Ritchie Venner has been elected to fill the vacancy of Elected Director on the Table Tennis England Board.

The vote and count were carried out electronically, checked and verified by the Returning Officer Caroline Williams and scrutineers Paul Nicholls and Jim Palmer.

Votes were cast by Company Members and the ballot result was as follows:

• Ritchie Venner 216
• Michael Bishop 71
• Darren Morgan 41

In total, 250 Company Members (Directors and those representing their counties and leagues) were eligible to cast votes and, of those, 140 did so – a turnout of 56%. As Company Members each represent a different number of vote units, the percentage of eligible votes cast was 52%.

Ritchie joins his wife Susie Venner and Don Parker as the Elected Directors on the Board. He will take up his position immediately and, subject to the relevant resolution passing at the AGM, will be in post for a four-year period.

Table Tennis England Chairman Sandra Deaton said: “I’d like to welcome Ritchie to the Board and wish him all the best in his role as he helps us to lead the sport forward for the benefit of all our members, current and future.”

Ritchie, whose father Harry was an England international and renowned coach, has played in local leagues for 45 years, was ranked in the top 20 in England seniors for more than 20 years and played for Sussex at junior, senior and veteran level. He is a multiple national champion in the O/40s and O/50s VETTS events.

Ritchie said: “I am delighted to be elected by the members to represent them and table tennis on the Board of Table Tennis England. I have loved this sport all my life and it has given me so much enjoyment over the years that I want to help others to achieve their table tennis goals, whether playing at a social level, competing in leagues, counties and tournaments; or striving for international successes.

“Before the election, I said that I would always have the best interests of our sport and our players at the forefront of everything I did – and I intend to keep that promise. I’m happy to talk to anyone about any aspect of the sport and I’m sure we can all work together – players, members, volunteers, staff and Board members – to achieve the best for our table tennis community.

“I’d like to thank the other two people – Mike Bishop and Darren Morgan – for also throwing their hats in the ring during this election. Table tennis can never have enough volunteers and everyone who steps forward should be respected and applauded.

“I am humbled and very grateful that our members have put their faith in me in this way. Thank you – and I look forward to seeing many of you at a match or a tournament in the not too distant future when we can all get back to playing again.”