Gavin Evans has been appointed as Head of Performance Development following an extensive recruitment process.

Gavin had been in post on an interim basis since October and takes on the permanent role with immediate effect.

His mission will be to deliver a world-class performance pathway aimed at delivering Olympic success, as set out in the Table Tennis United strategy.

Table Tennis England Chief Executive Adrian Christy said: “Following a rigorous search that brought interest from across the world, we are delighted that Gavin has accepted the opportunity to lead our performance programme and ambitions to achieve future Olympic success.

“Gavin has done a fantastic job in recent months and presented a compelling application as to why he was the person to lead us on this exciting journey. We wish him every success.”

Gavin, a European Cadet champion and world Junior medallist, has been England men’s coach since 2019, led the GB team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and took England to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as to European and World Championships and the Team World Cup.  

He said: “I’m totally delighted. I had the normal nerves before the interview, because there were a lot of people who would have liked the opportunity, so I’m very grateful to the interview panel for giving it to me.

“The job now is to get on with the mission of becoming Olympic medallists, so we’ll be focusing on the structure that we need to create a world-class environment.

“I’ll work day and night to help the performance programme achieve what it is capable of and support the athletes and staff on the quest to be Olympic medallists.

“If we get all the pillars that underpin performance in place, then we’ve got a good chance. It’s incredibly difficult of course, and there’s never a guarantee, but we’ve first got to make sure the talent pathway is doing what it should be doing and is a special place to be.”

Recruitment is currently under way for a Head of Pathway Development and for two National Coaches to strengthen the performance team.