The English Open was a

table tennis 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. It takes place on a hard table div ...

tournament in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, last staged by the

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis 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 p ...

(ITTF) in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in 2011.

History

The tournament was first held as the English Open in 1927 by the

English Table Tennis Association Table Tennis England, formerly the English Table Tennis Association, is the national governing body for table tennis in England, responsible for representing, coordinating, administering, marketing and developing the sport. Most of its annual inco ...

. Apart from a wartime break in the early 1940s, the tournament was held every year until 1980, and then every two years until the early 1990s. In 1996, the ITTF decided to include that year's English Open in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

as the very first event of the first ever

ITTF Pro Tour The ITTF World Tour, known as the ITTF Pro Tour until 2011, is an annual series of table tennis tournaments introduced by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1996. The tour includes events in seven categories: Men's and Women's Single ...

. The tournament went on to feature in the ITTF Pro Tour five more times, in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2009 and in 2011, when it was held for the last time. The record for the most men's singles tournament wins is held by

Richard Bergmann Richard Bergmann (10 April 1919 – 5 April 1970) was an Austrian and British international table tennis player. Winner of seven World Championships, including four Singles, one Men's Doubles, two Team's titles and 22 medals in total. He is cons ...

, who won six titles between 1939 and 1954, including two while representing Austria and four while representing England.

Maria Alexandru Maria Alexandru (née Golopența) (born 30 December 1939 in Plugova) is a former Romanian table tennis player. Table tennis career From 1957 to 1980 she won several medals in singles, doubles, and team events in the Table Tennis European Champi ...

of Romania holds the record for the most women's singles tournaments wins, having won six titles between 1963 and 1974.

Champions

English National Championships, 1921-1926

From 1921 to 1926 the tournament was called the English National Championships and was organised by the

Table Tennis Association Table Tennis England, formerly the English Table Tennis Association, is the Sports governing body, national governing body for table tennis in England, responsible for representing, coordinating, administering, marketing and developing the sport. M ...

English Open Championships, 1927-1995

In April 1927 the Table Tennis Association was dissolved and re-formed as the

. The first English Open Championships were held that year.

Senior events

Veteran events

Team events

Men's and women's team events were held as part of the English Open from 1963 to 1992.

ITTF Pro Tour English Open, 1996-2011

The

included the English Open in its schedule on six occasions from 1996 to 2011.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

International Table Tennis FederationTable Tennis England
Table tennis competitions Table tennis competitions in the United Kingdom