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Adham Sharara (born Cairo 24 March 1953) is a Canadian sports official. He is current Chairman and Honorary President of the International Table Tennis Federation, having succeeded Xu Yinsheng in 1999. [1] [2] He retired as ITTF President on 2014, and was succeeded by the Deputy President the German Thomas Weikert. [3]
Adham Sharara was President of the ITTF for 14 years, from 1999 to 2014.
In November 2007, Adham Sharara addressed the health risks related to using rubbers that are freshly glued to the blade for "a faster game" because of the associated harmful volatile compounds. [4] In February 2008, he expressed his agreement with the proposal to limit citizenship-switching players, a measure that targeted specifically Chinese players accepting deals that include changing their nationality. [5] In 2011, he moved the ITTF's headquarters from China to Singapore, to develop ties in this region and distance the federation from China's dominance in the sport, [6] a topic he seriously addressed in his last years of tenure. [7]
Sharara was elected to the newly created position of "Chairman of the ITTF" on 28 April 2014 at the ITTF Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Tokyo, Japan. [8] [9]
In 2019 ITTF announced that found Mr Sharara had breached his fiduciary duties during his terms of office. Mr Adham Sharara was suspended from all activity within or in connection with the ITTF for four years. [10]
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce once on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926.
Ai Fukuhara is a retired Japanese table tennis player and Olympic medalist, winning silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics with the Japanese women's team. She is sponsored by All Nippon Airways.
Li Jiawei is a retired Chinese-born former Singaporean table tennis player, four-time Olympian and twice Olympic medalist. She trained in Beijing's famous Shichahai Sports School with Olympic medalist Zhang Yining. In 1995, she moved to Singapore and in the following year, she commenced her international career as a competitive table tennis player. She became a Singapore citizen at the age of 18 years under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme.
Joo Sae-hyuk is a South Korean table tennis player. As a singles player, he was a silver medalist at the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships, a bronze medalist at the 2011 Table Tennis World Cup, and a bronze medalist at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. In the team event, as a member of the South Korean National Team, he was a silver medalist in the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 Asian Games; the 2006 and 2008 World Championships; and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Yang Zi is a Chinese-born Singaporean former table tennis player.
Paul Drinkhall is a British table tennis player. He won the English Championship in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017.
Chuang Chih-yuan is a Taiwanese table tennis player. He won the ITTF Pro Tour Grand Finals in 2002 and doubles title at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships. He participated in the Summer Olympics five times, making the most appearances at Olympic Games among Taiwanese athletes.
Feng Tianwei is a Singaporean table tennis player. Born in Harbin, China, she permanently moved to Singapore at the age of 20 under the former Foreign Sports Talent Scheme in March 2007 and commenced her international career in competitive table tennis the following month.
Wang Yuegu is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player who was ranked among the top ten players in the world. Wang made her inaugural appearance as a Singaporean table tennis player on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pro Tour in June 2005 at the Volkswagen Korean Open in Suncheon, South Korea, where she and Sun Beibei took the silver medal in the women's doubles. On 24 September 2006, Wang achieved her first gold medal on the Pro Tour at the Japan Open in Yokohama. She repeated the feat against her compatriot Li Jiawei on 12 November at the ITTF Pro Tour German Open in Bayreuth. In June 2007, Wang helped Singapore sweep the women's team, women's doubles and mixed doubles gold trophies at the 17th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in Jaipur.
Gao Ning is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player. He is considered Singapore's best male player with a world ranking of 34 as of August 2016. He was first in men's singles at the 2007 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships. In 2018, Gao won the men's singles as well as the mixed doubles at the Commonwealth Games along with Yu Mengyu.
Jun Mizutani is a retired Japanese table tennis player. He became the youngest Japanese national champion at the age of 17. His consecutive singles titles at the national championships from 2007 to 2011 made him the first man to win the event five times in a row.
Andrew Baggaley is a professional table tennis player from Milton Keynes. He is England's leading table tennis medal winner of all time in the Commonwealth Games, winning two gold medals in Manchester, England (2002), 1 silver medal in Melbourne, Australia (2006), 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in Delhi, India (2010) and 1 silver in Glasgow, Great Britain.
The Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) is an Asian table tennis governing body formed on May 7, 1972, and recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1975. ATTU was founded by 16 member associations, currently, 44 member associations are affiliated to ATTU.
Ichiro Ogimura was a Japanese table tennis player, coach, president of the ITTF and former World No. 1 who won 12 World Championship titles during his career. Ogimura was also a key figure in the Ping Pong Diplomacy events of the early 1970s, as well as being instrumental in Korea playing as a unified team at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships.
Koki Niwa is a Japanese male table tennis player. He is the gold medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympics and he won the World Junior Table Tennis Championships in 2010 (doubles) and 2011 (singles).
Liam Pitchford is a British Table tennis player. As of October 2022, he is ranked the No. 22 player in the world. He is currently sponsored by Victas.
Xu Yinsheng is a male former table tennis player from China.
Stefano Bosi is a former Italian table tennis player, and currently President of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU). He is a candidate for presidency of the International Table Tennis Federation ITTF.
Thomas Weikert is a German sports official. He is current President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and was elected to office on 31 May 2017. Formerly the Deputy President, Thomas Weikert became President in 2014 when Adham Sharara, who had held the office since 1999, assumed the role of Chair and Honorary President of the International Table Tennis Federation. As ITTF President, he is also the ex officio member and President of the Governing Board of ITTF Foundation.