TABLE TENNIS

History of Table Tennis

The first Table Tennis sub-committee was formed in the 1070s under the then International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (now IWAS) and was only responsible for wheelchair events.

It was not until the introduction of standing players in the 1976 Paralympic Games for Amputees and Les Autres, in the 1980 Paralympic Games for Cerebral Palsied, and later in 1982 in the 1st World Championships for all Disabilities that the various Table Tennis sub-committees cam together to consider the issue of combined classifications which later led to the formation of just one table tennis committee.

In the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games, run under the auspices of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), the combined committee for table tennis was formed, with Mr Thomas Kanhede from ISOD as Chairperson and Mr Ted Inge of the ISMGF as Secretary.

The use of the name of International Table Tennis Committee for the disabled (ITTC) dated back to as early as 1980, eight years before the formation of the first combined committee.

At the Sports Assembly during the Barcelona Paralympic Games in 1992 run under the auspices of the IPC, Mr Tony Teff was elected the Chairperson with Peter Glaese as the Treasurer.

Table Tennis was considered the pioneer sport among others in combining all disability classes and was also believed to be the sport practised by the greatest number of persons with disabilities.

During the General Assembly held in Taipei, during the World Championships 2002, a new name was approved "International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee (IPTTC). IPTTC is a standing committee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and if formed of 163 nations through their National Paralympic Committees, 105 of those nations are actively participating gin tabled tennis at international level.

To visit the IPTTC Website click here