European champions in two age groups, unprecedented GB pathway success at WTT Feeder Manchester and an epic run at the World Championships – these were the highlights which feature in our round-up of the first six months of 2025.

But first to take centre stage in January was the England women’s team who, spearheaded by Tin-Tin Ho’s unbeaten tournament, won five matches to qualify for the European Team Championships finals via the qualifying tournament in Sarajevo.

Also on the international stage, Connor Green became the first English junior to reach a WTT Youth Contender final, saving match points in both his quarter-final and semi-final, but having to settle for silver in the end.

Four female coaches were selected for Year 2 of the SHEcoaches programme, which seeks to create a new generation of talent and performance coaches, while Brighton TTC featured on a BBC radio show which was guest-edited by Paralympic champion Will Bayley.

February began with the first ever National Series champions crowned at home, while there was success on the international front for Paralympic medallist Billy Shilton, who won silver in the para showcase at the Singapore Smash.

Also stepping on to an international podium were pathway athletes Abraham Sellado and Jayden Chen – Abraham was unbeaten across the whole event as he won the Under-15 Boys’ Singles at the Europe Youth Series event in Osijek, Croatia, while Jayden took silver at the WTT Youth Contender Vila Real in Portugal.

English umpire Harmesh “Harry” Jutle was among the elite of world umpires as he was selected to officiate at the World Championships in Doha – and perhaps there will be a future World Championships umpire among those receiving expert help from Olympic final umpire Tom Purcell at a training course during the Women’s British Clubs League weekend.

March saw Tin-Tin Ho win a record-equalling seventh Women’s Singles title at the Mark Bates Ltd Senior National Championships – a number matched by Liam Pitchford in the Men’s Singles.

In the doubles, Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker retained the Men’s and Tianer Yu & Mari Baldwin won first titles in the Women’s, while twins Connor & Anna Green were Mixed Doubles champions for the first time. Jack Hunter-Spivey and Billy Shilton won the para titles.

Also at the Nationals, the exceptional volunteers within our sport were recognised at the Cloudathlete Pride of Table Tennis Awards ceremony.

Former National Schools champion Murhad Hussain (below) was chosen as a Young Leader by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

There was a change in the top at Table Tennis England as Clare Briegal was appointed as the new Chair.

And to round off a busy month, there was gold for Billy Shilton and Bly Twomey in the singles and Grace Williams in the doubles at the ITTF World Para Challenger Wladyslawowo in Poland.

The was a gold-rush in the performance pathway in April – including in front of a home crowd as THREE titles fell to GB athletes at WTT Feeder Manchester.

Liam Pitchford tasted victory on the WTT stage at last as he took the Men’s Singles crown, and England team-mates Paul Drinkhall & Sam Walker won the Men’s Doubles, while Wales’ Anna Hursey was Women’s Singles champion. Connor Green & Sophie Earley added a silver in the Mixed Doubles. Click here to read all about a historic day for GB table tennis. Their exploits also saw some big moves when the world rankings were updated after the competition!

Anna had gone into Manchester in a rich vein of form, winning three successive WTT Youth Contender and Star Contender titles in Serbia and France. England’s Kacper Piwowar took singles silver and doubles gold in Serbia, while there was success on the international front for English youngsters at the Europe Youth Series in Bosnia-Herzegovina and for British Para athletes in Finland.

There was big news at the very top and at the grassroots of the sport – a Mixed Team event was added to events for the LA 2028 Olympic Games, while the latest Active Lives report showed a rise in the number of adults playing table tennis at least twice a month to more than 388,000.

No doubting the biggest story in May as Tom Jarvis dumped the 10th seed Dang Qiu out of the World Championships in Doha in a thrilling match which he won 4-3 after leading 3-0. He went on to reach the last 16, shaking world No 5 Liang Jingkun before bowing out 4-2. As a result, Jarvis climbed to a career high No 78 in the world rankings.And as the sun set on the final day in Doha, the countdown to the ITTF World Team Championships Finals London 2026 began with the official handover of the ITTF flag to Table Tennis England.

Also in May, Wales and GB’s Anna Hursey became a double European Under-21 champion – the Welsh teenager striking gold in both singles and doubles (alongside Mia Griesel of Germany).

There were a stack of podium places for British Para athletes at the ITTF World Para Challenger Podgorica in Montenegro, the ITTF World Para Challenger Lasko in Slovenia and at the ITTF World Para Elite Lasko. We also met aspiring Paralympian Taylor Lewis, who at 10 years old has had more than 90 operations but has battled through everything and is making great progress in table tennis since joining the Draycott & Long Eaton club.

Iconic children’s TV show Blue Peter came to meet Paralympic medallist Bly Twomey at Brighton TTC – and there was more good news for the club as they retained their Senior British Clubs League Premier Division title.

Lorestas Trumpauskas became a double European champion in June, winning both singles and doubles titles at the European Veterans’ Championships in Serbia.

Kacper Piwowar and his partner Maria Picu of Italy won gold at the WTT Youth Contender Kosovo in Prishtina. But Kacper had to settle for silver as he and Natalia Wszolek of Poland reached the Under-15 Mixed Doubles final at WTT Youth Contender Sandefjord in Norway.

We saw the heartwarming story of a group of table tennis players with Parkinson’s entering a local league after forming the first team of its kind in the UK.

Tom Jarvis was presented with the Richard Bergmann Fair Play Award, given by the Swaythling Club International for outstanding sportsmanship during the World Championships. Table Tennis England Chair Clare Briegal handed over the award to Tom back in England, having picked it up on his behalf at the Worlds.

Staying with the World Championships theme, the logo for the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026 was revealed.