Table Tennis England Chief Executive Adrian Christy is a category winner in the CEO of the Year Awards, reflecting the association’s greater focus on major events and commercial opportunities since he has been in post.

Adrian was named Racket Sport CEO of the Year – England for 2023 by CEO Monthly magazine, with the news shared with the magazine’s circulation of senior business leaders from every major industry and sector.

Adrian said: “I am delighted to accept, as this is a reflection on the fantastic work undertaken by our staff, Board and wider volunteer network who have been incredible during my time here.”

Since taking over as Chief Executive of Table Tennis England in early 2022, Adrian has overseen the launch of the Table Tennis United strategy and played a key role in securing the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 to be staged in London – part of a Major Events Strategy which will see regular international events hosted by England, including the first WTT event to be held in this country in February 2024.

As part of that strategy, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) CEO Steve Dainton and WTT General Manager Europe, Jonny Cowan, recently visited the Table Tennis England headquarters in Milton Keynes to meet Adrian. The are pictured above (left to right: Steve Dainton, Adrian Christy, Jonny Cowan).

The WTT Feeder Manchester and the Centenary World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026 were on the agenda.

Coming hot on the heels of London being awarded the right to host the 2026 Worlds and the unveiling of the Manchester event as the first WTT event to be held in this country, it heralds an exciting time ahead for English table tennis as regular world-class events return to our country.

Steve said: “Feeder is one of the tiers in the WTT series and a great first step to take for a country starting to come into our World Table Tennis universe, so to speak, and to start having international events again.

“Our plan is that this is just the first and we will bring higher tiers here leading up and after the World Championships.

“We’ve had a big push in the commercial area with the creation of World Table Tennis over the last few years and trying to host bigger, bolder events but with a more commercial mindset.

“Slowly but surely, after the pandemic, we’ve got them up and running. Now we’re trying to build that into what we do with the World Table Tennis Championships in England and set up a series of WTT events over the next 10, 20, 30 years so it’s not just the one-time World Championships.

“We’d have a bunch of World Table Tennis events and then it’s to build the commercial business around those events, whether that’s from ticketing, sponsorship, event hosting – and try to have those events all around the country, leading up to the World Championships to stimulate interest in that event, but also capitalising on having the World Championships and getting more people around England to be able to participate or spectate in those new events.”

Adrian said: “We were delighted to welcome Steve and Jonny to Milton Keynes during what I know was a very busy travel schedule for them.

“The recent major event announcements are so exciting for table tennis in this country and we cannot wait to welcome players and fans from around the world.

“We are equally excited to use these events as a platform to grow table tennis, both in local communities and through the increased awareness and visibility of world class table tennis coming to England.”

Also included in the discussions were the opportunities to create a lasting legacy from the Worlds, build commercial opportunities around them and ensure they meet high standards of sustainability.