes Pioneer, 18 January 1902) 


25

3 THE UNITED ASSOCIATION 

AMALGAMATION OF THE T.T.A. AND THE P.P.A. 

We are able to announce that the amalgamation of the two associations hitherto governing the game 

has now been accomplished. The thanks of all lovers of this active indoor pastime are due to those 

who have taken much trouble in achieving the union. A meeting of the joint committee will, we 

understand, shortly take place, when the points of difference and of weakness in the laws will be, it is 

hoped, amicably and satisfactorily settled. The following resolutions were passed at each of the 

special general meetings of the Table Tennis Association and of the Ping Pong Association on Dec. 

23, 1902, and on Jan. 16, 1903, respectively:–– There followed a full list of the terms, of which 

probably the most important were: 1. That this meeting agrees to an amalgamation of the Table 

Tennis Association and the Ping Pong Association, provided that the same can be accomplished so as 

to leave the United Association free from trade influence. 3. That complete amalgamation take place 

on May 1, 1903. (Lawn Tennis and Croquet, 4 February, 1903) 

Later in the year there were a couple of rare references to the combined Association (at least 

confirming that the planned merger would appear to have been completed). The Sportsman of 17 th 

September published the Notice: “Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association, Special General 

Meeting, at the Arcadian Restaurant, Queen Street, E.C. 7pm”, that evening. Then on 21 st September, 

the Scottish Referee reported: “A special general meeting of the United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong 

Association took place on Thursday to consider the … service law.” 

But by this time, the initial craze had calmed down considerably (for which the existence of two 

associations is sometimes put forward as a contributory factor), until the ‘revival’ of the game in the 

1920s. 

4 The Revival of THE PING-PONG ASSOCIATION 

In an article in Table Tennis World on 5 December 1931, Percy Bromfield wrote: “A bolt from the 

blue came along in the form of an advertisement in an evening paper in 1921 by a 

Mr. Davies asking if the game was played in London and were there any of the old 

players still playing. This brought answers from a Mr. Payne, of Luton, and myself 

among others. We met––we played––and the dormant spark burst into flame 

again.” 

I believe this reference to be to the following appeal, which appeared in the Sports 

Gossip columns of the Evening News on 26 March: 

To Ping-pongists. 

A “Ping-pongist of the strenuous type” is anxious to meet fellow-enthusiasts at the game through 

Sports Gossip. Presumably this reader is anxious to assist in the formation of a club to aid in the 

revival of this “scoffed at” but really fast and excellent game. 

My correspondent remarks that he is unable to play winter lawn tennis, but finds that P.P. keeps his 

arm well in for the lawn tennis swing. 

Bromfield continued: “Following the example of Mr. Davies we advertised asking all enthusiasts to 

meet at Slaters in the Strand on a specified date. The date came along as dates have a habit of doing 

and when we three arrived the place was packed. We addressed the meeting and arranged to meet 


26

again with the idea of forming another Association. So in 1921 I was elected President and Mr. Payne 

Secretary (positions which we both held for many years), and the new Association came into being.” 

This second ‘advertisement’ would then have been the follow-up below, published on 11 May in the 

same newspaper columns: 

A Ping-Pong Association? 

A FEW weeks back a number of ping-pong enthusiasts got into touch with one another through this 

column, and as a result of their deliberations a revived ping-pong association is now mooted. 

“What we want to trace,” writes one of these gentlemen, “is the old ‘Ping-Pong Association.’ It was 

running during the last craze, 18 to 20 years ago. Surely there are some of the officials still alive and 

kicking. There seems no doubt that the game will come into general favour again next winter, and an 

association is badly needed again for all our clubs to look for guidance. My friends and I are quite 

ready to give any help we can if we can find the man that knows the ‘ropes’ of the old association. 

They used to run public open tournaments and championships, etc. This is what we want again.” 

Ping-Pong Revival. 

