TTT30 Spring 2023

Fairy Tale at the Palace
By Neil Brierley
"Can I speak to Fred please."
"Who shall I say is calling?” said Jane Dove.
"Tell him it's Barry Hearn"
Its 2011 when landlines were still common and a shaking Fred Dove picked up the phone "Hi Barry, its Fred
speaking."
Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise as for around 12 months, Fred had been firing off emails to Barry at
his Matchroom Corporation (unperturbed by the absence of a reply) telling him what a wonderful addition
table tennis could be to his stable of TV sports. Fishing, snooker, darts and pool all backed up the big ticket
boxing shows. "Why not table tennis" reasoned Fred.
For a bit of background, Fred had been a local league player in Clacton from his youth who transformed his
game when frictionless rubber became available. It made his backhand hit virtually unplayable and, combined
with a fast forehand rubber, he memorably won the Ashford Open beating the erstwhile Abdul Wuraola in the
final.
Then, without warning, the ITTF banned Fred's frictionless rubber. Infuriated at this decision, he switched to
a hardbat and it was this version he dreamed of selling to Barry Hearn.
"Fred, I've been picking up your emails for some time", the call continued "and I'd like to meet you to see if
we can make this work.”
"I'm thrilled and grateful you've phoned." Fred could barely get the words out. "I'm happy to meet anytime.”
The rest, as they say, is history. The World Ping Pong Championships (WPCC) enjoyed ten years of unbroken
coverage on Sky TV. No highlights package this, but live coverage from the first serve to the final kill.
To put this into perspective, Olympic and Commonwealth Games aside, and with odd exceptions, you have to
go back to David Coleman in the 70s and the finals of the English Open and English Closed for a chance of live
action.
When Matchroom take on an event, they have a reputation for making it work. So the sandpaper bat format
was adopted to make it distinguishable from the conventional game and to gain support from a wealthy
backer. Still, it was hard to believe what was to follow.
In January 2013, the iconic Alexandra Palace opened its doors to a new tournament and the table tennis
fraternity, in their numbers, blinked at what they saw. A battery of Sky cameras and a car park with supporting
trucks and trailers. One hundred thousand dollars prize money was up for grabs - unparalleled for a weekend
table tennis competition.
Of course, loads of work had gone on before to get to this day. First Barry had come along to Batts to meet
Fred. I happened to be standing outside the club on a bright, sunny Sunday morning when a gleaming Bentley
TTT: Issue 30: Spring 2023
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