Four new members have been elected to the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Athletes’ Commission, the ETTU announced on Wednesday.
The athletes have voted to add Sweden’s Linda Bergström, England’s Tin-Tin Ho, Romania’s Elizabeta Samara and Croatia’s Frane Tomislav Kokic to the Commission. Bergström (111 votes) and Kojic (105 votes) received automatic entry as the top male and female vote-getters, while Ho (108 votes) and Samara (107 votes) rounded out the final two spots.
These four players were chosen from a list of candidates that included Denmark’s Martin Buch, Finland’s Marina Donner, Serbia’s Marko Jevtovic, Latvia’s Daniels Kogans, Russia’s Polina Mikhailova, Russia’s Kirill Skachkov and Germany’s Ricardo Walther.
The ETTU Athletes Commission advocates on behalf of athletes, serves as the liaison between players and the ETTU and offers advice and recommendations regarding decisions made by ETTU. The commission is composed of five members, four of whom are elected during the European Championships.
The para-athlete representative, the commission’s fifth member, will be elected during November’s 2025 European Para Championships in Helsingborg, Sweden. The three for that seat are England’s Jack Hunter-Spivey, Montenegro’s Luka Bakic and Scotland’s Martin Perry.
Eligible candidates must be at least 16 years old and must not have been sanctioned for a doping-related offense at any point in their careers. Only one player may win election from each country.
Elected officials serve a term of four years, which can be renewed. None of the five representatives, Mikhailova, Italy’s Chiara Colantoni, England’s Paul Drinkhall, Sweden’s Jon Persson and Spanish para representative Jose Manuel Ruiz, will return to their seats for another term.
All four newly-elected members speak multiple languages, and three possess a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in addition to their table tennis achievements. All four have also qualified for the Olympics at some point.
The ETTU European Team Championships 2025 will begin the Round of 16 of its main draw on Thursday. You can watch its matches on Table Tennis TV; sign up today for two free weeks.
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