"Ping-Pong clubs are being formed all over London, and the old craze is coming back fast." This is 

the assurance given us by the secretary of the Ping-Pong Association, which has just been revived 

after lapsing into a state of coma somewhere about 1903. 

The meeting which decided to resuscitate the association was held recently in London, when Mr. J. 

P. Bromfield, of Shepherd’s Bush, was elected chairman, and Mr. J. J. Payne, of 55 Biscot-road, 

Luton, the honorary secretary and treasurer. (Evening Standard, 14 November, 1921) 

Whilst I have not yet found a newspaper report with the exact date of the meeting, this can fairly 

safely be assumed to be 7 November, 1921, as shown in the 1922 Accounts of the Ping Pong 

Association, and is thus the date from which, with a few name changes along the way, a 

continuous line can be traced to the present day (indicating that a Centenary is imminent!). 

5 THE TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION 

PING PONG 

––––– 

GAME TO BE GIVEN MORE DIGNIFIED TITLE 

One of the results of the new boom in table tennis is the decision by the governing body of the game 

to discard the former name of "ping pong" for a new and more dignified title. This decision was 

reached at an extraordinary general meeting of the Ping Pong Association held yesterday [2 

November, 1922] in London [George Hotel, Strand]. 

The chief points raised against the title of "ping pong" were:–– 

(1) That it was a registered trade-mark giving the proprietors a strangle-hold on the game; and 

(2) That it was a flippant and undignified name giving no indication of the speed, accuracy, skill, 

and stamina required by its competent exponents. (Birmingham Daily Gazette, 3 November, 1922 


27

"Ping-pong," the game which created such a craze nearly twenty years ago, is to die, and is 

henceforth to be known throughout the country by the more dignified and popular title of "table 

tennis." Such was the decision almost unanimously agreed upon at a meeting of the Ping-Pong 

Association in London. 

A new Table Tennis Association has been started, with offices in London, the secretary of the 

defunct body and practically the whole of the Executive taking office on the new Association. 

(Dundee Courier, 7 Nov. 1922) 

6 ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION 

In 1924-5, a National Delegate Conference authorised the 

overhauling of this latter body [the TTA], and in 1926 the books and 

papers were handed to a representative emergency committee. 

(Handbook of the English Table Tennis Association, 1927-8) 

In 1926, the revised regulations were circularised in the provinces, and arrangements were made to 

call a National Delegate Conference. This was held in London [at the Indian Students Hostel, Gower 

Street], on April 24th 1927, and the new constitution, which confirmed the provisional appointments 

and provided for the new title "The English Table Tennis Association", was adopted. (Handbook of 

the English Table Tennis Association, 1931-32) 

7 TABLE TENNIS ENGLAND 

And finally (for the moment anyway!), whilst the legal company name remains as 

English Table Tennis Association Ltd, the ETTA was recently ‘rebranded’. “Table 

Tennis England officially launched on May 19th, 2014.” (Table Tennis England news 

article, 23 May 2014). 

With grateful thanks to Diane Webb and Colin Clemett for information and help, and to Gerald Gurney for 

allowing me to photograph much of his collection, including the very rare Gossima set illustrated. 

To all those who work in the National Health Service particularly front line 

workers and everyone who is keeping the country going, we thank you. 

Thank you, too, for the many acts of kindness that abound throughout the 

country, it is a tribute to how adversity can be dealt with. 

Our heartfelt sympathy goes to all who have been bereaved or who are 

struggling in these difficult times. 


28

The Good News Page 

 

PG Mutual who had sponsored all age groups at the National Championships for the last 

three years did not renew their sponsorship this season. Fortunately, Mark Bates Ltd. 

stepped into the breach just over a month before the Championships started with a five year 

package. Many of you will know Mark from his time as Dad and chief supporter of his 

daughter, Emily, who was an England international a few years ago and a former Women’s 

Doubles Champion. Even better news was that Mark increased Table Tennis England’s prize 

fund by 25% which meant the Singles Champions received £1,000 each and the Runners-up 

£500, Semi-finalists and Quarter-finalists also benefitted in the Singles as did the Champions, 

Runners-up and Semi-finalists in all Doubles events and the Under 21s. The finalists of the 

Invitation Para events benefitted too. 

