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"To the table tennis fans and aficionados around the world, I hope that you will enjoy reading this book and that you will cherish it as a piece of our history."

As the new President of the ITTF, I salute my predecessors from our Founding President, Ivor Montagu to Xu Yinsheng, through H. Roy Evans, Ichiro Ogimura and Lollo Hammarlund. These great leaders guided the ITTF through it's first seventy-three years of existence as the World Governing Body of our sport. Over the two last years, heading into the 75th Anniversary of the ITTF, I have come to realise the magnitude of the work accomplished by these table tennis pioneers. Their collective effort has provided us with the solid foundation on which we can continue to build our future.

As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the ITTF, we reflect on past accomplishments and we nostalgically remember the past and the "good old days". We are amazed by some of the fantastic feats achieved by players and we wonder about some memorable turning points inspired by our leaders. We look at our present and we hope for our future. We dream of our sport as the most successful of all sports. As we think of our present, it soon become past. We finally realise that we are always moving into the future, for some perhaps at a dizzying pace, and for others more than at snail's pace. One thing is sure, regardless of the pace, we must always move forward.

The past is our history, our education and our reference. The future is risky and unknown. The past is our tradition and our heritage. The future is our opportunity and our advancement. The present is our challenge to strike the right balance between tradition and innovation. It is our collective venture to be selective in maintaining some of our traditions while re-inventing our sport to better meet the challenges of modern society and be equipped for the future.

I express my deepest gratitude to the tireless efforts of the author of this book, Zdenko Uzorinac, for documenting the first 75th years of the ITTF by honouring our Champions, a collection of remarkable individuals.  I wish to thank Nils Bergstrˆm, ITTF Executive Vice President, for co-ordinating this project on behalf of the Executive Committee. I also wish to thank Janko Paravic for translating this book into English and Chandra Madhosingh for editing the text.

To the table tennis fans and aficionados around the world, I hope that you will enjoy reading this book and that you will cherish it as a piece of our history.

Adham Sharara, ITTF President