THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN AUSTRALIA - (2006 - 2018)

The Commonwealth Games began as the British Empire Games in the early 20th century. The idea for a games competition for members of the British Empire was first proposed by John Astley Cooper in 1891 in an article in The Times newspaper. Committees were formed in many places around the world including Australia and these committees actually helped with the organisation of the first Olympic Games as well.

In 1911 a Festival of the Empire was held at Crystal Palace in London, then Australia became a Federation. The first British Empire Games were held in Canada in 1930, the second was held in London in 1934 and the third was held in Sydney in 1938.

In 1954 the games were changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, in 1970 they were called the British Commonwealth Games and in 1978 they became known as the Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games were back in Australia in Perth in 1962, in Brisbane in 1982, in Melbourne in 2006 and in Gold Coast in 2018. The Gold Coast Games were wonderful to see the events for para-athletes taking place interspersed with the regular events, which has occurred since 2002. It means that para-athletes are part of the same teams and are cheered by the same crowds, giving them far more support than in segregated games.

Table Tennis was included in Commonwealth Games since 2002 and Australia won 12 medals as following: Mixed Doubles - Silver Medal, Women’s Team - Silver Medal, Women’s Doubles - Bronze Medal and Para Women’s Singles - Bronze Medal in 2002; Men’s Singles - Silver Medal, Women’s Team - Silver Medal and Women’s Doubles - Bronze Medal in 2006; Para Women’s Singles - Silver Medal in 2010; Women’s Doubles - Silver Medal and Women’s Team - Bronze Medal in 2014 and Para Women’s Singles - Gold Medal and Para Women’s Singles - Bronze Medal in 2018.

Australia will stage the Commonwealth Games on six occasions with the coming Victoria 2026 Games which will be a first-ever predominantly regional Commonwealth Games across multiple cities and regional hubs including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland. Melbourne will host the Opening Ceremony.

Table Tennis Australia (TTA) CEO, Scott Houston, said: “We look forward to vying for more medals on home soil in 2026. On behalf of TTA, I would like to thank Commonwealth Games Australia and the Victorian Government for their outstanding work in bringing the event to Victoria. TTA enjoys an excellent working relationship with both parties and we look forward to this continuing in the lead up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.”

TTA National Head Coach - Able-Bodied, John Murphy said: “We have an outstanding crop of players at the moment and many of them will be reaching their prime by 2026. Having the opportunity to compete for Australia on home soil will no doubt provide even further motivation for our players to keep striving for excellence in the coming years.”

Full details can be found via the following link:

https://www.tabletennis.org.au/news/table-tennis-australia-welcomes-the-return-of-commonwealth-games/

David Lee and Michael Li wish to gratefully acknowledge of www.wikipedia.org/ Table Tennis New South Wales (TTNSW), Table Tennis Australia (TTA), the Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).