Qatar Open 2020. Paul Drinkhall & Liam Pitchford. 


The Qatar Open saw two 

wonderful successes for English 

players. Paul Drinkhall and Liam 

Pitchford reached the finals of the 

Men’s Doubles where they lost 3-1 

to China’s Ma Long (WR 3) and Xu 

Xin (WR 1). Pitchford then went on 

to be the losing finalist in the 

Men’s Singles beating Xu Xin in the 

Semi-finals but losing out to Fan 

Zhendong (WR 2) in the final. 

Superb achievements and 

impressive performances from 

them both. 

 

Congratulations to Andrew Baggaley on 

winning the World Championships of Ping 

Pong Tournament at Alexandra Palace in 

January for the fourth time, taking home 

prize money of $20,000. As someone once 

said to me “it may not be proper table tennis 

but it is proper money!” 

 

Congratulations, too, to Timo Boll who won 

the European Top 16 tournament for the 

seventh time to equal the record of 

legendary Swede, Jan-Ove Waldner. Petrissa 

Solja made it a double for Germany as she 

successfully defended her title. Liam 

Andrew Baggaley, WCPP Champion 2020. 

Photo by Roger Hance 

Pitchford finished in 5 th -8 th position defeating Swiss entrant, Lionel Weber (WR 152) in the 

first round before succumbing to Timo Boll -4, -7, -8, -7 in his second match. The tournament 

was again held in that delightful city on Lake Geneva, Montreux from 8 th -9 th February 2020. 

Table Tennis Times18: Spring 2020 

29

Events Calendar 

Due to the current situation all events are temporarily suspended or cancelled by the ITTF, ETTU and 

Table Tennis England. It is hoped a conclusion can be reached in some TTE team events which are 

part way through the season and played over more than one weekend, such as the British League 

and County Championships, but there can be no guarantee as to when or if these matches will take 

place or when play will resume. 

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo due to start on 24 th July 2020 and 25 th August 2020 are 

now planned to commence on 23 rd July 2021 and 24 th August 2021 respectively. 

The World Table Tennis Championships which should have taken place in Busan, South Korea 

starting 22 nd March 2020 have been postponed and the ITTF have provisionally set new dates for 

27 th September-4 th October 2020. Similarly, the World Veteran Championships which were due to 

take place in Bordeaux from 8 th -14 th June 2020 have now been re-arranged for 26 th April-2 nd May 

2021. 

A whole tranche of other tournaments from local to national to international are also affected. 

More details and updates can be found on the ITTF, ETTU and TTE websites. 

Many AGMs either have been, or are likely to be, postponed too. 

Cardiff Satellite Grand Prix 

This is the only tournament of note not reported elsewhere; it seems a long time ago now. 

The pre-Christmas Cardiff Satellite GP took place at the Sport Wales National Centre over the 

weekend of 21 st -22 nd December 2019, the last major tournament of 2019. The Women’s Singles was 

won by Lu Ying with Welsh lady, Chloe Thomas, in Runners-up spot. The Men’s Singles title went to 

Jiaji Wu with Welshman, Callum Evans taking second place. There were good performances from 

English players in the U21 events which went to England’s Millie Rogove and Sam Wilson. Rogove 

had won Women’s Band 3 on the first day of the tournament and Megan Gidney of England took the 

Band 1 title. 

Our Contact Details 

Diane and Harvey Webb Tel: 01424 216342 

Pine Edge 

12 Salvington Crescent Email: DianeK1414@hotmail.co.uk 

Bexhill-on-Sea 

HarveyWebb17@gmail.com 

East Sussex 

TN39 3NP 

Table Tennis Times18: Spring 2020 

30

TTT 18. Spring 2020. Pdf Final.

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?