We are very sad to announce the passing of a Surrey table tennis legend, Tony Laws, on 15 April 2026. 

He was an extremely worthy recipient of the Maurice Goldstein award for voluntary services to table tennis. The award itself is handed out by Table Tennis England to someone with over 10 years’ excellent service at club, league or county level. 

Tony played an active role in table tennis in Guildford and Surrey since retiring in 2000 at the age of 65. He had many roles in the Guildford TT committee, organised Guildford’s teams in the ELCC national competitions, ran the weekly practice and coaching sessions at Christ’s College, was an acting Chairman of Surrey Table Tennis Association, vice Chairman (before and after his time as Chairman) and was secretary of Godalming Table Tennis Club.

He was the Guildford League’s representative in Table Tennis England governance. For many of us he was the pillar of the organisation when first joining, whether it be club, league or county.

He committed much of his latter life to table tennis and was hugely passionate about the sport. He had competed in the Guildford League in every season since 1990/91 until the late 2010s. He had introduced a vast array of people to the game in his role as coaching officer. His wife Shula and son Adam were part of his coaching set-up. Adam was Surrey Closed Singles champion and is a top-quality coach.

Our condolences go to Shula, Adam and the rest of his family and friends at this difficult time.