A world No 1, a world player of the year, a world cup winner and a world record – not to mention a historic qualification for the Paris Olympics . . . the first half of our review of 2024 features plenty of notable achievements.
The world cup winner was the first to take his place on the roll of honour as Ethan Walsh claimed the Under-23 Ping Pong World Cup in Mexico in January, beating the world No 1 on the way.
Ash Facey won two golds at the ITTF US Para Open in Texas and there was one for Megan Shackleton too.
On home ground, an important development in Table Tennis England and GB Table Tennis’ aspirations to win World and Olympic medals was announced with the news of a new Elite Training Centre (ETC) in Sheffield.
One of the coaches operating out of the ETC is John Murphy, and he took time out to talk to us about his career and what he can help English and British players to achieve – click here to watch the film on TTE.TV.
Also in the coaching landscape, February saw the first cohort of the SHEcoaches initiative start their journey towards becoming the next generation of female talent and performance coaches.
Paralympic superstar Will Bayley was named Male Para Player of the Year for 2023 at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Awards held in Busan, Korea Republic.
Chris Ryan, who led the GB wheelchair rugby team to Paralympic gold in Tokyo, won his first gold medal since switching to table tennis in 2022, in the doubles at the ITTF Brazilian Para Open. There was also a singles gold for Megan Shackleton.
Meanwhile, the inclusive nature of our sport was perfectly encapsulated at Halifax TTC, where sessions for refugees and asylum-seekers were thriving.
March is the month that domestic bragging rights are claimed at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships, and there were historic triumphs for Paul Drinkhall and Tin-Tin Ho, who claimed their respective seventh and sixth singles titles. Both were also involved in the winning doubles partnerships, alongside Sam Walker and Emily Bolton, while Walker & Ho won the Mixed Doubles, giving Ho a clean sweep of the three major titles.
Jack Hunter-Spivey and Ross Wilson were the para champions, while Connor Green and Tianer Yu won the under-21 honours.
Also at the Nationals the Pride of Table Tennis Awards winners were announced and had their moment in the spotlight on Finals Day, while new National Referees Dan Bullen and Matt Pryke were also presented with their qualifications.
Enjoy our Rewind show on YouTube:
Richard Scruton and Ed Warner were appointed to key positions which will underpin Table Tennis England’s major events strategy, built around hosting the 2026 Team World Championships.
With more than one eye now turning to the Paris 2024 Paralympics, GB athletes enjoyed a medal-laden month on the international circuit. Among them, Will Bayley and Fliss Pickard struck singles gold in Astana, Kazakhstan and there was also gold for Aaron McKibbin and Bly Twomey in Italy.
Billy Shilton topped the podium in Spain and there were golds for Pickard, Twomey and Megan Shackleton in Wladyslawowo, Poland.
April saw success on the international stage for David McBeath as he played a key role in helping Texas Smash to win the inaugural Major League Table Tennis title in the USA.
Wheelchair athlete Simon Heaps broke new ground by winning three medals at the Jordan Para Open in Amman.
With an eye on Paris 2024 in the summer, Paralympic champion Will Bayley and rising star Bly Twomey journeyed to the birthplace of the Paralympics when they caught up with a Brighton TTC club-mate at the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) at Stoke Mandeville.
Brighton made more headlines in May as they were crowned Senior British League, Premier Division champions. On the international scene, Dimitar Dimitrov became the under-11 world No 1 – and, in the film below, said he was focused on becoming even better.
At the ITTF Slovenia Para Open, there were gold medals for Will Bayley and Bly Twomey in the singles and Aaron McKibbin & Josh Stacey in the doubles.
June saw a glorious day out at a Buckingham Palace garden party for table tennis volunteers Gary Howes and Ken Eliot, who had received BEMs in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Dan Ives and Lloyd Gregory became table tennis world record holders after staging the longest rally ever, totalling more than 13-and-a-half hours.
The first SHEplays Girls’ Talent event saw 30 girls showcase their skills and receive expert coaching – with GB’s Anna Hursey providing extra stardust.
Which brings us neatly on to . . .
The road to Paris 2024
With the Olympics and Paralympics fast approaching, British representation was starting to be confirmed.
Anna Hursey’s qualification at the age of 17, claiming one of the five places available via the European Singles Qualification Tournament in Sarajevo, was momentous news, as she became the first Welsh table tennis athlete to qualify and the first British female since 1992 to qualify via that route.
Then, umpire Nico Caltabiano was one of just 20 umpires to be selected to officiate at the Olympics, having been nominated by Table Tennis England.
On the Paralympic side, GB athletes won no fewer than six gold medals across singles and doubles at the ITTF Czech Para Open.
However, three bronze medals were taken but the ultimate prize of automatic qualification for Paris eluded the British athletes at the Paralympic World Qualification Tournament in Thailand.
Read more about the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics in the second part of our review of the year tomorrow.