The eye catching racket is a result of the proposition made by the Hong Kong Table Tennis Association at the Annual General Meeting held earlier this year on the occasion of the Liebherr 2019 World Championships in Budapest; the basis of the proposal being to introduce colours other than red and black.

Good to see Bernadette Szocs put theory into practice; let’s make it “cool” to play table tennis as they say; let’s impart a fun element into serious competition but let’s make the colours happy and friendly, not drab.

Colours other than red and black is not new; prior to the ITTF Annual General Meeting in 1983 in Tokyo the colours on a racket were the same both sides; red was the norm followed by black but you could visit your local sports shop and buy a racket with blue or green rubber from the shelf.

An innovation in Johor Bahru but in soon could such colours become a permanent feature?

If the 2020 Annual General Meeting in Busan accepts the proposition, the ITTF Equipment Committee will co-ordinate efforts in order to develop a list of authorised colour combinations; specifications being submitted to the Board of Directors for implementation after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.