120 YEARS - TABLE TENNIS IN NEW SOUTH WALES GREW WITH AUSTRALIA

The Commonwealth of Australia was federated on 1 January 1901, and then on 10 June 1902, the first formation of the New South Wales Table Tennis Association was founded and it was affiliated with the New South Wales Sports Club, Limited. On 10 June 2022 it will be 120 years since organised Table Tennis in New South Wales first began.

                                          TTNSW Annual Reports 1931 - 2020

The Daily Telegraph reported: “A provisional committee, as follows, was elected to draft rules, etc., for submission at a future general meeting : - Messrs. H. M. Mackenzie (hon, secretary pro tem.), H. Elliott, J. Buchanan, L. Deane, R. Ward, T. H. Hicks, C. K. Robertson, and H. C. Holden.”

                                            Sports Hall, Sydney Olympic Park

             The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW, 1883 - 1930) - Page 8, 12 Jun 1902.

However, after those first few years of enthusiastic activity, interest in the sport waned until the middle of the 1920s when, on 30 Jun 1926, the City of Sydney Ping Pong Association was formed. The Referee reported: “At a recent meeting of delegates from several of the big city houses and Government Departments, it was decided to form a City of Sydney Ping Pong Association with a view to conducting teams' competitions and individual championships.”

                The Referee (Sydney, NSW, 1886 - 1939) - Page 13, 30 Jun 1926.

The New South Wales Ping Pong Association was formed on 30 March 1930. The Labor Daily reported on 25 March 1931: “THE annual meeting of the N.S.W. Ping Pong Association will be held at the Y.M.C.A. Hall, Pitt Street, on Monday, March 30. The Association was formed in March of last year, and already has a membership of about 140.”

Despite being referred to in the newspapers of the day as the “N.S.W. Ping Pong Association”, the second Annual Report covering the 1931-32 activities shows that the organisation was called the “New South Wales Table Tennis Association”. And, 91 years later, it is this organisation that is still in operation today.

                                 TTNSW Annual Reports 1931 & 1938

The New South Wales Table Tennis Association, along with the Queensland, South Australian and Victorian associations, affiliated with the national body in 1933 at the time of its formation and at which time it was called the “Australian Board of Control”.  In 1937, the Australian Board of Control was reconstructed into the Australian Table Tennis Association with Mr. Rees Aikman (N.S.W.) as its first President, and Mr. Ron H. Jones (Vic) as its first Secretary.

In 1987, the New South Wales Table Tennis Association was incorporated as the NSW Table Tennis Association Incorporated, a move which provides greater flexibility and certainly is in the best interest of the development of the sport.

                    TTNSW LOGO - 1937                            TTNSW LOGO - 2011

An annual New South Wales Open Tournament was first run in 1902, and with many champions over more than one century, a couple of players stand out from the rest. The first player is Paul Pinkewich. Paul won the Men’s Singles Title from 1971 to 2003 – an astonishing 11 times over a period of some 32 years – a feat which is unlikely to be ever matched again. Paul also has 23 NSW Doubles titles under his belt; 13 Men’s Doubles and 10 Mixed Doubles.

                                             Paul Pinkewich - 34 NSW Open Titles

The second player is Joy Boyd (formerly Joy Brown). Joy won three Women’s Singles titles in the period 1971 to 1974 but it is her Doubles record which is astonishing. Joy won 19 Doubles titles from 1964 to 1980; 10 Women’s Doubles titles and 9 Mixed Doubles titles. Nobody else comes close to matching the records of these two players.                                        

                                          Joy Boyd - 22 NSW Open Titles

TTNSW is the state governing body for the sport of table tennis in New South Wales and is a registered member of the national body for table tennis, Table Tennis Australia (TTA). There have been many persons who have sat on the Board as a committee or executive member – and indeed, there are 17 persons inducted as Life Members.

            Head Office, Table Tennis New South Wales, Sydney Olympic Park

However, it would be remiss not to note the outstanding services provided to the state body by Leonie Whiteford who has been Secretary from 1998 to the present day – a period of some 24 years. As a Treasurer, the service provided to the state body by Phil Males is from

1983 to 2009 – a period of some 22 years. It is unlikely to be ever matched for both of Leonie and Phil.

TTNSW Life Membership is the highest award that TTNSW can bestow upon an individual member in recognition of their exceptional, loyal and longstanding service to the Association and to the sport of table tennis in New South Wales.  Since the inception of TTNSW in 1930, only 17 people have been awarded TTNSW Life Membership.

Joy Boyd (formerly Brown) was awarded TTNSW Life Membership in1974, Paul Pinkewich was awarded TTNSW Life Membership in 1983, Leonie Whiteford was awarded TTNSW Life Membership in 2005, and Phil Males was awarded TTNSW Life Membership in 2011.

                                 Leonie Whiteford                                                  Phil Males

TTNSW maintains honour rolls for TTNSW Life Members (1960 - 2019), TTNSW Executive Officers (1903 - 2020), TTNSW Open Championships (1902 - 2021), TTNSW Yearly Top 10 Rankings - Juniors (1960 - 2020), TTNSW Yearly Top 10 Rankings - Seniors (1934 - 2020), and TTNSW Annual Report (1931 - 2020).  

Vice President of TTNSW, Ted Davis said: “TTNSW is proud of its achievements during the past 91 years. 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.”

TTNSW Annual Reports: https://www.ttnsw.org.au/about/annual-reports/

TTNSW Life Members:  https://www.ttnsw.org.au/about/life-members/.

TTNSW Honour Rolls:  https://www.ttnsw.org.au/about/honour-roll/

                                        Leonie Whiteford and Marie Pinkewich     

David Lee and Michael Li wish to gratefully acknowledge Marie Pinkewich, TTA Board Member, and Table Tennis New South Wales.