Left (front to back): Georg Silberschmidt, Martin Hafen, Elmira Antonyan, Thomas Sadecky, Anton Lehmann
Right (front to back): Reto Bazzi, Thomas Busin, Tu Tien Si, Tu Dai Yong, Theresia Földy, Claude Diethelm
Missing: Louis Fiedler
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by Anton Lehmann, Secretary, Swiss Swaythling Club
For the first time since COVID-19, namely on 5th November 2022 in Lucerne, twelve members of the Swiss Section of the Swaythling Club (SCS) met for the traditional Annual General Meeting, which as usual took place in three parts.
Aat the beginning we met in the popular museum “Swiss Museum of Transport”, then followed the protocol part of the General Meeting. The successful event ended with the culinary and convivial part at the Lido restaurant on the shores of Lake Lucerne.
Thomas Sadecky read through the minutes. The financial and electoral agenda items did not give rise to much discussion. The report of the treasurer Michèle Stirn was unanimously approved and the work of the SCS Board with Thomas Sadecky (President), Anton Lehmann (Secretary) and Michèle Stirn (Treasurer) was thanked with applause. All three were re-elected.
In addition, the following events were reported:
- Anton Lehmann on the 50th anniversary of the so-called Ping-Pong diplomacy, which changed the world order politically and in terms of sports. Georg Silberschmidt took part in the 2021 anniversary celebrations in the USA as CH representative. It’s good to know that there was also a Swiss version of Chinese ping-pong diplomacy, which took place in 1972 under the slogan “Friendship”.
- Reto Bazzi, who together with Lilamani De Soysa is a board member of the international SCI, reported on the future strategy of the SCI. Among other things, the new leadership wants to recruit members in all continents. Upcoming major events are the Senior World Championships 2023 in January 2023 in Muscat/Oman. Who will host the 2024 Senior World Championships will be decided in December 2022. The European Senior Championships 2023 will take place in June in Sandefjord /Norway.
- Claude Diethelm has expanded the material he collected of the history of Swiss Tabletennis and structured it according to chapters. In his search for a successor, he found what he was looking for. A member of the CTT Fribourg who is qualified as a documentalist will take over the extensive archive. Cooperation with Swiss Tabletennis should continue.
The outstanding achievements of our members Elmira Antonyan and Thierry Miller were highlighted and honoured: At the European Veteran Championships 2022 in Rimini, they both won gold in their age category: Elmira (Over 65) and Thierry (Over 55). Before that, Elmira was crowned Swiss champion at the 2022 elite championships in Crissier /VD. Elmira and Thierry also won bronze together in the mixed doubles.
Since 2019, we have sadly had to say goodbye to the following members. In memory of the dear departed, a typical photo of each was passed around and commented on: Mario Mariotti (1940-2019), Bernard Chatton (1950-2019), Marie-Jeanne Urchetti (1930-2020), Werner Schnyder (1939-2020), Laszlo Pal (1939-2020), Yvonne Schnyder (died 2021), André Steckler (83-year-old), Dominik Huber (63-year-old).
The next annual meeting of SCS will take place on November 4th 2023