120 YEARS SINCE TABLE TENNIS IN NEW SOUTH WALES FIRST BEGAN

In Sydney on 10 June 1902, at a meeting arranged by the New South Wales Sports Club Limited, the first State table tennis association was formed.  It was named the New South Wales Table Tennis Association and it was affiliated with the New South Wales Sports Club.  On 10 Jun 2022, it will be 120 years since the formation of that first association.

Vice President of TTNSW, Ted Davis said: “TTNSW is proud of its achievements while we grew with Australia, and served Australia and New South Wales. We wish to thank the TTNSW community for their concerted effort to capture and celebrate the rich history of Table Tennis in NSW. In particular we wish to thank Marie Pinkewich, TTA Board Member, for her tireless work on this and other recording projects.”

Ted continued: “2021 is a great year for TTNSW, and it’s important to review our great achievements throughout the year. The highlights of our achievements in 2021 include, but are not limited to as following:”

Four icons of TTNSW were awarded the 2021 TTA Volunteer Awards on 10 Dec 2021, and the awards recognize the remarkable achievements of table tennis volunteers making a significant and genuine contribution to the sport in Australia.

Joy and Tom Boyd OAMs received the 50 Years of Service to Table Tennis Award; Theo Morsink received the 25 Years of Service to Table Tennis Award, and Stephen Gillespie received the Fran Keyhoe Official of the Year Award.

TTA’s oldest Life Member, Cecil Shaw from NSW, celebrated his 100th birthday on 27 Aug 2021. TTA presented Cecil with a National Team shirt with the wording ‘100 NOT OUT’ on the back to mark the occasion.

21 April 2021 marks the 50-year anniversary of the 1971 Australian Ping Pong Diplomacy Tour to China, where an Australian table tennis delegation with players of Anne Middleton, Paul Pinkewich, Steve Knapp; coach of Noel Shorter; and Team Manager and the President of Australian Table Tennis Association (the former of Table Tennis Australia until 1994) of Dr John Jackson travelled to China for competitions, training and cultural exchange.

TTNSW not only has a proud history of producing national champions and Australian representatives in international competitions, it also has a proud of history of providing Australia’s first diplomats to China.

Both Noel Shorter and Paul Pinkewich are life members of TTNSW and life members of TTA. Their historic visit was the starting point of the establishment of relations with China and Australia. It is unbelievable that Noel and Paul shook hands with the Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai before Gough Whitlam and Richard Nixon.

TTNSW qualified two athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Chris Yan officially represented Australia at 2 Olympic Games, and Michelle Bromley is the first New South Wales born and grown female Olympian in Australian table tennis history.

Stephen Gillespie from TTNSW honourably served as the Deputy Referee of Tokyo Paralympics, and he is the second official from NSW to serve in the Olympics and Paralympics since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the first official from NSW to serve in the Olympics and Paralympics since the 2012 London Olympic Games.

TTNSW junior player Yangzi Liu with a group of 8 Australian athletes and National Head Coach John Murphy undertook a hugely successful European Tour winning 4 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. As a result, big improvements in world rankings of number 6 in Under 19 Girls were realized.

TTNSW junior player Mingxuan Nie won the Gold Medal of U19 Girls Team at 2021 US Open Table Tennis Championships on 22 Dec 2021.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has changed the format and qualification process for the 2021 World Youth Championships compared to previous years, and players are now offered positions by ITTF based solely on world rankings.

TTNSW junior player Chulong Nie is the only player selected from NSW by ITTF to represent Australia for the 2021 World Youth Championships in the following events: Under 19 Boys Teams, Under 15 Boys Singles and Under 15 Mixed Doubles.

Eight TTNSW junior players were selected into the 2021 National Hopes Squad on 10 May 2021: Dorothy Chen, Elina Chen, Lily Zhang, Sophia Zhou, Daisy Xie, Nathan Chan, Andrew Li and Leonard Piyachai.

Three TTNSW clubs/associations were successful in their applications of the 2021TTA Equipment and Facilities Grants Program: Forestville Table Tennis Association, Illawarra District Table Tennis Association and Kiama Table Tennis Club.

TTNSW Junior players Hwan Bae and Angela Wang have been accepted as the recipients of the Commonwealth Games NSW (CGNSW) Athlete Grant of $1000 each for 2021.

TTNSW membership grew strongly in 2021 with the 2241 member mark being surpassed.  There are 25 TOPS coaches, 22 Level 1 coaches, 4 Level 2 coaches and 1 Level 3 coach were accredited by TTA in 2021. TTNSW junior player Alice Lee became the youngest TTA Level 1 coach in Australia table tennis history.

President of TTNSW, Tony Aduckiewicz, congratulated the great achievements of TTNSW in 2021.

Tony said: “2021 is a challenging year for the table tennis communities in NSW, Australia and globally, but we overcame all unforeseen difficulties and barriers and achieved the most success in 2021.”

Tony continued: “2021 is a great year for the NSW table tennis community. I would like to offer sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to our great sport throughout the year.  On 10 Jun 2022, it will be 120 years since organised table tennis in New South Wales first began.”

David Lee and Michael Li wish to gratefully acknowledge Marie Pinkewich, TTA Board Member, Table Tennis New South Wales, Table Tennis Australia and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).