AUSSIE TABLE TENNIS GOLD RUSH

Australians love of sport is well-known, and table tennis is in the top 8 participation sports in Australia and more popular than cricket and netball according to research from Roy Morgan.

As early as 1851, during the first Australian gold rushes, Aussie diggers started to play table tennis with gold mining tools from the record of the National Library of Australia.

After nearly 2 centuries, Aussie table tennis players had a hugely successful gold rush at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and the 2021 Europe World Table Tennis Tour.

Australia enjoyed a record breaking 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, with 11 athletes qualifying to compete and the team claiming 2 gold and 4 silver medals and finishing second on the table tennis medal tally, only behind China.

Medals were achieved by: Qian Yang (Gold Class 10 Women’s Singles), Lina Lei (Gold Class 9 Women’s Singles), Sam von Einem (Silver Class 11 Men’s Singles), Ma Lin (Silver Class 9 Men’s Singles), Qian Yang/Lina Lei/Melissa Tapper (Silver Class 9-10 Women’s Teams), Ma Lin/Joel Coughlan/Nathan Pellissier (Silver Class 9-10 Men’s Teams). Moreover, team member Danni Di Toro had the honour of being named as Co-Captain of the Australian Paralympic Team.

It was amazing to see so many athletes in the green and gold playing in finals. It was a proud day for the whole Aussie 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games Para Team.

A group of 8 Australian athletes together with John Murphy (National Head Coach – Able-Bodied) undertook a hugely successful European Tour winning 8 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. As a result, big improvements in world rankings were realised, most notably Yangzi Liu reaching number 6 in Under 19 Girls and Nicholas Lum reaching number 8 in Under 17 Boys.

The hugely successful European Tour for a host of Aussie players has been a massive step forward for Australian table tennis, who have been brilliantly led by National Head Coach (Able-Bodied), John Murphy.

Vice President of TTNSW, Ted Davis said “TTNSW congratulates all Australian table tennis players on their huge achievements in 2021 under the excellent leadership and the strong team work of Scott Houston, John Murphy, Eva Jeler and Simon Gerada. TTNSW wishes all members of the National Squad good luck in the future international competitions, especially 2022 Commonwealth Games.”

David Lee and Michael Li wish to gratefully acknowledge the National Library of Australia, Table Tennis NSW, Table Tennis Australia, ITTF and World Table Tennis.