A new four year Olympic cycle commences in 2021; on Thursday 25th March at the General Assembly of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, Mr. Jeton Beqiri, President of the Table Tennis Federation of Kosovo, became the newest member to be elected to the Executive Board of the National Olympic Committee.

That is not all! In addition, Mr. Jeton Oruqi, Vice President of the Table Tennis Federation of the Kosovo, a member of the European Table Tennis Union’s Board of Appeal, was named a member of the National Olympic Committee’s Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“It is an honour and privilege that table tennis representatives have been entrusted to promote and advance the Olympic movement in our country and globally, due to our high level engagement, governance and organization shown recently within the table tennis community. We look forward to giving a full contribution, having a better and prosperous future for our youth through education and sport with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” Mr. Jeton Beqiri

Fair play, if in recent years any national association has displayed fair play and a concern for the fellow man it is Kosovo.

At the Qoros 2015 World Championships, in the preliminary round of the mixed doubles, Linor Çitaku and Vlona Maloku faced Kenya’s Harshil Shah and Sejal Thakkar. Unfortunately, the Kenyan pair’s rackets failed the pre-match examination; immediately Lonor Çitaku and Vlona Maloku came to the rescue, they offered their opponents their reserve rackets.

The match went ahead; the Kosovo duo won in straight games (11-5, 11-7, 11-3), before losing to Romania’s top pair in the guise of Ovidiu Ionescu and Bernadette Szocs in the first round. Defeat, but they could hold their heads high, they came mightily close in the third game before extracting the fourth (11-6, 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-4).

Deservedly, at the ITTF Star Awards, held later in the year in Lisbon, Linor Çitaku and Vlona Maloku received the Fair Play award.

Meanwhile, more recently players from the Priping club in Prishtina, the capital city, responded to a call from the Kosovo National Centre for Blood Transfusion; on Thursday 24th September they were present to give blood to assist with the current pandemic.

Helping others, it was the same on Saturday 16th January. Priping Table Tennis Club was once again to the fore. In junction with Rotary Club Prishtina Newborn, at the Palace of Youth and Sports in Prishtina, they organised a charity tournament to raise funds for Croatia, recently struck by a disastrous earthquake.

Quite simply, Kosovo represents the best ideals of sport; make no mistake there is more to follow!

Recently, Ms. Atifete Jahjaga, former President of the Republic of Kosovo, met with leading names of Priping Table Tennis Club; she gave her total backing to the projects planned for Tuesday 6th April, World Table Tennis Day.

Another step forward, another stride, another example for the rest of the world.