Following is a list of International Table Tennis Federation presidents:
Ivor Montagu (1905-1984)
Montagu is 1 of 10 men who met in Germany in
January 1926 and set in motion a series of events that made table tennis an
international sport. In 1926, Montagu initiated the creation of the
International Table Tennis Federation and served as its first president for 41
years until 1967. The ITTF began with four member countries and grew to 160
national associations during his leadership.
The constitution and laws of the
sport of table tennis were adopted and the World Table Tennis Championships
established during a meeting at the family home of Lord and Lady Swaythling,
Montagu's parents. At age 18, he was a founder of the English Table Tennis
Association (ETTA), and served as its chairman from 1923 to 1929, from 1932 to
1933, and again from 1936 to 1958. He was also the ETTA's president from 1927 to
1931 and 1958 to 1966.
H. Roy Evans (1909-1998)
Second ITTF President. Evans began to play
table tennis in Wales at the age of 20 and had been an ITTF secretary until he
took the helms of the ITTF In 1979. With his tenacious efforts, table tennis
became an Olympic medal event in 1988.
In 1987, Evans lost his presidency to
Japanese Ichiro Ogimura in a 65-39 voting in favor of the latter and was named
ITTF honorary president. The men's World Cup - Evans Cup, was named after
him.
Ichiro Ogimura (1932-1994)
Third ITTF President. Ogimura began to play
table tennis at 16 and had won 12 world championship titles for Japan. He had
been an ITTF executive board member and first vice president before he was voted
as president In 1987. Thanks to Ogimura's efforts, South Korea and DPR Korea
sent a historical joint team to the 1991 world championships.
Lollo Hammarlund (1932-1995)
Fourth ITTF president. Hammarlund had
coached the Swedish team from 1958 to 1970 and was voted ITTF president in 1995.
He died of an illness In October 1995. He was known as a fair sport leader.
Xu Yinsheng (1938-)
Fifth ITTF president. Xu was a key player in the
Chinese men's team which won the 26th, 27th and 28th world team championships
and later became head coach of the Chinese team. Xu, who had been Chinese vice
sports minister, ITTF vice president, took the ITTF presidency in 1995. He
proposed 40mm ball in an aim to make the sport more of a spectacle. He didn't
seek ITTF reelection in 1999 and still holds the presidency of the Chinese Table
Tennis Association.
Adam Sharara (1953-)
Sixth ITTF president. Born in Cairo, Sharara
started to play table tennis at 10 and joined the Canadian national team in 19.
He was voted as ITTF president in 1999. Under his leadership, the 40mm ball is
used and 11-point scoring system adopted. As a reform-minded leader, Sharara put
forward P4 policy (Participation, Popularity, Profit, Planning), which is the
point of reference for all ITTF plans and activities and serves as the
underlying philosophy of the ITTF.