Below is a list of the key national and international events that happen in the world of table tennis.
National Championships
The English National Championships are the most sought after and prestigious events in the English domestic calendar, each year players from all across the country battle it out to be crowned English national champion.
The Championships are made up of three events catering to all of the major age groups: the U11-14, Cadet & Junior and the Senior Nationals Championships (including U21 and Veteran events).
Our reigning champions are:
U11 Boys: Amirul Hussain; Girls: Jasmin Wong
U12 Boys: Ethan Walsh; Girls: Charlotte Bardsley
U13 Boys: Harry Dai; Girls: Denise Payet
U14 Boys: Alex Ramsden; Girls: Kate Cheer; Boys’ Doubles: Alex Ramsden/James Smith; Girls’ Doubles: Denise Payet/Kate Cheer
Cadet Boys: Alex Ramsden; Boys’ Doubles: Harry Dai/Joe Clark; Girls: Denise Payet; Girls’ Doubles: Kate Cheer/Denise Payet
Junior Boys: Helshan Weerasinghe; Boys’ Doubles: Helshan Weerasinghe/Tom Jarvis; Girls: Maria Tsaptsinos; Girls’ Doubles: Tin-Tin Ho/Maria Tsaptsinos; Mixed Doubles: Tin-Tin Ho/Helshan Weerasinghe
U21 Men: Sam Walker; Women: Tin-Tin Ho
Senior Men: Liam Pitchford
Men’s Doubles: Liam Pitchford/Paul Drinkhall
Senior Women: Kelly Sibley
Women’s Doubles: Tin-Tin Ho/Maria Tsaptsinos
Mixed Doubles: Sam Walker/Tin-Tin Ho
Veteran Men: Mike O’Driscoll
Veteran Women: Jane Vickers
Click here for our National Championships site.
Grand Prix Series
The premier series of events for singles competition in the country, taking place over the course of a season in venues across the country. Attracting a wide range of national and international players, this competition provides the opportunity to play highly ranked opponents and fight for the end of season prize money.
Click here for details of the Grand Prix circuit.
British League
The British League is Table Tennis England’s premier team competition, which incorporates 14 divisions of four player teams, including a Premier Division (where the games are played on separate weekends to the other 13 regional divisions).
Matches are played at fixed venues on four separate weekends throughout the season and it is quite common for teams to include players of all ages. Under 15s, Juniors, Seniors and Veterans as well as men and women all play against each other in this competition.
Click here to visit the British League website.
International Events
ITTF Pro Tour
The ITTF Pro Tour comprises a series of international tournaments staged by national associations worldwide; the number varies slightly from year to year depending on applications from countries to host such events.
An average is 15 tournaments per year, which comprise Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Under 21 Men’s Singles, Under 21 Women’s Singles events.
The leading 16 men and women, the leading eight doubles pairs and top eight Under 21 Men and Under 21 Women qualify for the Grand Finals at the end of the year.
The first ever international tournament on the ITTF Pro Tour was the 1996 English Open held in Kettering.
Olympic Games
Table tennis was first included in the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988; it has been present ever since.
The format comprising Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles was approved by the International Olympic Committee for the inaugural appearance in 1988.
It was a format that remained until 2008 when at the Beijing Olympic Games, Men’s and Women’s Doubles was replaced by Men’s and Women’s Team event, a team comprising three players.
The singles competition has since been altered to allow only two players per nation to compete in order that medals cannot be dominated by a single country.
At London 2012 Team GB had six athletes play in the Olympic Games with Paul Drinkhall, Liam Pitchford, Andrew Baggaley, Joanna Parker, Kelly Sibley and Na Liu representing the host nation. Although the teams were knocked out in the last 16, both Drinkhall (last 32) and Parker (last 64) were victorious in matches in their respective singles events.
World Championships
The World Championships were first held in London in 1926; from 1928 until 1957 with an enforced break owing to World War Two, the event was held annually.
However, from 1959 until 1999 the event was staged every two years; the events being Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
The event had grown immensely in size since its first beginnings, in 1999 in Eindhoven only individual events were held and in 2000 only team events in Kuala Lumpur. The last occasion that both individual and team events were held together was in 2001 in Osaka; from 2003 onwards the event has been held annually with individual events in odd numbered years and team events in even numbered years.
World Cups
The Men’s World Cup and Women’s World Cup are held annually and are invitation events for the top 16 players in the world with a maximum of two from anyone country.
In addition each continent nominates one player, usually the continental champion. The champions of Europe and Asia receive a direct entry to the main draw, the champions of North America, Latin America, Africa and Oceania play in the Intercontinental Cup held on the same occasion as the World Cup. The winner of the Intercontinental Cup qualifies for the World Cup.
The same principle applies for the World Team Cup organised every two years.
Eight Men’s Team and eight women’s teams comprise the line up; seven are selected by direct entry in accordance with world ranking, the eighth is the winner of the Intercontinental Cup.
The 2012 Men’s World Cup took place in Liverpool with both Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford representing England. It was the first time the competition had been held in the UK. The winner was Ma Long (CHN) after beating Timo Boll (GER) in the final. Vladimir Samsonov (BLR) came third with victory over Xu Xin (CHN).
European Championships
Until recent years the European Championships have been organised every two years; the events being Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
However, there is now a change with immediate effect; the Mixed Doubles will be held as a totally separate event on a different date and at a different venue.
In even numbered years Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s, Doubles events will be held; in odd numbered years only Men’s Team, Women’s Team, Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles.
Commonwealth Games
Table tennis was first included in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 and has been present ever since.
It features Men’s and Women’s Team events, plus Men’s and Women’s Singles, Men’s and Wmen’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles.