Paris 2024, the greatest sporting show on earth, provided some glittering experiences and memories for players, officials, volunteers and supporters, dominating the summer as we continue our review of 2024.

Click here to read part one of our review of 2024.

July started with the Team GB announcement that Liam Pitchford would compete at his fourth Olympics, joining Anna Hursey in the GB line-up having qualified by virtue of world ranking.

Soon after, an 11-strong Paralympics GB team was named, spearheaded by previous gold medallists Will Bayley and Rob Davies.

Also preparing for Paris were Tom Purcell, who was selected to umpire at the Paralympics, and Howard Brialey, who had the key volunteer role of call room manager for both the Olympics and Paralympics.

From the City of Love to the Eternal City – English trio Ray Dixon, Betty Bird and Simon Heaps were gold medallists at the ITTF World Masters Championships in Rome.

And in Sweden, at the European Youth Championships, Abraham Sellado narrowly missed out on a medal, losing to the top seed in the Cadet Boys’ Singles quarter-finals.

And so to the action in Paris, comprising almost five weeks across two blocks in July, August and September.

There was English involvement in the Olympics Men’s Singles gold medal match as Nico Caltabiano, who was nominated by Table Tennis England to officiate at the Olympics, was one of the two umpires as Fan Zhendong took on Truls Moregard, an experience Nico described as “beyond a dream”.

There was a big achievement in the commentary box too, where Table Tennis England Director Don Parker notched up a perfect 10 Olympic appearances calling the shots for television.

There were no Olympic table tennis medals for Team GB, but it did not take too many days of the Paralympics for British athletes to get on to the podium – and it was Fliss Pickard & 14-year-old Bly Twomey who delivered, in the women’s class 14 doubles event.

They were soon joined by Billy Shilton & Paul Karabardak, who matched that bronze medal feat in the corresponding men’s class.

When the singles got under way, it was Twomey again leading the way as she took bronze in the women’s class 7, losing out to the world and European champion in five games in the semi-finals.

Rob Davies and Will Bayley were both aiming to repeat their gold medals from the 2016 Rio Games and Davies was the first to reach the final, where he had to settle for silver as Cuba’s Yunier Fernandez took the gold in men’s class 1.

The next day saw Bayley in his fourth successive class 7 final and it was a spellbinding match as he was edged out 11-9 in the fifth by China’s Yan Shuo.

Providing photos from the Paralympics was Michael Loveder, well know to the English table tennis community, and in August it was announced that Michael had been appointed Table Tennis England Official Photographer for the 2024/25 season.

Inspiring people to take up sport is a key aim of the Olympics and Paralympics, and for another source of inspiration, look no further than Stilton TTC in Cambridgeshire. The club did not exist less than 10 years ago but now has 80 members and offers competitive and social playing opportunities. Watch the video below to see how they do it.

For the final word on Paris 2024, volunteers Howard Brialey and Debbie Oram spoke of their amazing memories that will live forever.

The excitement of Paris may have ended, but there was plenty more making the news in September, including Olympic gold medal match umpire Nico Caltabiano becoming one of only 23 umpires around the world to receive Gold Badge status, making him one of the highest-ranked officials.

Following Nico on to the international stage were several other English umpires, including Sandy Nash, who was selected to officiate at the World Parkinson’s Championships and World Alzheimer’s Championships in France.

Vincenzo Chiarello and Swee Kiat Lim umpired at their first international event in Montenegro – read more in Vincenzo’s blog.

Meanwhile, table tennis’ status as a sport for all, for life was underscored by Edna Fletcher MBE of Bracecamp TTC in Great Yarmouth, who spoke of her desire to improve, even as she turned 99 years old.

The sport’s mental health benefits were to the fore in October as ‘stress-busting’ sessions aiming to combat social isolation were highlighted in our film from the Over-50s Black Men Forum in Luton – watch below.

A huge milestone was reached in our partnership with the Jack Petchey Foundation, which has now inspired 100,000 young people in London and Essex to play table tennis.

Table Tennis England appointed a new CEO, with Sally Lockyer announced in the top role. On the international stage, England’s influence grew as Sandra Deaton and Richard Scruton were elected to key roles at the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU).

On the table, there was a first international singles gold medal for Shae Thakker at the French Para Open, while Chris Ryan took a doubles gold at the same event.

GB Olympians Liam Pitchford & Anna Hursey were unable to match the feat, missing a bronze medal as they went out in the quarter-finals of the Mixed Doubles at the European Championships in Austria.

There was a medley of medals for England at the PingPongParkinson World Championships in Slovenia in November, including gold for Gillian Lacey-Solymar. One of the medallists, Rob Cook, wrote this blog about the Championships.

Table Tennis England signed a partnership agreement with Sheffield Hallam University which will see athletes at the Elite Training Centre in the city receive world-class sports science support.

Staying with the performance team, our Head of Performance Development, Gavin Evans, spoke at length about his role and ambitions in the latest in our Time Out feature – watch below.

In December, Stilton TTC welcomed their local MP – the youngest in the House of Commons and the first to be born this century – to a Bat & Chat session.

Outgoing CEO Adrian Christy left us with a revealing Time Out interview (below).