Karen Tonge MBE has been appointed as table tennis and para table tennis referee for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and will lead a strong and diverse group of English officials.

A vastly experienced referee, Karen (pictured above) was Competition Manager the last time the Commonwealth Games were held in England, in Manchester in 2002.

Alongside Karen, 18 English umpires will officiate at the Games, joining another 18 from around the Commonwealth.

Among the English umpires to have been selected are:

• Dan Bullen, who will become the first ever wheelchair user to umpire at the table tennis and para table tennis competition
• Dr Immad Qureshi, a Birmingham League player and local resident who joined the umpiring pathway after a Table Tennis England campaign to find more umpires before the Games
• Tom Konarski and Oliver Ingram, who will have both turned 18 just before the Games

Chris Newton, who has been co-ordinating the umpire training and selection process for Table Tennis England, said: “This is for sure our most diverse umpiring team at a major games.

“Table Tennis England has been working very closely with the Technical Officials’ Committee over the past three years getting this team qualified to the correct standard and then offering them sufficient ongoing CPD support to be ready and competent to deliver at the Games.

“I would like to thank all those established umpires and referees who have given their time to support our new batch of umpires on this journey and I look forward to seeing them perform in Birmingham this summer.” 

The full list of English officials is as follows:

Karen Tonge MBE (referee), Dan Bullen, Nico Caltabiano, Lyndon Griffiths, Oliver Ingram, Chloe Ireland, Brian Jackson, Harry Jutle, Tom Konarski, Kim Mudge, Beate Nicol, Jo Outhwaite, Dr Immad Qureshi, Lynda Reid, Joshua Reynolds, Linda Roff, Jenny Sanders, Lester Smith, Sheila Walshe.

All the selected officials will be officiating at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships at the end of March – click here to buy tickets.

Ticket sales have been going well for Birmingham 2022 but there are tickets currently available for most Table Tennis sessions. They start at just £8 for under 16s and £22 for adults. Find out more at birmingham2022.com