Famous table tennis players

Did you know that British athlete Fred Perry first became famous for playing table tennis - he won the world singles championship when he was twenty years old. He then took up tennis and in 1933 led the British team to its first Davis Cup victory since 1912.

Not perhaps the most famous, but certainly one of the most long-serving players, Stockport league’s Phil Barratt has just completed his fiftieth season in the Stockport and District Table Tennis Association league. Phil’s abilities first came to light when he was twelve years old and finished in first place in a table tennis coaching scheme at Butlin’s holiday camp in Skegness. Now, aged sixty-two, he’s still playing!

Jan-Ove Waldner is a Swedish table tennis player, known as the Mozart of table tennis and is a legend in both his native Sweden as well as in China. Waldner was recognised in 1982 as a sixteen year old when he reached the final of the European Championship, losing to team-mate Mikael Appelgren. As a youngster he travelled to a training camp in China, where ever since he has been the best known Swede and the best known sports personality. His Chinese nickname is ‘the evergreen tree’, and people often flock to see him when he visits.

Famous table tennis players include:

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