COMMONWEALTH TABLE TENNIS FEDERATION

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON FRIDAY, 22 MAY 2009 AT THE JURY’S INN HOTEL, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND AT 10.00 AM

PRESENT – See attached list

APOLOGIES – Mr. Chan, Malaysia

Mr. Sibtain, Pakistan

Mr. Tony Chatwin, England

CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME

Alan Ransome opened the meeting by welcoming all members of the CTTF to Glasgow. Mr. Ransome extended a special welcome to the Founder President, Mr. Ranga Ramanujan of India, who had attended every one of the 18 Commonwealth Championships since the inauguration in 1971, and to Neil Harwood in his capacity as Vice President of the ITTF.

Mr. Ransome also gave a special welcome to Keith Russell, Head of Culture & Sport, Glasgow City Council, who have played a major part in staging the 18th Championships in Glasgow.

Keith Russell addressed the meeting and said that Glasgow City Council were delighted that the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships were being held in Glasgow this year. He said that it seemed a long time ago since discussions were started and since the City’s Bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a great deal of work has been undertaken since then. Mr. Russell continued that the 2009 Commonwealth Championships is the first event to be hosted in the City since the Bid for 2014 and he hoped that everyone would leave Glasgow with a positive view of what the City can achieve. There are still 5 years to go.

Mr. Russell said that this was an opportune moment for the City to be focussed on table tennis. During the last two to three months the Drumchapel Club has won the British League Championships for the first time. This was a fantastic challenge for the City, providing an opportunity to showcase what can be done with a special focus on sport. There are 20 secondary schools playing table tennis in the City and another 4 clubs. 600 school children have attended the Championships in the last few days and it is good to capitalize on this and use it as a model for Glasgow as a legacy of the Games. This event has demonstrated how it can be used as an example of good practice.

Mr. Russell wished all the teams success and hoped that everyone was enjoying Glasgow and would be able to get out and see some of the sights of the City. He concluded his Welcome by advising that Glasgow would be happy for teams to use the City for training camps in the build up for 2012 or 2014. The same venue will be used for table tennis in 2014 and Mr. Russell offered to speak with any country after the meeting with regard to this. He also said that he hoped there would be other opportunities to come and play matches over the coming years to give the Scottish players the opportunity for competition and it would be a great opportunity for the development of the sport in Glasgow.

Mr. Russell thanked the CTTF for the opportunity of showcasing Glasgow through table tennis and he said that he hoped everyone would have a fantastic time in Glasgow and that the finals would go well.

MINUTES

The Minutes of the CTTF General Meeting held on 29 April 2009 in Yokohama, Japan were presented. Proposed by Geoff Reed, seconded by Alex Murdoch, that the Minutes be approved as a true record of the meeting. Carried.

There were no Matters Arising.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Mr. Ransome’s report had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting.

i)Youth Games – Mr. Ransome confirmed that a full report on Pune had been circulated to members.

ii)Commonwealth Championships, Glasgow

On behalf of the English Table Tennis Association, Alex Murdoch proposed a vote of thanks to Table Tennis Scotland, the CTTF and Glasgow City Council for the hospitality and the organisation, seconded by Ron Davies of Wales.

The Chairman confirmed that everything was going well in Glasgow for the Championships.

At this point Mr. Ranga Ramanujan addressed the meeting to remind members that when the Commonwealth Championships were started at a meeting in Munich in 1969 it was with the purpose of providing experience for Commonwealth players participating in World Championships, with the intent that the venue for the Commonwealths would be near to the World Championships venue. A policy on this was laid down. Mr. Ramanujan suggested that when options for future events are being considered by the CTTF, this policy should be borne in mind.

The Chairman responded that in an ideal world the Committee would like to hold the Commonwealth Championships in conjunction with the World Championships as was originally planned, but for 2009 there was no offer from an Asian association. Asian countries had been generous in staging Championships in the past but there was no option to coincide with Japan. Glasgow was interested in staging the Championships and a suitable date had been found. Quite a number of Commonwealth players play for European clubs and with an early date prior to the World Championships there is the potential for a clash between representing club or country. Another factor is that coaches now like to prepare teams for the Worlds in training camps, not other competitions and for this year the CTTF were delighted that Glasgow were prepared to host the event. It was a similar situation with Jaipur which was also a successful event.

iii)Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010.

