Major results and performances

Why Leopards?

The story of the Leopards dates back to the early days of the English Table Tennis Association (ETTA) in 1937/38, when the King agreed to become Patron of the Association.

The ETTA crest, which had previously featured a rose, was changed to three lions in a passant guardant position – that is to say walking, with heads turned to face out of the crest.

This is a familiar symbol of England, but not many people know that in British and French heraldry, a lion passant guardant was historically referred to as a leopard – so the ETTA crest was called the three leopards.

Although the practice of lions passant guardant being called leopards has largely disappeared from British heraldry (hence the England football team being known as the three lions), table tennis has always stuck with the tradition.

England Leopards have enjoyed a series of recent medal triumphs on the world stage, including winning bronze at the ITTF Team World Cup at the Copper Box Arena in London in February 2018.

The squad of Liam Pitchford, Paul Drinkhall and Sam Walker also won bronze at the World Team Championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2016.

The major multi-sport event at which England is represented is the Commonwealth Games, where we have won a number of medals since table tennis was introduced in 2002.

English athletes have also dominated the teams which have represented Great Britain at several Olympic Games since 1988.

Click here to visit the Team GB major results and performances page.

Performance highlights