It’s not quite all about the Worlds in the second part of our review of 2025, but it’s close!

GB’s Anna Hursey won three medals – gold, silver and bronze – at the World Youth Championships, while preparations for London 2026 began to ramp up in earnest.

In July, we knew the identities of the first nations to book their places at London 2026 after the ITTF Oceania Championships.

We celebrated English sports icon Ann (Haydon) Jones’ 10 world championships medals – and much more in her stellar table tennis and tennis career in a major interview, and we also heard from 1977 Birmingham World Championships referee John Wright.

As well as looking back, we looked forward as England was awarded the rights to host the 2025 ITTF World Hopes Week in Sheffield.

Anna Hursey was in medal-winning mood again, taking under-19 singles gold at the European Youth Championships. A trio of young British para athletes won bronze medals at the European Para Youth Games in Istanbul, and England won nine of the 12 gold medals at the Senior Schools International, hosted by Jersey.

And how’s this for commitment to the cause? Barry Robinson has clocked up more than 60 years as club Secretary for the Goons team in the Leicester & District League.

In August, we spoke to two officials who have reached the top of their game and have played two very different roles in England’s World Championships history.

Colin Clemett, who umpired at the 1954 World Championships in London and went on to become one of the world’s foremost technical officials, gave us a unique insight into the experience, while Premier League football referee Stuart Atwell told us about his role in making London 2026 the best it can be through a role on the event delivery organisation.

Sporting friendship traversing the globe was the theme of a competition for people with Parkinson’s in Manchester, with three Japanese players travelling to take part – a reciprocal visit after a delegation of English players with Parkinson’s went to Japan previously.

And there was more success across a range of international events including British competitors winning 13 medals at the World Transplant Games in Dresden, including golds for Kristof Polgar and Patricia Collier.

World No 1 Will Bayley won his third consecutive singles gold medal when winning the men’s class 7 singles at the ITTF World Para Future Spokane in the USA. At the ITTF World Para Elite event which followed at the same venue, Bayley and Aaron McKibbin won singles golds and there were nine doubles medals – including two more for Bayley. Shae Thakker’s silver led the way for GB at the ITTF World Para Challenger Astana.

Meanwhile, Cindy Xiao secured a seventh-place finish at the Euro Mini Championships in France.

Tin-Tin Ho blazed a trail in September, the England No 1 winning Women’s Doubles gold for the University of Nottingham at the European Universities Championships in Turkey, alongside Jiaqi Meng.

The BBC chose Kevin Taylor of Stratford TTC as one of the winners at the Coventry & Warwickshire Make A Difference Awards. The Corporation also visited Ormesby TTC in Middlesbrough to highlight the club’s work transforming the lives of people with Parkinson’s.

One of Ormesby’s club legends is England great and World Championships medallist Denis Neale, and we spoke to Denis about his career, from first picking up a bat to a World podium, and how his passion still burns bright as a coach.

VETTS England players dominated the Veterans Home Nations Championships 2025 winning a total of 36 of the 50 gold and silver medals.

At the other end of the age spectrum, Rohan Dani took a doubles silver medal at the WTT Youth Contender in Batumi, Georgia, and Kai Lun Chow a bronze at WTT Youth Contender Otocec in Slovenia.

The 2025/26 British Clubs Leagues season was a record-breaker, with new tiers, more teams and more divisions.

Off the table, we announced a partnership with Cloudathlete to transform our members’ experience and launch the sport into a bright digital future.

October began with Connor Green beating the eventual champion and the second seed on his way to a brilliant bronze medal at the Youth Top 10 in Tours, France.

There was ecstasy and agony for England at the European Team Championships – the men’s team beat fourth seeds Portugal, only to then be knocked out by Greece. Meanwhile, the women stunned higher-ranked Italy to turn heads in the hall, before they bowed out to champions Germany.

With continental championships going on all over the world, it was time for nations from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to book their places at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals London 2026.

ITTF president Petra Sorling visited London to see how preparations for the World Championships were progressing. She also took time to visit the Ping Hub in Ilford, east London, where she said she is very confident that London will stage the “best-ever” Worlds.

At the Copper Box Arena, one of the Worlds venues, the first ever WTT Star Contender London champions were crowned at the end of a spellbinding six days of competition.

The champions were also crowned at the Challenge competition which brought the curtain down on ITTF World Hopes Week in Sheffield.

At the ITTF World Para Elite Yvelines in France, a 16-strong squad of British Para table tennis team athletes paid tribute to their late Performance Director Gorazd Vecko MBE, who tragically passed away in October, by winning seven medals.

Two young female athletes with the world at their feet won major titles in November, with Wales and GB’s Anna Hursey and England’s Bly Twomey on top of the podium.

Anna’s gold medals success came in the Girls’ Doubles at the World Youth Championships, adding a world title to her European Under-21 and Under-19 titles from earlier in the year. She also won a Mixed Doubles silver and a Singles bronze.

Bly became a European champion at the age of 15, winning the Class 7 Singles at the ITTF European Para Championships. She later added Class 14 Mixed Doubles gold alongside Will Bayley.

Perhaps Bly will add a Commonwealth Games medal to her haul in due course – we had the welcome news that table tennis will be restored to the Games in Amdavad in India in 2030.

Tom Jarvis fell at the final hurdle in his quest to win a first WTT title, settling for silver after losing the final at WTT Feeder Dusseldorf. There were bronzes for Dimitar Dimitrov and Rishaan Sawant at the WTT Youth Contender Senec in Slovakia.

We also enjoyed the heartwarming story of Japanese superstar Mima Ito rekindling an unlikely friendship with table tennis centenarian and former world veteran champion Edna Fletcher.

December saw Jan Fuller on top of the world as she won gold at the World Parkinson’s Championships in Sweden. At the same time, Anna Hursey and coach John Murphy were reflecting on Anna’s World Youth Championships gold medal.

Tom Jarvis became the highest-ranked English player in the world as he went up to a career-high of No 61 in the world rankings.

Seventy years to the day after the Barnes railway disaster which tragically ended his and 12 other lives, the memory of England international and World Championship medallist Bernard Crouch was enshrined in a plaque unveiled at the station.

The number of children playing table tennis every week is on the rise, according to the latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey Report.

And at Table Tennis England, Safeguarding and Disciplinary Manager, Judy Rogers, retired after more than 27 years working for the organisation.