Richard Scruton and Ed Warner have been appointed to two key positions which will underpin Table Tennis England’s major events strategy, built around and beyond the World Team Table Tennis Championship being staged in London in 2026 as the global table tennis family comes together to celebrate the centenary of our wonderful sport.

Richard (pictured above left) has been appointed Chair of the newly established company, Table Tennis International Events Ltd, which has responsibility for the oversight and delivery of the exciting calendar of major events planned to be hosted in England, while Ed (above right) becomes Chair of the Event Delivery Board for the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026.

Richard is a table tennis man through and through. He has an exemplary career in major events which includes being the Competition Manager for the table tennis event at London 2012 and also the Technical Delegate for table tennis at Birmingham 2022. He was also Secretary-General of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) until retiring in 2022.

After an executive career in the City, Ed Warner has chaired a variety of businesses in the sporting and financial services sectors, including 10 years at UK Athletics and was Chair of the organising committee of the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London’s Olympic Stadium. He is also Chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and recently oversaw the staging of the 2023 Wheelchair Rugby European Championships at the Principality Stadium.

The positions they take up are critical to leading a unique and prestigious, world-class major international sport event portfolio, including the ‘jewel in the crown’ – the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 in London.

With recruitment of the Chairs complete, work will soon begin to build out the representation on both Boards.

Richard said: “I am looking forward to working with Board colleagues and key stakeholders to establish England as a home for world-class table tennis and to increase the visibility and awareness of our sport at a time of significant table tennis global development and with the ITTF Centenary World Team Championships at Wembley just two years from now.”

Ed Warner said: “I love big sporting events, and there will be none bigger for table tennis in 2026 than these Centenary World Championships.

“London is a fantastic host for global sport and I look forward to working with the city and Table Tennis England to deliver a jaw-droppingly fantastic celebration of world class table tennis. See you at Wembley!”

Table Tennis England CEO Adrian Christy said: “I would firstly like to congratulate Richard and Ed on their respective appointments. They both bring outstanding talent and experience into our ambition to increase the visibility of table tennis in this country that will accelerate it further growth.

“The WTT Feeder Manchester at the beginning of February was a tremendous success and we have a strong platform to build into 2025, the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 in London and the presence of major international table tennis taking place every year from 2027.

“With Richard and Ed sharing our ambition, we have many years of excitement to look forward to.”