(ZHANG GUOJUN)

Former Chinese table tennis world champion Xu Yinsheng was appointed honorary president of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) on May 26.

The nomination, proposed by the ITTF Executive Committee, was approved by the ITTF Congress on the sidelines of the World Table Tennis Championships in Moscow.

This was the first time the ITTF has awarded a former head the honorary title. Xu, 72, served as fifth president of the ITTF from 1995 to1999.

Xu was a major contributor to the Chinese team that won men's team titles at the 26th, 27th and 28th World Table Tennis Championships in 1961, 1963 and 1965. He also secured the men's doubles championship with Zhuang Zedong in 1965.

During Xu's tenure as the ITTF president, he proposed balls of 40-mm diameter replace the former 38-mm ones with the aim of increasing the game's popularity by significantly slowing down its pace. The reform took effect worldwide in 2003.