Roy Evans (8 October 1909 – 18 May 1998) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

professional

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 ...

player from

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. He served as the president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) from 1967 to 1987. During his tenure at the ITTF, he successfully campaigned for the addition of table tennis in the Olympic Games. In 1984, the Olympics added table tennis as an event, and the first competition was held during 1988 The Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh P ...

, the former IOC president, awarded him the Olympic Order for his role as an advocate for the sport. Additionally, Evans was named the "Honorary Life President" of the organization in 1987 and was appointed

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1972 Queen's Birthday Honors list.

Biography

Roy Evans was the son of the first treasurer of Wale's Association of Table Tennis, Morgan "Mog" Evans. He was born on 8 October 1909 in Cardiff,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and died at the age of 88 on 18 May 1998.

Career

Roy played for Wales between 1931 and 1933 and became the honorary general secretary of the country's sport governing body from 1933 to 1939. Between 1951 and 1967, he was honored as the general secretary of the International Federation before he held the office of the ITTF president for 20 years. He was later named Honorary Life President in 1987.

Personal life

Evans met his future wife Nancy Jackson before a match against England in 1929, when the Welsh men and women players were brought together for a practice in Cardiff. They got married in 1933. In the 1938 women's world table tennis ranking Nancy ranked seventh. In a book called
Colored Pins on a Map
Evans related that he had been to at least 50 countries for the purpose of promoting table tennis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Roy 1909 births 1998 deaths People from Cardiff Welsh male table tennis players Presidents of the International Table Tennis Federation