Mr. Ransome advised that there had been a meeting in Glasgow with John Eades of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Neil Harwood representing the ITTF. Mr. Choudhary had been appointed Competition Manager for 2010. There was a problem at the World Championships in Yokohama when the ETTU advised the dates for the European championships which clashed with Delhi. The ITTF had backed the CTTF and discussions were held which resulted in the European Championships being scheduled two weeks earlier. This had been a successful resolution.

It was agreed that questions would be taken with regard to Delhi during the Secretary’s report.

iv)Future Championships

The Chairman reported that an impressive application for the Championships in 2011 had been received from Islamabad in Pakistan and that detailed discussions had taken place with Mr. Sibtain. Mr. Ransome advised that the Management Committee had discussed the application two days ago in Glasgow and, in view of the unrest in Pakistan at the present time, were not comfortable about putting the recommendation to the CTTF meeting at this time, although the application does look very good. The Chairman confirmed that as soon as there was reasonable safety for teams in Pakistan, that the Management Committee would have no hesitation in recommending acceptance of the application. Other members confirmed that their governments’ had advised against travel to Pakistan at the present time.

Mr. Chowhan advised the meeting that in case no other country was able to make an application for 2011, that India would be ready to host the Championships but would need to know by 2010. The Chairman thanked Mr. Chowhan for the offer. He advised that there had been a strong indication of interest from Malta and discussions would be held with their delegate in Glasgow. England and other countries had also given an indication of interest and the Chairman confirmed that a decision must be made in 2010. He hoped to have details to circulate prior to the World Championships in Moscow next year.

To return to Mr. Ramanujan’s query, the Chairman said that in accordance with the general principle of holding the two events at a similar time and on the same Continent, it would make sense to arrange the Championships in May 2011 but after the Rotterdam World Championships so as not to conflict with the club league season or pre World training camps.

After a long discussion, during which Mr. Ramanujan reiterated the offer for India to host the Champion ships if Pakistan’s application was not accepted, it was agreed that the Management committee would do their utmost to ensure that the best possible arrangements for 2011 were made, whether this be in Pakistan, Malta, England or India.

vii)Commonwealth Games 2018.

The Chairman advised that Mike Hooper of the CGF had said that bids could be expected from Abyn in India, a strong bid from Singapore, and that discussions were taking place with a Gold Coast venue in Australia and with New Zealand.

viii)Other Youth Games

The Chairman confirmed that despite trying hard, it has not been possible to have table tennis included in the Isle of Man Youth Games.

2015 The CGF is making progress with Samoa, with the assistance of the ITTF Development Department.

2017 Wales are considering a bid and table tennis would be included.

Mr. Ransome reminded all members that if they heard that a CGF bid was being considered in their country, that they should contact the CTTF so that support could be provided for the inclusion of table tennis in the initial bid as this cannot always be taken for granted.

CONSTITUTION

The Chairman introduced the Honorary Legal Adviser, Philip Avery, and said that this matter was to be discussed later in the meeting.

WEBSITE

The Chairman advised that the CTTF website is now up and running, courtesy of Singapore as Improvements need to be made to the site and the Management Committee are working on this at present.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Neil Harwood advised the meeting that he had been working with the CGF on Delhi 2010 and future Games. There was a meeting with John Eades of the CGF yesterday and things are starting to move. There is a lot more work to do and time is beginning to get short. Neil also thanked the members for their support in the ITTF elections.

SECRETARY’S REPORT.

Mr. Chowhan spoke about the Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune. Mr. Choudhary was the Technical Competition Manager, the event was well conducted and there were no problems.

Table tennis will not be included in the next Youth Games in the Isle of Man and the Chairman was requested to try again to have table tennis in the competition. Mr. Chowhan said it was very important that table tennis be included in all Games and this was disappointing.

Mr. Ransome advised that the Isle of Man announced that they would host the Youth Games in Melbourne in 2006. Since that time he has met with representatives of the Isle of Man but with no success in getting table tennis included. This has been followed up again in writing on several occasions. It appears that there are no suitable facilities for table tennis. Neil Harwood said that it would be a very small event in the Isle of Man, but there was a good opportunity in Samoa as table tennis is popular in the Islands.

Mr. Chowhan continued that there would be no difficulty with security in Delhi 2010. Mr. Ransome advised that he would be visiting Delhi to check all the arrangements and was working with the CGF to ensure that players are included in the Games. 2010 would have a full program, the same as Manchester and Melbourne, with 5 events plus a women’s wheelchair event.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Ms Audrey MacDonald advised that she had circulated the accounts and her full report prior to the meeting. The CTTF financial position was sound.

In reply to a question about meeting expenses, Ms MacDonald confirmed that these were generally paid for by the Organising Committee at the World Championships. Ron Davies of Wales proposed that the CTTF should try to hold meetings at the time so as not to increase expenses.

Audrey MacDonald confirmed that for this event, all participating countries have paid their fees.

Proposed by Martin Clark of England, seconded by Ron Davies of Wales, that the Treasurer’s Report and the Accounts as presented be adopted. Agreed.

The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for all her work with the Commonwealth Federation accounts.

TECHNICAL REPORT

Dr. Chandra Madhosingh advised the meeting that he had prepared a ranking list of players present from the ITTF list having received the players’ names from Richard Scruton while in Yokohama. The new list being used has been prepared by the ITTF Ranking Chairman.

Dr. Madhosingh outlined the procedures and problems encountered by making the team draw a week prior to the commencement of the Championships in Glasgow. He advised that he was against making a draw a week ahead of the event even for the deadline for printing in the program. It was not practical and very inconvenient. Chandra continued that a Jury Meeting had been held and a re draw made. An Umpire’s briefing had been held and the ITTF Umpire’s evaluator would be evaluating the umpires at the event.

There were 79 men, and 56 women entered for a total of 135 players, plus three players from Malawi who were expected to arrive for the singles. There had been a few problems with the computer programs but the Assistant Referee, Graeme Ireland, had helped to resolve this.

Nominations for the Fair Play Award, presented by Cyprus, had been given to the Umpires and Officials.

Tony Chatwin, a member of the Technical Committee, had sent his apologies and a Get Well card was being signed and sent to him.

The Chairman advised that the two show courts were being used for video streaming in Glasgow. The number of hits so far was quite considerable and, therefore, very successful. Player numbers were not being used on the show courts.

CONSTITUTION

The Chairman thanked Philip Avery of Wales for his work in preparing the draft of the new CTTF Constitution.

Philip Avery spoke about the purpose of a new Constitution and the effect on the Federation. Currently the CTTF is an un-incorporated body with members ultimately liable for any claims. Most modern associations are now moving to incorporation. Mr. Avery outlined the situation in detail. The two main areas of concern which are contractual and personal injury and the effects of a claim on the Federation…… Incorporation involves more paperwork with annual accounts to be filed each year. There is minimal work involved in this and the cost of incorporation is not excessive. If the Federation decides to incorporate, Mr. Avery suggested the Companies Act 2006.

The word “Constitution” equals “Memorandum of Association” which sets out the basic principles and objectives of the Federation. “Articles of Association” is the government’s way of describing “company operations”. A set of By Laws would deal with matters pertinent to the sport. Mr. Avery advised that it was important to decide, in principle, if the Federation wishes to go ahead with Incorporation. Amendments can be made at the next meeting on the fixed format, when a formal resolution to transfer the Assets and Liabilities to the new Limited company should be made. Also the Officers and Board of Directors should be appointed.

Philip Avery advised that currently the CTTF would be at risk if something went seriously wrong with these Championships and it was the fault of the Federation. The new Constitution and the Regulations should be very similar to the current Constitution except for giving the Federation the necessary protection.

A full discussion took place with regard to this matter. Neil Harwood said that it was a good idea to be Incorporated but he believed that the Rules and Regulations should be in a separate document. Mr. Chowhan said that this was a very important matter and he was concerned about some aspects of the new Constitution, particularly in respect of the change of titles of some of the Officers. He was concerned about changing the CTTF into a company. Bruce Burton questioned the Articles and guarantees that were required for Incorporation. Philip Avery replied that the Company would be Limited by Guarantee and the Guarantee would be £1.00 for each member association. Alex Murdoch asked if in future there were any financial liabilities that details could be given to the members. Geoff Reed requested an explanation of some of the meanings which had been provided by Philip Avery. He was concerned because the Jersey TTA were not members of the Jersey Commonwealth Games Federation. Mr. Ranga Ramanujan advised that he was against the proposal. He had discussed the matter with three prominent barristers

The motion to proceed with Incorporation was, in principle, agreed with 11 in favour, 2 against and one abstention. The final draft would be prepared by Philip Avery and circulated to all members well in advance of the next Annual Meeting.

Mr. Ransome thanked Philip Avery for his work on the new Constitution.

DEVELOPMENT

The Chairman reported that the CTTF had worked closely with Table Tennis Scotland and Glasgow City Council to encourage a citywide development program in Glasgow in conjunction with the Championships and with a program to expand the sport in Glasgow, running right through to the Commonwealth Games in 2014. The Drumchapel Club are at the centre of this development program.