What a year 2023 has been for Table Tennis Victoria (TTV)! From multiple incredible competition results State and Nationwide, to exciting community events and updates from the TTV staff there is so much to reflect on and celebrate.  

At the start of the year, we had both James and Oscar start at TTV in their new roles as Marketing & Participation Officer and Events and Clubs Officer. TTV also announced all finalists for the 2022 annual awards in January. The new 2023 State Pathways Program was announced later in the month enabling under 21 players to learn and develop their skills with sessions conducted by State Pathways Head Coach David Powell. 

February was a relatively quiet month for table tennis. We kicked off the State Tournament Circuit with Geelong hosting the Veterans and Junior/Senior Open which was a great weekend of competition. TTV held it’s first State Umpires Course for the year to train more umpires to be involved in table tennis and the Top 10 Rankings were also released for 2022 which was exciting to see.  

March saw the Croydon Masters Veterans, Junior and Senior Open tournaments take place with some amazing results and upsets throughout the tournament along with a great turnout at the Ballarat Junior/Senior Open later in the month. TTV also released the 2023 Strategic Plan getting the community involved in growing table tennis for 2023. 

April started off with the TTV Annual General Meeting as well as the Annual Awards for 2022 which saw many individuals get recognised for their hard work and efforts throughout the previous year. Following the AGM was the S-Trend Victorian Open which saw Sanish Ambekar and Qian Yang win the Men’s and Women’s singles in thrilling matches. The month ended with World Table Tennis Day, which saw TTV launch its innovative marketing campaign “Take it to the Table.” 

May began with a massive announcement, as the Junior/Senior/Para State Team was selected for the National Championships occurring 2-9 July in Sydney. Bendigo hosted the Junior/Senior/Veterans Open from the 6th-7th May, which was a great event. In a similar scenario, Albury/Wodonga were also very excited to welcome back the Junior/Senior competition, which saw Zach Anstey take home plenty of silverware. 

June was a huge month for the TTV community with both the Country and Metro Championships taking place on back-to-back weekends. The 71st Annual Country Championships was held for the first time in Traralgon at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium (GRISS) over the King’s Birthday long weekend. The beloved tournament was an astounding success, with a great turnout and a fabulous facility for a weekend of competition. The following weekend saw Croydon and Dandenong host the 10th reincarnation of the Victorian Metropolitan Championships for two massive days of teams and individual competitions. June closed out with a great TTV Corporate Cup and the Ballarat Veterans Open. 

July saw another significant month for table tennis with the 2023 Junior/Senior/Para National Championships taking place in Sydney. All of the teams and individuals performed fantastically and bought home a significant haul of medals from across the different categories. The Victorian Closed Veterans also took place in July with 113 Veterans taking part to showcase their skills and take home more medals. July concluded with the Dandenong Junior/Senior Open taking place July 29-30. 

August began with the exciting announcement revealing the Veterans State Team selected for the Veterans Nationals in ACT. TTV also had a staff change with James stepping down and Noah joining the team as the new Marketing & Participation Officer. The Dandenong Veterans Open provided a great opportunity for the Veterans community to compete prior to Nationals, and for others to contribute to qualification for the 2024 Nationals. Yarrawonga hosted the Junior/Senior Open late in August with over 100 entries which was great to see.  

September started with a bang where team Australia secured the maximum quota of 3 athletes per gender to compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024. Attention then turned to Mornington hosting the Veterans, Juniors, and Seniors across multiple weekends for their respective Open tournaments. TTV hosted an affiliates forum at the VIS providing a valuable training and learning opportunity for our affiliates in attendance. The 2023 Veterans National Championships began on September 30th and ran to October 7th which saw 82 players make the trip to Canberra to represent Victoria. It was very exciting to see so many great results come through from both the teams and individual events. 

October was a highly anticipated month for TTV as it marked the Take it to the Table Pop-Up ping pong event campaign which saw over 10,000 people flock to Grazeland to indulge in some table tennis action. Following this great event was the Victorian Closed Junior/Senior/Para tournament with record entries, leading to a fully packed MSAC with 40 tables and grandstand seating. To close out a big October the Veterans took to Shepparton for the Shepparton Veterans Open on the 29th of October which was an incredibly well-run state level tournament.  

November marked a quieter month for table tennis, with TTV calling for annual award and subcommittee nominations from the community. Our CEO Gen Dohrmann had exciting news to share as she announced she is expecting a baby due in early 2024. Albury/Wodonga also hosted the Veterans Open on the 25th-26th which saw over 100 entries, which is a great result compared to previous years. It was also very exciting for our National Para team who competed in the Oceania Para Championships in preparation for the 2024 Paralympics. 

December kicked off with the final State Tournament Circuit competition for 2023, the Traralgon Jingle Pong, on December 2nd. TTV also held its annual Christmas dinner to thank our staff, board, committee members and suppliers.  

TTV would like to thank everyone for a fantastic year of table tennis in 2023, and we look forward to seeing everyone on the tables in 2024. We are also incredibly excited to see some of our top Victorian players represent Australia and take on the world at the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics.