International book international book of favorite sports2 | Page 86
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In 1902 a visiting Japanese university professor took the game back to Japan,
where he introduced it to university students. Shortly after, a British salesman,
Edward Shires, introduced it to the people of Vienna and Budapest, and the seeds
were sown for a sport that now enjoys popularity all over the world. In Britain,
table tennis had also begun to spread outside the distinctly middle-class confines
of London, and leagues sprang up in provincial towns as far apart as Sunderland
and Plymouth. In 1922, an All England Club was formed, which boasted such
luminaries as Jack Hobbs the cricketer and other famous names of the time from
the world of sport.
https://tabletennisengland.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1912-photo-1.jpg
The Daily Mirror organized and sponsored a nationwide tournament in which
there were 40,000 competitors.
In 1921, the Table Tennis Association was founded, and in 1926 renamed the
English Table Tennis Association. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
followed in 1926. London hosted the first official World Championships in 1926
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